Issue 1 | Volume 1 | Spring 2017
Commission on Community, Minority, & Non-Formal Education newsletter
Exploring the Interconnectedness of Community, Minority, & non-Formal Education As the newest director for the Commission on Community, Minority, and Non-Formal Education (CCMNFE), which is part of the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), I often reflect upon the areas of focus that our group encompasses. These areas of focus have their own dimensions of practice which makes each unique as well as having themes that intertwine and unite us as educators of adults. The history of Community education is diverse and spans across many aspects of human development. “Adult education has long been recognized as a key element in successful community development” (Ross-Gordon, Rose, & Kasworm, 2017, p. 358). Programs offered within communities are often non-formal and focus on promoting personal and social change. Knowledge sharing is at the heart of community education. Adult learning influences community well-being in many ways. According to the 3rd Global Report on Adult Learning and Education from the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning), there are links between community education and improved health outcomes, cultural development, civic participation, environmental awareness, and a reduction in crime rates (UNESCO, 2016). Many studies have found that there are improved social outcomes when community members have access to literacy, life skills, and arts education (UNESCO, 2016). Non-formal education is any educational activity that is outside of the formal educational system. Most formal education occurs within schools and employment institutions while communities connect with non-formal education. Non-formal education provides learning opportunities for all citizens, not just those who are associated with formal institutions. Participation is the foundation upon which community learning resides. Equal participation is essential for promoting the health and welfare of a community. Non-formal learning provides an important foundation for access to education for communities. The outcomes of community-based education affect individuals, groups, and communities. “Adult education oriented towards social justice typically aims also to make sure that all individuals have equitable access to education and opportunities for success” (Ross-Gordon, Rose, & Kasworm, 2017 p. 364). It is in this aspect and with consideration of equal access to participate in community education that the importance of minority education is integral within every community. When community members have access to inter-cultural learning, there are opportunities for increased understanding and promoting acceptance of a diversity of beliefs and attitudes. Education for communities must incorporate themes of equality and respect and reflect the needs of the minority citizens instead of serving only to absorb them into the practices and beliefs of the majority in the community (UNESCO, 2016). We must sew the threads of the minority perspective into the fabric of the community, allowing for practicing and identifying with familiar traditions and knowledge sharing. The UNESCO (2016) report suggests that there is no universal agreement on a definition of minorities, however, the common theme of importance is that the perspectives of minority communities should be understood by their nationality, ethnicity, religion or language, and in the terms of how they are marginalized politically, economically and socially. (UNESCO, 2016). The importance for understanding and promoting minority rights is increasing in our society and community education is an integral aspect of generating acceptance of diversity and minority rights. The focus of the Community, Minority, and Non-Formal education (CCMNFE) commission within AAACE is to promote lifelong learning for all community members. It is our goal to promote personal growth, inquiry and collaboration across a wide range of disciplines and to foster community learning where all are welcome and celebrated. Contributed by: Dr. Jacqueline M. McGinty, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. jmcginty@iup.edu References Ross-Gordon, J.M., Rose, A.D., & Kasowrm, C.E. (2017) Foundations of Adult and Continuing Education . San Francisco, CA: Wiley. UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (2016), 3rd Global Report on Adult Learning and Education. Retrieved from: http://uil.unesco.org/system/files/grale-3.pdf .
