The purpose of this course is to help you become familiar with issues that are prominent in or otherwise important to the field of adult education. The first thing I need to clarify is what I mean by an issue.

What is an Issue?

The Free Dictionary (n.d.-a) defines "issue" as "an important question that is in dispute and must be settled." An issue is somewhat different from a "problem," which is defined as "a state of difficulty that needs to be resolved" (The Free Dictionary, n.d.-b).

There are many problems in adult education: low levels of participation, lack of access to educational opportunities, variable quality of services, lack of agreement within the field on key questions, etc. I'm sure you could add to this list. These are all problems that everyone can agree exist in the field and/or in society.

While most educators would agree that these are problems, they would NOT all agree on how they should be addressed. A problem becomes an issue when there is disagreement among those involved about the causes of the problem, about who has responsibility for the problem, and about the best way to solve it. What we will be learning and talking about in this course, then, are problems that those in the field generally agree are problems, but about which there is yet some dispute regarding causes, responsibility, implications, and/or solutions.

Additionally, because both problems and issues develop within specific historical and social contexts, we will be looking at the historical and social dimensions of several major issues. Not surprisingly, WHICH issues deserve time and attention is itself an issue. In identifying which issues we will examine in this course I have applied several criteria:

• The prominence of the issue in the literature (both adult education literature and that from related fields).
• My informed opinion (based on knowledge, experience, and professional philosophy) of the impact of the issue on educators, learners, the field, and the larger society.
• My assessment of the issue as a focus for thinking and discussion that will both sharpen and expand your ability to think and act as a "fully conscious, historical human being" who acts in the role of an adult educator. (I'll explain what I mean by the term "fully conscious, historical human being" later.)

Specifically, we will be examining issues related to the following overarching questions:

• What are the proper purposes of adult education?
• Who should be served?
• How should they be served (for example in terms of the relationship between teacher and student)?
• Who should decide (and who has the power to decide) the answers to the above questions?

Although you have been introduced to these questions in other courses, here we'll focus on them with specific application to five themes:

• Foundations of Adult Education and Alternative Adult Education
• Changing Perspectives on social and historical issues in Adult Education
• Experience and Learning

• Power in Adult Education Practice
• Technology, Precarity, and Adult Education

Although the issues themselves will seem somewhat familiar since you were introduced to them in ADTED 460, by this point in the program you should be able to take a more sophisticated approach to them. It's particularly important for you to make connections to your own practice context since these connections will be different for each person.

References

The Free Dictionary. (n.d.-a). Issue. In The Free Dictionary. Retrieved January 5, 2022, from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/issue