Adult Education

An adult is a person who is aged twenty one or more than twenty one years old. Thus adult education is the name of teaching imparted to adults.

There is great difference between the education of children and the education of adults. Children are principally students. Their chief purpose is to go to school and learn. But the adults are principally bread winners; in their case education is secondary in importance.

For the purpose of education, adults may be divided into two classes the illiterate and the partially literate. It is the aim to see that every person in the arithmetic. Such knowledge is absolutely necessary for every person living in a democratic country.

It is the aim that such adults as are partially literate should be taken further on the road of knowledge. They would be taught their rights and responsibilities as citizens. It will be their duty to pass the knowledge on to those who know less than they do.

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The Role of Adult Education Centres

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” The famous quote of John Dewey simply says it all. Society is dependent on its individuals and education plays an important role in developing communities. Education provides humans with the ability to improve their performance and lifestyle by making informed choices and by forming opinion on political issues concerning themselves. Developed nations invest heavily on education as they realize the importance of providing education to their citizens.

In the UK there are many adult education centres that deal with the education of adults in the workplace, through continuing education courses at colleges, universities or lifelong learning centres. Adult education is often referred to as ‘second-chance’ or ‘training and development’ and many schools offer tailor-made courses and learning programs for the returning learners. Hence, these adult education centres play a vital role in society since education contributes to the development of communities.

Adult education is different from traditional children’s education since adults have accumulated knowledge, and work experience which adds to their learning experience. They often apply their knowledge practically to learn more effectively. For instance in the 1990s when PCs were newly introduced many adults, mostly office workers, enrolled in computer training to learn the basic use of the operating system or specific application software. Most of the adult education centres provide one to one tutoring and small group sessions for adults.

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What is Liberal Adult Education?

The teaching of adults differs considerably from children because of the background knowledge of students and the fact that they are usually eager to learn of their own accord, instead of it being mandatory to be taught. Adult education is continually evolving as numerous methods and incentives are established to try and make education easy later in life, and this is being stimulated today with the increased accessibility through distance learning and e-Learning.

Typical adult education centres offer the opportunity for students who have not completed their schooling to continue and aim for an equivalent achievement (such as a GED in the US), or they may well be adjoined to a university or college with the offer of Foundation courses, A-Levels, or Degrees in the UK.

However, liberal adult education is different again and takes its influence from teaching methods that originated in Scandinavia. The folkbildning approach, as well as the folk high schools established in Norway, Sweden, and Germany vary amongst themselves, but are all similar in that students aren’t graded nor do they have any exams. Instead, the focus of each institution is to allow each individual to self-develop naturally.

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