History of Adult/Community Education: 1980s - Shane Webster

History of Adult/Community Education: 1980s

Shane Webster

Ball State University

EDAC 631 Adult & Community Education

September 10, 2019

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History of Adult/Community Education: 1980s

The 1980s was a period of major political change, in the United States, and on a global scale.  President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, has been voted into office and leads the nation from 1981 to 1989 (Ronald Reagan, 2006).  During his presidency, Reaganomics was a popular coined term due to his pursuit of economic reform and the balancing of the budget.  The “trickle-down economy” was sought during this time. 

During the early 1980s, the threat of a “nuclear winter” between the United States and Russia is at its height, leading to public demonstrations and uprisings among both nations (Rubinson, 2014).  Eventually this leads to the end of the cold war, the fall of communism, and the removal of the Berlin wall signaling the unification of Germany. 

The United States economy is feeling the impact in one its deepest economic recessions since the great depression.  From 1973-1980, over four million jobs have been removed from the U.S. and transferred overseas (Amistad, 2009).  Society in the 1980s is feeling the after effects of the drug revolution in the 60s and 70s.  There is now a significant public advancement in the deterrence of drug use and the First Lady is the driving force behind the “Just Say No” campaign (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 1994). 

Highlights

In 1985, Live-Aid concert is held advocating awareness of famine in Ethiopia.  This is one of the largest and most successful media campaigns of it’s time.  Live Aid captivated 1.5 billion people through television media and the performances of over 60 popular artists of the time period (Goldberg, 1985).  Queen reunites with front man Freddie Mercury for this epic concert.  Aside from a memorable performance, the significance behind the Queen performance is that Mercury was diagnosed with HIV in the early 1980s and in later years, dies of AIDS, another popular topic of concern among society during this time period. 

The 1980s proved to be a history-making turn for the upcoming digital age.  In 1981, Microsoft releases the first operating software for the personal computer (Zachary & Hall, 2018).  While MS-DOS is the pioneering firmware for personal computers, Microsoft initiates a major technological modification by releasing Windows 1.0 in 1985 (Zachary & Hall, 2018).  Apple II is considered the most popular personal computer, to be surpassed in popularity by IBM and other personal computers that utilize Windows.  The cell phone is developed during the 1980s, although did not reach popularity until the latter decade.  Driven by the research of Malcolm Knowles and digital technology, the University of Phoenix establishes the first fully online format where students can earn their bachelor’s or master’s degrees (Championing the success and goals of adult students, n.d.).

Influential Factors

While starting his research in adult education in the 1950s, Malcom Knowles, and his study of adult education, had influential impacts during the 1980s.  One of the most notable contributions Knowles provided to adult education was the theory of andragogy (Bates, 2009).  While the theory of andragogy pre-dates Knowles by centuries, he is considered the father of andragogy due to his contrast with pedagogy, where by adults are self-directed, intrinsically motivated and assume responsibility for their own education (Loeng, 2018). 

Stephen Brookfield is another major contributor to adult education in the late 1980s.  In 1987, Brookfield published Developing Critical Thinkers: Challenging Adults to Explore Alternative Ways of Thinking and Acting.  In this book, Brookfield discusses four major areas to apply critical thinking skills in the life of an adult.  These four areas include: intimate relationships, workplace interaction, political and mass media influence (Brookfield, 1987).  The influence of mass media will have a larger impact as media evolves throughout later decades. 

Kathryn Patricia Cross is another well-known contributor to adult education in the 1980s.  In 1981, Cross publishes the book Adults as Learners.  In her book, Cross distinguishes the differences in adult needs based on experience, age, challenge and choice (Culatta, 2019).  This is a drastic change from the structured, rigid curriculum currently administered. 

The Vocational Education Act of 1984, or the Perkins Act, was designed to provide additional funding for vocational education programs with emphasis placed upon support of special population/needs students.  The overarching goals was to connect students with learning, mental and physical disabilities with the vocational fields (Perkins & Dewey, 1984).  The Perkins Act was also designed to assist adults with vocational retraining and re-training to accommodate the changing workforce. 

Implications

The Perkins Act has been amended many times over since it’s conception, yet the premise behind the Act remains true to the design.  The term “vocational” has now been replaced with “career and technical education” and there is a deeper connection between secondary, post-secondary and field professionals.  The research and publications of Knowles, Brookfield and Cross set the stage as to what common day adult education looks like.  Their contributions differentiate the difference between what we see in k-12 education vs post-secondary, regardless of the formatting. 

Microsoft and Apple develop technology that will evolve, making it the greatest product to shape adult education as we know it today.  Computers, software, Microsoft office, iPhone/iPad, the internet, and a plethora of other digital products allow adult education to take place on a scale previously not fathomed.  The 1980s gave birth to the information age, and through technological evolution, allows participation in adult education to further expand, develop, and shape the future. 

Table 1. Summary of the History of Adult/Community Education:1980s

Areas                                                                                 Summary

Social background            Political Change/Communism Falls/Jobs going overseas

Highlights                         Global-scale media/Enter digital era

Influential Factors           Pedagogy vs Andragogy/Perkins/Curriculum shift

Implications                    Roots for current tech in education/Stages social media trends

       References

Amistad Digital Resource. (2009). Social and Economic Issues of the 1980s and 1990s. Retrieved from http://www.amistadresource.org/the_future_in_the_present/social_and_economic_issues.html

Bates, C. (2009). Malcolm Knowles (1913 - 1997) . Retrieved from http://web.utk.edu/~start6/knowles/malcolm_knowles.html

Brookfield, S. D. (1987). The Jossey-Bass higher education series and the Jossey-Bass management series. Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. San Francisco, CA, US: Jossey-Bass.

Championing the success and goals of adult students. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.phoenix.edu/about_us/about_university_of_phoenix.html

Culatta, R. (2019). Adult Learning (K. P. Cross). Retrieved from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/adult-learning/

Goldberg, M. (1985, August 16). Live Aid 1985: The Day the World Rocked. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/live-aid-1985-the-day-the-world-rocked-180152/

Goode, E., & Ben-Yehuda, N. (1994). The American Drug Panic of the 1980s. Retrieved from http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/panic.htm

Loeng, S. (2018). Various ways of understanding the concept of andragogy. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1496643. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1496643

Perkins, C. D., & Dewey, C. (1984, October 19). H.R.4164 - 98th Congress (1983-1984): Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/house-bill/4164

Ronald Reagan. (2006). Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/ronald-reagan/

Rubinson, P. (2014). The global effects of nuclear winter: science and antinuclear protest in the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Cold War History, 14(1), 47–69. https://doi-org.proxy.bsu.edu/10.1080/14682745.2012.759560

Zachary, G. P., & Hall, M. (2018, November). Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Microsoft-Corporation