Habitat for Humanity Fresno County Community Education A culture of life-long learning is at the core of Habitat for Humanity Fresno County (Habitat Fresno). Dedicated to the mission of “building homes, communities, and hope,” Habitat Fresno has served the community for over 30 years by increasing access to safe, decent, affordable housing for low-income families regardless of background. It is the affiliate’s belief that affordable homeownership opportunities help open doors for families such as increased access to education, health care, and financial stability. Education of homeowners, volunteers, donors, and community partners help Habitat Fresno make strides in achieving their mission. Volunteer Education Volunteers are the heart of Habitat Fresno. They spread the word about the organization’s mission, recruit donors and fellow volunteers, educate and advocate for communities in need, and provide labor for the construction site, critical repair program, and thrift store. The affiliate recently established a volunteer committee consisting of staff, volunteers, board members, and other stakeholders charged with being the caretakers of the volunteer experience. The committee relies on the principles of sound instructional design methods to create a consistent, efficient, effective, and relevant volunteer on boarding and training program. The committee is committed to creating a program that minimizes safety risks to the volunteers and the organization, establishes clear guidelines volunteers, and makes the experience fun and relevant. A recent assessment of the construction volunteer program and volunteer motivations revealed that participants come to the program because they desire to give back to the community while learning. Based on this information, the construction staff have incorporated many tenants of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. They read an inspirational quote, pose reflection questions, and offer a time for volunteers to reflect on their experience. Incorporating sound instructional design methods in combination with learning theory, allows Habitat Fresno to create a volunteer experience that is safe and meets the needs of the organization, volunteers, and community. Homeowner Education While volunteer education is critical to ensuring that Habitat Fresno achieves its mission, so is ensuring that families selected to participate in the purchasing process are equipped to be successful homeowners. All families are required to contribute sweat equity hours building their home and attend formal homeownership classes. The sweat equity hours give the homeowners hands on experience with home maintenance, empower them to take care of their home, and build community with the volunteers working beside them. The curriculum for the homeownership classes presently includes financial planning and home maintenance. Like the volunteer program, the Family Services department is presently evaluating course material to meet all Housing and Urban Development and Habitat International guidelines, while incorporating Habitat Fresno homeowner needs. Requiring the homeownership classes as a part of the Habitat purchase experience has been successful so far and has contributed to a less than one percent foreclosure rate. Community Education Because building community is part of the Habitat Fresno mission, the organization is also in the very early phases of developing a program called “HabitatU”. Through “HabitatU,” the affiliate will provide informal and non-formal educational opportunities based on community needs. The aim of the program is for Habitat Fresno to serve as a convener for educational opportunities within the community to increase access to education for all citizens within the community. Providing relevant and impactful learning experiences for adults within the community is critically important to Habitat Fresno’s ability to create a place where everyone has a safe, decent, place to live. Ultimately, community education allows Habitat Fresno to, as the CEO Matthew Grundy likes to say, “Love on people.” Contributed by: Ashley Hedemann Ashley@habitatfresnon.org For more information on Habitat For Humanity Fresno visit www.habitatfresno.org.
Community Education in Practice
Call For Newsletter Submissions The Commission on Community, Minority, and Non-Formal Education (CCMNFE) would like to strengthen our connections between commission members, encourage community participation, generate ideas for increased engagement within our communities, and disseminate research and information related to supporting adult educators who work in the areas of community, minority, and non-formal education. We invite all commission members and any other interested parties to submit articles for the CCMNFE newsletter. Submissions and ideas are accepted year round. Newsletter article submissions and inquiries can be sent to Dr. Jacqueline McGinty at jmcginty@iup.edu
