Transcript CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES: LESSONS …

CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES:
LESSONS FOR TAIWAN AND TAICHUNG
DR. RUEY-FIN “CHERYL” BAIN (BAIN-BAIN) IS MY INTERPRETER, DAYEH
UNIVERSITY, PhD FROM OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
MY BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE (TAIWAN CONNECTION)
CONTINUING EDUCATION = LIFELONG LEARNING = ADULT EDUCATION
ADULT EDUCATION (AE) IN THE U.S. BEGAN WITH THE EARLY SETTLERS
FROM EUROPE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON TRADES, CRAFTS AND AG
WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON AND FRANKLIN WERE EARLY ADVOCATES
IN AG, HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE FEEDING OF THE NATION AND
WORLD
RECENT HISTORY
Major growth
Industry expands opportunities with changing demographics,
workplace requirements, personal needs and continuing dissatisfaction
with graduates of formal education system
Agencies never before involved in education have established programs
Grown so large that it is an education system in and of itself
Still lacks accepted definition
Programs are diverse and disparate, but all serve adults
Perpetually seeking identity; marginal, limits R & D
Basic Education
All activities taking place in schools; principally for education and
training of the young to assume adult roles and responsibilities
“Education” and “crisis” are often used as tandem words
Not a crisis related to its mission, but to the manner it is done
Lots of criticism from all fronts
Adult education has avoided these criticisms largely due to its
ambiguity of functions and forms; translates into limited investment
and lack of accountability
The Scope
The National Center for Educational Research (NCES) conducts a survey of
adult education every three years
Data show over 21 million people participate each year
NCES data are controversial because of their basic definition of adult
education (AE): persons > 17, not enrolled in secondary or tertiary ed but
participating in some form of “organized learning;” programs are expected to
have institutional and formal characteristics; learning is often separated from
“training” (job related)
Another definition includes self-directed learning outside normal AE
NCES data swell to nearly 95% of the adult population
Data on participation can vary widely
AE
Most people never cease learning
AE caters to the needs of adults, mostly through informal means, and
only to some extent through formal programs
Social/government responsibility for the informal programs are often
ignored if not totally abdicated
AE enterprise in the US is vast and growing
I define AE as including formal and informal learners whether pursing
their objectives as members of groups or as individuals
Current data cannot describe the full population of adult learners
Formal programs
Available date invite speculation and extrapolation
We know that those that more education continue to seek more and those
who seek tend to be white, middle- and upper-class, women, and
underrepresentation of minority and working-class
Classes are often offered by two and four-year colleges and taught in school
buildings, with standard classroom format
Learners paid for their classes
Courses “met or exceeded” their expectations.
Woman already had about 2 years of college ed, were full-time employed in
a manufacturing industry, takes 2 courses per year and did not take courses
for certification (Laws require some professionals to take courses)
Motivation
Want to improve economic circumstances: pay, seek equity in pay, and
also entry to higher position
42% had incomes over $25,000 as opposed to 31% in the general
population
The higher a family’s income the more likely they are to participate
Not uniformly true across the US: NE low; South is high (Industry
growth in the South and older adults in the “Sun Belt”
AE viewed as being for career advancement
Participation is viewed as indicative of motivation for individual growth
Certification is not the primary motivator for most
They seek a familiar instructional style (classrooms + teachers)
Americans tend to form a “Learning Society”
Seem willing to pay for their own education (sound investment view)
Participants are of a rather young age (appeal to recent grads < 40);
with changing demographics and lots of older people, modal age may
change as these people look to occupy free time … age may become
bimodal
Nearly 35 million different courses; 60% job-related; 74% already
employed; general ed = 10%; personal issues = 27%
Many AE activities cannot be accounted such as those offered by
religious groups, local community groups, local clubs and the broad
activities of “community education”
One study showed 79% of all adults engaged in AE defined as 7 or more
hours of learning activities … Internet had greatly expanded these
opportunities
Planned and Non-planned Axis
Planned programs (described by NCES) have discreet curricula offered
to a relatively known group of participants; formal program
Self-directed learning finds participants identifying their own learning
objectives and seek diverse resources to satisfy them; non-formal or
informal programs
Nature of the Enterprise
AE is a most diverse educational form
Avocational interests were pursued in earliest forms; combined
learning with social interaction: recreation and self-fulfillment
Many AE programs are offered in the US through schools, Extension
services, and community/religious groups and cover costs through
tuition
Professional organizations would be a second historical group
Keep members current and establish a professional esprit de corps
Third type is related to work place needs and employers know schools
do not provide all the knowledge and skills needed for a job
Some employers established their own schools; by 1913 there were
enough factory schools that 34 firms started the National Association
of Corporate Schools (now: American Management Association)
Government and the military also have lengthy histories in AE
Advances in technology and management patterns necessitate the
