ERIC Number: ED537666
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec-1
Pages: 44
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Review and Critique of the 2008 United States "National Report on the Development and State of the Art of Adult Learning and Education" (ALE)
Hill, Robert J.; Daigle, Elizabeth Anne; Graybeal, Lesley; Walker, Wayland; Avalon, Christian; Fowler, Nan; Massey, Michael W.
Online Submission
This study is a review and a critique of the 2008 U.S. "National Report on the Development and State of the Art of Adult Learning and Education" (ALE) prepared by the U.S. Commission for UNESCO and the U.S. Department of Education as a preparatory document for CONFINTEA VI, the 6th International Conference on Adult Education. The study focuses on three arenas: the Participatory Process employed to gather data for the U.S. "National Report," the report's Content, and the Education Policies underpinning it. Key to the review and critique are the recommendations that both the Regional Conference (U.S., Canada, Europe, and Israel) in Budapest, Hungary, December 3-5, 2008, and CONFINTEA VI (Belem, Brazil), May 2009, move beyond the limitations found in the U.S. "National Report." Process. The U.S. National Commission neglected the participatory process designed by UNESCO to make the writing of the "National Report" itself an exercise in collaboration and adult learning. Instead of employing participatory mechanisms to build consensus and to craft a comprehensive policy document, the U.S. National Report borrowed from three existing reports previously prepared by and for national agencies. Non-government organizations' responses were attached as the fourth of four stand-alone, unintegrated "chapters." Content. The U.S. "National Report" addresses few of the requisite content arenas. The subject matter of the U.S. "National Report" is determined to be inadequate. Adult education, a bright and vibrant field in the United States, is reduced to two sub-fields, adult basic education and English language acquisition for non-native speakers. Policy. The public policy that is implicit in the U.S. "National Report" is an economistic, neoliberal policy designed to remediate defective low-wage workers; other human values are displaced in favor of an ideology of workforce education. Appended is: The United States Federal Government and Adult Learning and Education: Policies For People or For Profits? A Brief History. (Contains 4 notes.)
Descriptors: Adult Basic Education, Adult Learning, Politics of Education, Public Policy, Federal Government, Educational Development, Annual Reports, Educational Policy, Participation, Content Analysis, Conferences (Gatherings), Criticism, Adult Education, Review (Reexamination), Research Methodology, Writing Processes, Research Reports, Educational Practices
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Basic Education; Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A