Andrea Blaylock - History of Education in the 1980s

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History of Adult Education in the 1980s

Andrea Blaylock

Ball State University

EDAC631

2/8/2015

 Introduction

This research paper includes a summary of the events and happenings surrounding the history of adult education in the 1980s. During this decade, there are several significant social, economic, and political trends and issues that positively and negatively affected the outcomes of adult education. These events where centered mostly on the end of the Cold War, HIV/AIDS, educational philosophies, conservatism, literacy, and the advancement of computer resources for personal use. The structure of the paper will summarize the highlights of the social background during this time, the influential factors of the development of adult education, and the implications of this time period to today’s adult education.

 Social Background

The 1980s was filled with concerns of social challenges that emanated from the 1970s.  With the end of the liberal political views from Jimmy Carter’s presidency, many Americans were ready to embrace the conservatism views of the newly elected present, Ronald Reagan.  In the 1980s America experienced a recession just a devastating as the Great Depression.  Even the stock market crash of October 1987 did little to undermine the confidence of middle-class and wealthy Americans in the president’s economic agenda. (“The 1980s”, 2011)  Baby boomers with college educations, well-paying jobs, and expensive tastes gave birth to a Generation X that were known as “yuppies”. Sometimes referred to as "Millennials, "Echo Boomers", or jokingly as "Generation Why?", refers to the cohort of individuals born, roughly, between 1982 and 1994. (Generations Chart) This generation experienced the rise of mass communications and the internet. Health concerns of Americans escalated with the emergence of a new illness HIV/AIDS in 1981.  Early 1980s, the United States was in a deep recession mainly caused by new regulations on inflation by the Federal Reserve and the steep cuts from Ronald Reagan’s administration in domestic funding.  Apple introduced the consumer market with the personal computer. The PC once only used by hobbyists, were now a highly sought after commodity in American homes and businesses. MTV Generation was the latest craze in pop-culture with yuppies as it was a way for them to express their “not-so-popular” views of the world.

Highlights

The trends, main issues, and the focus and/or the significant events of adult education during the 1980s evolved from politics, education, and social. Like many other American leaders during the Cold War, President Reagan believed that the spread of communism anywhere threatened freedom everywhere. (“The 1980s”, 2011)  With the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980, the new conservative administration quickly moved to reduce federal government spending on urban development and social services. The Reagan Administration terminated the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act program, a successful job training program that had been funded in 1982. (Amistad 2009) At the same time, Reagan increase funding for military and defense spending which contributed to the federal deficit. Reagan was convinced that the Soviet Union was a dangerous military power and strong economic pressures from the United States ultimately lead to downfall of the Soviet Union and an end to the Cold War.

During the 1980s, illiteracy was becoming more of an educational issue for the country. Rose (1994) suggests that “literacy was no longer a virtue but instead a cultural imperative and an essential aspect to successful functioning in modern life…illiteracy was a disability, not just for the individual, but for the country”.  Literacy initiatives began to surface with greater determination to increase the nation’s productivity thus the Reagan administration introduced legislation to renew interest in literacy through reduced cost efforts such as using volunteers. With these simple efforts, the National Literacy Act was established.

Influential factors

The main adult/community educators, programs, organizations; and main social events that occurred in the 1980s which influenced the development of adult education were significant not only to education, but to the fabric of our nation. The role of the federal government’s role in adult education was the establishment and amendments of Adult Education Act – growth in congressional funding allowed for educational reform with focus on excellence, high school curriculum whole language, increase in adult education program evaluation and workforce literacy.  The Adult Education Act has been successful in providing the funding for the development of adult education programs in all states and territories. (Rose, p.3 1991) However, in President Reagan’s second year in office, Reagan reduced the federal role in education. Twenty-nine federal categorical program for education needs into block grants that the states could use as they saw fit for educational purposes.

