The study of educating and training adults who have reached maturity is known as adult education. It covers general education, occupational training, and even formal, informal, and non-formal education.
Adult Education participants often have a minimum age of 25 and enroll to improve their chances of employment, develop particular skills required for a shift in caregiving, etc.
All educational levels, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees, offer adult education. Professional Success, Adult Learning Theory, Learning Styles, Critical Thinking, Communication, Social Sciences, Family Literacy, Technology in Education, etc. are examples of typical curriculum topics.
When selecting a degree in adult education, you should exercise caution because some programs specialize in preparing students to become teachers or adult educators.
Always make sure the course material is in line with your academic and professional objectives. Adult education instructors may work in a variety of contexts, such as corporate training, professional development, community colleges, nonprofit organizations, or human services. Graduates of several programs are also eligible to teach in their chosen fields, including EMT (emergency medical technician), health, life coaching, and others.
Types of Adult Education
Adult education can be divided into the following categories:
1. Technical, professional, and occupational training. (Such education may aim at preparing an adult for a first job or a new job, or it may aim at keeping him up to date on new developments in his occupation or profession.)
2. Education in health, welfare, and family life. (Such education includes all kinds of education in health, family relations, consumer buying, planned parenthood, hygiene, child care, and the like.)
3. Education in civic, political, and social competence. (Such education includes all kinds of education relating to government, community development, public and international affairs, voting and political participation, and so forth.)
4. Education for “self-fulfillment.” A short-term or long-term education in music, the arts, dance, theater, literature, and crafts are all included in this type of training. These programs emphasize learning for the sake of learning rather than achieving the objectives outlined in the other categories.)
5. Remedial education: instruction in literacy and the essentials. (Such education is a prerequisite for all other kinds of adult education and thus, as a category, stands somewhat apart from the other types of adult education.)
Regarding the fifth category, adults frequently have to make up for deficiencies in their earlier schooling. If these deficiencies are not addressed, they will prevent access to “adult” modes of education—that is, adult in terms of sophistication in contemporary culture rather than age. The need for such remedial education is greatest in cultures that are transitioning quickly from a subsistence to an industrial economy while also undergoing simultaneous political and social change. In these countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, mass literacy takes on a new significance, and the implementation of universal basic education turns into a societal necessity.
Governments must make an effort to provide parallel facilities for adults to avoid a “generation gap” in reading comprehension and education while a successful school system is being developed for the young. Opportunities for higher education or even secondary education are unequal among diverse regional, professional, and socioeconomic groups even in nations with developed early education systems. As a result, there are adult education programs for finishing high school or being ready for tests typically administered after secondary school.