Kyle Commented: History of Adult Education

Petra Davison - Group 2

Rob Hill - Group 1

Kyle Owens

EDAC 631

Ball State University

Bo Chang

1/27/14

The 1950s and 1960s are singled out as a special period because so many changes related to adult education occurred (Hiemstra 2014). The 1960s were also a very special time for the United States in general as a lot of exciting things was happening. In 1964 The Civil Rights Act was passed which made it illegal to discriminate against students on the basis of color, or national origin in all institutions receiving federal funds (Eyre 2014). This allowed millions of Americans to choose the education that they thought fit them the best, without discrimination or prejudice. This also allowed African American adult the chance to gain the education that they never had a chance to earn. Up until this point most African American students had been subject to segregation in which they had been put into overcrowded schools with almost no funding. As a democratic and capitalism based society a good education is a vehicle for success in America. Without this good education, generation after generation of African American children was being put at a disadvantage from the start. As everyone knows schools became the center stage for the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s with desegregation a central issue.

The 1960s were also popular for the famous “War on Poverty” that was the brain child of President Lyndon B. Johnson. With poverty rates soaring and with poverty already at fifteen percent, Johnson decided to take matters into his own hands. As Americans were becoming aware that at least one quarter of the population had been bypassed by the postwar prosperity and lived in dire poverty (Eyre 2014). Johnson put legislation that expanded welfare services, subsidized low income housing, improved inner city school and for the first time focused on improving adult education. This was indeed a changing time for America, they had just come to America and fifty years ago this year played their first televised show. The American People lost their first president to assassination in over sixty years. It’s not surprising that the way people were educated also changed.

In 1963 President Lyndon B. Johnson saw a need to help adults and students that fell in the large portion of Americans who had no skills to apply. That’s why he signed The Vocational Education Act of 1962, which quadrupled federal funds for vocation education. The idea behind this legislation was to improve the occupational training opportunities for persons of all ages through the provision of financial assistance to vocational and technical programs and no baccalaureate postsecondary institutions (Eyre 2014). That same year the Manpower Development and Training Act were put into action, the main focus of this legislation was to retrain unemployed adults. Along with these two bills the Economic Opportunity Act was passed in 1964 to help train adults ages 16-21 with basics skills like math and literacy. While this act didn’t necessarily directly help employees gain skills that could put them directly into the work force. It did give them knowledge that they didn’t have before and was crucial to being able to being able to take that next step in their education career. Perhaps one of the most significant events to take place was the federal enactment of the Adult Education Act of 1965 (Webb, L. D. 2006). This legislation provided funding to help adults gain basic education that was a necessary part of living. As a result of this funding, education centers that exist to help adults with basic education skills can be found in all communities around the country.

 This movement of training and adults who were both under skilled and unemployed started to catch on with large industries. The Carnegie Corporation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Mott foundation were some of the leaders in promoting adult education on all levels of government (Eyre 2014). Ford who was one of the largest companies in the United States even threw in their support and started the Ford Fund for Adult Education. This type of involvement in Adult education was really important as the first round of the Baby Boomer generation began to graduate from high school. With some many opportunities for growth, it allowed companies like Ford to invest in new employees. Programs like these can now be found in a lot of communities around the country. Between the years of 1963 and 1969 congress passed more than two dozen major pieces of legislation affect education (Webb, L. D. 2006). The pieces of legislation brought large amounts of funding to the vocational and adult educational settings. This funding was crucial in setting up different vocational education centers that are still around today. While all these programs had good intentions and were well funded at first but simmered as the decade came to a class. As everyone knows that when the seventies began the Vietnam and Cold War stole the attention of the American people. Issues like these were put on the back burner until the 80s when Ronald Reagan took office.

Going back to the Civil Rights movement back in the 1960s and how all of these new had an effect for African Americans. Since a large majority of African Americans had little to know job training the timing couldn’t be better. These bills that were being passed allowed these African Americans who had never received any education all of a sudden had ample opportunities to gain the skills that would help them succeed in a changing world. African Americans were not the only minority that was struggling with a skills gap during that time. While the country was caught up with the Civil Rights movement, the American Indian population was struggling to take control of their education. In the 1960s the American Indian population had seen the slow destruction of their languages and traditions. So tribal leaders had taken it upon themselves to decide that enough was enough and fought to take over their educational system. So that each tribe could hold true to the languages and traditions they were given complete control through the termination process.

Adult education has come a long way in the past fifty years however a lot of its growth can be traced back to the policies that were initiated during this era. A lot of the initiatives that were created during these times can be seen being replicated today. With the growing skills gap that is taking place in America today it’s no surprise to see more legislation that is geared towards educating adults. Even with outsourcing and a bad economy, manufacturing is still the backbone of America’s economy. There hundreds of large manufacturing companies that look for good reliable employees on daily basis that are capable of contributing to their company. The only issue is that there are no employees that have the skills to immediately come in and start working their line. Students that are leaving high school have just the basic math and science skills. It is a possibility that this nation’s unemployment issue could be solved by revisiting our nations under skilled workers and making them useful. Conexus Indiana is a company located in Indianapolis that has the job of helping teachers prepare our nation’s youth for the workforce. Their curriculum has even been geared towards adults who want to go back and try to get certifications that can help them get a job at places like Rolls Royce and Boeing. Adult education has changed a lot, but the idea behind it is still the same. We must make sure that every member of society has an opportunity to improve themselves for the better. It is our responsibility as educators to make sure that each and every one of these individuals has the best education that they can possibly get. This includes Adults as well as anyone who has the motivation to learn and to improve them. I remember a while back ago a former colleague of mine had quit his job at the company to work for a competitor. After a few months it didn’t work out with his job and asked my boss for his old job back. After getting the offer to come back he apologized for quitting, my boss turned in told him “I will never look down on someone for trying to improve themselves”.

Social Background: 1960s	Civil Rights Act Passed, War on Poverty, and the start of the Vietnam War.
Highlights:	1964 The Civil Rights Act was passed. The Vocational Education Act of 1962 was passed. The Economic Opportunity Act was passed in 1964
Influential Factors	The Carnegie Corporation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Mott foundation were some of the leaders in promoting adult education. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares the war on poverty.
Implications:	Even with outsourcing and a bad economy, manufacturing is still the backbone of America’s economy. Programs are still in place from the 1960’s that help educate these adults for careers in manufacturing. The ford program is still in effect today.

Works Citied

Eyre, G. (n.d.). History of the Adult Education Act. Retrieved January 27, 2014, from http://www.naepdc.org/issues/aeahistort.htm

Hiemstra, R. (n.d.). Lifelong Learning Chapter Two. Retrieved from http://www-distance.syr.edu/lllch2.html

Webb, L. D. (2006). The history of American education: A great American experiment.