Gaining Knowledge as an Adult: Different Types of Education for Adults - Essay Sample

Adult education entails adults going back to school to continue with their knowledge, college, and university. Others proceed with learning to learn literacy, life skills, numeracy, and other courses. There are different education types for adults. Formal education is provided by learning institutions and starts from preschool to universities. Education for adults can also be informal and can be offered by organizations such as mass media communication companies, social networks, and other learning provided by cultural and natural surroundings. Therefore, this study focuses on the challenges facing adult education, future trends, personal philosophy of lifelong learning, and ways of impacting adult education.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The first challenge facing continuing adult education is balancing school and life. Training requires one’s commitment for it to be effective. Most of the adult learners have jobs while others have familial responsibilities. Balancing work and family is challenging enough without adding education to the task. Adding school and culture as one of the duties of an individual could prove challenging to an adult who is at work and has a family to take care of (Vanslambrouck et al., 2019). The second challenge is motivation since most adult learners struggle with inspiration since learning is a necessity for them rather than something that interests them. Most adult learners lack the driving force since they have various responsibilities that they need to accomplish. Thus, learning becomes a significant challenge for them. The third challenge is social fears, where most adults lack the motivation to study due to worries and influence from society and oneself. Returning students are likely to doubt their ability to interact with younger peers. Most adults in a traditional class setting are usually grouped in the minority due to the age difference between them and their classmates. Being comfortable in such an environment could prove difficult for most adults. Therefore, the three main challenges hindering effective adult education include lack of education-life balance, social fears, and reduced motivation.

One of the future trends in adult education includes better feedback and adaptive learning platforms that provide real-time feedback. With improved feedback generative systems in learning, teachers can understand the issues facing their learners. Thus, this can lead to innovative techniques for handling the challenges facing adult learners. Additionally, access to support services is essential for the success of an adult education program (Vanslambrouck et al., 2019). Learner support systems include techniques of monitoring a learner’s academic performance. Mainly, this could consist of well-trained advisors that engage in active dialogue with learners about their limitations and aspirations to enable them to select different pathways within a particular field. Most adults are confused about the courses to proceed with in the future. They need learner support systems that guide them in making wise choices. Another current trend in adult learning is the adoption of programs that enhance growth in mindset and facilitate social and emotional learning. Such applications will help alleviate most of the challenges that adults face in their endeavors to continue their education programs.

One of the ways that I hope to adopt to influence adult learning is generating techniques for enhancing attention among learners. Notably, a form of learning that occurs while multitasking should not be generalized (Ark, 2017). Such a learning technique does not enhance an individual’s ability to recall whatever has been taught. Adult learning should be tailored in ways that capitalize on the attention of a student. After gaining the learners’ attention, the next step would be to ensure that an idea is generated in a learner’s working memory (Ark, 2017). Importantly, a tutor needs to decide how to maximize the chances of the formation of memories. Adult learning differs from the way children learn. Adults learn by self-direction, which allows learners to control what they learn. Active adult learning should involve increased critical thinking hat challenges and questions what students learn.

Lastly, I believe that lifelong learning is a form of education that is self-directed and initiated. Such training focuses on personal growth and development. Lifelong learning occurs outside formal learning institutions and is inspired by the surroundings. Lifelong learning stops when one dies and one could use it to improve themselves.

In conclusion, adult learning could include formal or lifelong learning. Adults face different challenges as they learn with most issues ranging from lack of education-life balance, reduced motivation, and social fears. The conclusion derived from this analysis is that adults can learn in either formal or informal settings, and they should be guided to enhance concentration and morale.

References

Ark, T. V. (2017). 10 current and emerging trends in adult learning | Getting smart. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/09/10-current-and-emerging-trends-in-adult-learning/

Vanslambrouck, S., Zhu, C., Pynoo, B., Thomas, V., Lombaerts, K., & Tondeur, J. (2019). An in-depth analysis of adult students in blended environments: Do they regulate their learning in an ‘old school’ way? Computers & Education, 128, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.008