Two of the most influential educators during this time period was John L. Elias and Sharan B. Merriam. Together these two educators collaborated to revise the approach to traditional adult learning. They believed that adult education based on several underlying philosophies of adult education; liberal, progressive, behaviorist, humanistic, and radical/critical. Spurgeon and Moore (1997) summarized the following:

Liberal adult education emphasizes upon liberal learning, organized knowledge, and the development of the intellectual powers of the mind. Progressive adult education emphasizes such concepts as the relationship between education and society, experience-centered education, vocational education, and democratic education. Behaviorist adult education emphasizes such concepts as control, behavioral modification, learning through reinforcement and management by objectives. Humanistic adult education emphasizes such key concepts relating to freedom and autonomy, trust, active cooperation and participation, and self-directed learning. Radical/critical adult education has its historical roots in the various radical movements that have emerged in the past three centuries: anarchism, Marxism, socialism, and left wing Freudianism. The radicals in education propose education as a force for achieving radical social change.

Two organizations that were instrumental in the progression of adult education are the National Advisory Council for Adult Education (NACAE) and American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE). The NACAE focuses on both general statistics and change in the federal involvement in adult education since 1965 in light of the new 1978 legislation. During Reagan term, the council enacted two amendments to the Adult Education Act; the first discretionary program to support English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, and last Hawkins/Stafford Elementary/Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 which created workforce literacy grants, created English literacy grant program, and strengthened evaluation requirements. (History of Adult Education Act) The AAACE was established in 1982 as a merger between the National Association for Public and Continuing Adult Education (NAPCAE) and the Adult Education Association (AEA). The AAACE is “dedicated to the belief that lifelong learning contributes to human fulfillment and positive social change. We envision a more humane world made possible by the diverse practice of our members in helping adults acquire the knowledge, skills and values needed to lead productive and satisfying lives.” (Who We Are, 2013)

Implications

Based on what you have researched about the 1980s, we learn that literacy remains a big part of the advancement of our society. There continues to be innovative within the federal government on the education programs that support adult learning. If we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it. History from the 1980s has taught is that computers and technology play a significant role in the world of education, business, and entertainment. There are many philosophies surrounding adult education each with its own positive and negative outcomes. However, our society benefits when we take a holistic approach to education and invest in new learners, new skills, and new horizons.

Summary of the History of Adult/Community Education in the 1980s

Areas	Summary
Social Background	Ronald Reagan, President HIV/AIDS Pop culture – Yuppies, MTV Personal Computers
Highlights	End of Cold War Literacy Initiatives
Influential factors	Revisions to traditional adult educational philosophies Amendments to Adult Education Act
Implications	Learn from the past adult education experiences to prepare for the future Adult education should continue to be supported through federal government

 Works Cited

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Amistad Digital Resource. (2009, January 1). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.amistadresource.org/the_future_in_the_present/social_and_economic_issues.html

Barber, B. (1989). Cultural Conservatism and Democratic Education: Lessons from the Sixties. Salmagundi, 81, 159-173. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40548035

Generations Chart. (n.d.). Retrieved January 7, 2015, from http://www.esds1.pt/site/images/stories/isacosta/secondary_pages/10º_block1/Generations Chart.pdf

History of the Adult Education Act. (1998, January 1). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.naepdc.org/issues/AEAHistort.htm#1981

History of HIV & AIDS in the U.S.A. (2014, May 30). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.avert.org/history-hiv-aids-usa.htm

Rose, A. (1994). Adult Education As Federal Policy: The Search for a Literacy Agenda. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 3, 4-13.

Spurgeon, L., & Moore, G. (1997). The Educational Philosophies of Training and Development Professors, Leaders, and Practitioners. Journal of Technology Studies, 23(N2), 11-19. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ553242

The 1980s. (2011, January 1). Retrieved February 6, 2015, from http://www.history.com/topics/1980s

United States. National Advisory Council on Adult Education. (1980). A History of the Adult Education Act. Washington, D.C. (Pennsylvania Bldg., Suite 323, 425 13th St., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20004): The Council.

Who We Are. (2013, January 1). Retrieved February 7, 2015, from http://www.aaace.org/who-we-are

Woodrum, E. (1988). Moral Conservatism and the 1984 Presidential Election. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 27(2), 192-210. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1386715