current explosion of human resource managers/departments to update
employees; labor market mobility has also fed the fire; many
businesses were started to deliver needed training. It is estimated that
the money spent by corporate US such efforts exceeds the budget for
higher education
Employers provide 25% of the courses and finance 1/3 of all costs; and
have, over the past decade, entered aggressively
Functionally illiterate people have gotten a lot of attention from
national and state initiatives, but they are poorly represented among
participants with only 3% of programs aimed at the group
Public announcements have not issue have not resulted in action
AE participants are the better educated and not those who could
benefit the most
Employers also provide other kinds of education related to personal,
health/wellness and family issues and often viewed as employee
benefits and forge and strengthen ties to the firm
They also provide support for formal graduate education with tuition
assistance and paid leaves of absence
Some are also channeled through labor unions (NYC Teamsters Union)
Some corporations have become accredited and have their own
degree-granting programs (e.g., Wang & Arthur Little Accounting)
The aging population has created a massive audience for AE
Universities have responded: OSU’s over 60 program, e-learning,
distance education courses/degree programs: take all your courses in
your pajamas
Little attention has ever been given to this massive audience for AE
Publishers and media producers are starting to respond (U of Phoenix)
Much is not based on what is known about the basics of AE, however;
with principles of teaching/learning extracted from children/youth
Evaluation of these enterprises is, for the most part, lacking
Implications and Trends
In the US, sine WWII, the AE enterprise has mushroomed
AE is vast and diverse
Growth has occurred outside the normal educational system
Those who sponsor hope to benefit, such as corporations/government
agencies
Education is not the primary focus of such groups, though, and AE becomes a
secondary activity, universities give AE only marginal attention and generate
little research, development or training; scholarship and new learning about
AE is then lacking, and the first area cut when financial exigency occurs
Study of adulthood needs to become as important as childhood
“… our understanding of processes of adult development and learning
are to embryonic, speculative, and tentative to allow for the drawing of
practical conclusions in respect to the design of instruction and
curricula.” Evaluation research cannot show when one instructional
approach is superior to another.
Since AE is marginal, it tend to not attract a sufficiently broad and
qualified cadre of professionals. Very few Research Centers for AE exist,
and those that do struggle to survive.
Corporate firms often tap dubious firms offering expertise of
questionable origin.
Private entrepreneurs and small businesses are typically totally ignored
Dozens exist on each city block in Taichung and worldwide; yet, they
get few opportunities for growth
Taichung! Why not collaborate with your wonderful institutions of
higher education to become a national and world leader in providing
continuing education for entrepreneurs. I know Dr. Shinshin Chen,
Chaoyang University of Technology would be glad to assist with
community AE development activities.
Could help people grow
Attract industry with prepared work force
Provide universities with a living laboratory for service learning for
students and practical application for faculty while improving the
community: a loving town/gown working environment – win/win
situation
Experienced adults in the community can become mentors for the
youth: a vital volunteer corps enriching university instruction and the
community
Students can volunteer in the community and government offices for
real-world experiences and obtain pragmatic education to help them
better find a career with an appropriate degree: less graduates
unemployed and better change of Taichung keeping the brightest in
their city
Projections are that the future worker will have to re-tool up to 7 times
in their work life; AE provides a means for a city to keep its people
current – be lifelong learners
Universities: make it easy for people to enter/exit the system and
provide practical, relevant courses (use advisory councils)
Higher education must now be spelled “hire education”
Governments can encourage universities to adjust to a more vocational
mentality without forsaking liberal education and better serve the
people in a new conception of delivering higher education
Many college degrees do not fit the jobs of Taiwan
Practice and study are two sides of the same coin
Taiwan universities are too numerous and compete to recruit the same
students – lowering standards to fill seats?
Universities must create new relationships just as governments must
do more with less and a more effective collaboration must develop
between universities – government – industries
Governments can rightly lay claim to assisting with the next stage of
growth and the quality of life in the city
In the US, “No other people ever demanded so much of schools and
education as have the American. None other was ever so well served
by its schools and educators”
Read the “Taipei Times Editorial”
National government has tried to encourage higher education
City governments, too, have a role to play in preparing productive
citizens for the future. You, no matter your department, have a role to
play
I know you want to provide quality service for those in Taichung
You can work together to prepare a “competitive work force”
Establish new alliances because “no one of us is as smart as all of us”
Encourage learning and AE in all possible ways and make Taichung a
“Garden of Eden” for those desiring lifelong education
Taiwanese people value education for their children as highly
as any nation on earth. Help apply that value to lifelong
learning and make Taiwan also a “learning society.”
THANK YOU!