The Multilingual Realities of Adult Education The issue of linguistically diverse adult students cuts across all disciplines. This is the focus of Meeting the Needs of Linguistically Diverse Students at the College Level by Christa de Kleine and Rachele Lawton. Published in 2015 as a white paper for the College Reading and Learning Association, the report lays the groundwork for practices and policies designed to address the multilingual classroom reality in U.S. postsecondary institutions. Facing the realities of facilitating the learning of a linguistically diverse student body means, in part, facing the issue of over-privileging mainstream American English. In the marketplace of ideas, the goal is to communicate the concepts, possibilities, and practical application. Negative attitudes towards speakers of non-mainstream English by instructors can be as damaging as those held by students, pointing out that “teacher discourse about language variation often further fuels the damaging notion that students’ home language varieties are insufficient in the academic setting” (p. 13). Putting a number on our domestic linguistic diversity, de Kleine and Lawton reported that in 2011, 21% of the 291.5 million people aged five and over spoke a language other than English at home (p. 4). Referring to the 2014 version of that American Community Survey, those numbers grew to 33% of the 294.1 million people (“Age”). There is still a missing slice of the linguistically diverse pie: those who speak “a dialect of English different from the mainstream variety of English used in education” (p. 4). The realities of this linguistic diversity are that such diversity is not in itself homogenous, but includes subcategories described as international and immigrant, Generation 1.5, world English, and American-born speakers of non-mainstream English varieties (pp. 5-7). As the authors note in the Executive Summary section of the report, In this paper, we aim to increase overall awareness of linguistic diversity so that policies, pedagogy, and support services may be “linguistically informed.” Finally, we suggest that the success of linguistically diverse students at the college level is an understudied area that warrants more research and attention. More specifically, this paper attempts to answer the following key questions: Why is linguistic diversity important at the college level? Who are linguistically diverse students? What challenges do linguistically diverse students experience in college? What strategies can colleges apply to better support the needs of linguistically7 diverse students? What recommendations should guide the policies and practices? In answering those questions, Meeting the Needs of Linguistically Diverse Students at the College Level not only provides an excellent introduction to the issue, it provides the necessary information to fuel practical action. Contributed by: Vicki Sheri Towne, University of the People, Vicki-Sheri.Towne@uopeople.edu References: De Kleine, C. and Lawton, R. (2015, November). Meeting the Needs of Linguistically Diverse Students at the College Level. Retrieved from College Reading & Learning Association http://www.crla.net/images/whitepaper/Meeting_Needs_of_Diverse_Students.pdf
community, minority, & Non-Formal Education Resources
Issue 1 | Volume 1 | 2017
Proposed study of Black male adult learners within Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) The challenge for postsecondary education is to meet the educational attainment needs of the 21st century adult learner (Gast, 2013; Southern Region Education Board [SREB], 2010). Along the same lines, because of current economic conditions, increasing amounts of adult learners are returning to postsecondary education (Rosser-Mims et. al, 2014). The National Center for Education Statistics predicts the pattern of growth in college enrollment through 2017 among people 25 and over will increase 19% versus 10% for student under 25 (NCE, 2009). Some authors suggest increased adult educational participation represents changing beliefs by adults about the importance of a college credential linked to work stability, financial support, and related life opportunities (Kasworm, 2011). Thus, as enrollments increase the racial demographics of adult learners can increase resulting in the need to advance one’s career. I situate my study of Black male adult learners into existing literature of nontraditional students attending higher education. I position my proposed study within current adult learner literature illustrating a gap in nontraditional student research. I argue adult learner literature excludes the navigation of undergraduate Black male adult learners within Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). In addition, my findings will broaden the literature on non-traditional college students. Although there is increasing amounts of writing discussing the educational experiences of adult learners, there have been limited numbers of studies of African American adult access to and participation within higher education (Kasworm, 2011). In adult education literature, unlike many other disciplines, there is a deficit of publications specifically addressing the Black male (Rosser-Mims et. al 2014). Thus, the educational experiences of Black male adult learners within Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) are limited or unknown. Some authors have investigated the impact of educational narratives on students who return to higher education. Johnson-Bailey & Cervero’s (1996) study examined educational narratives of college reentry Black women and how dynamics of the larger society, negatively affects their lives. The authors argued, when Black women reenter school, power structures based on race, gender, class, and color are present. Coker (2003), suggested, African American female adult learners confronted challenges of balancing work, family, and academic demands. In Coker’s study, self-development was a key motivator to pursue higher education. Coker also illustrated how master narratives reinforced negative stereotypes of Black women and their motivation to challenge and dismiss these perceptions. Authors who have examined Black male adult learners explored their reentry into postsecondary education. In Ross-Mims, et. al., (2014) qualitative study of the experiences of reentry Black male adult learners the authors wanted to give voice to these students lived experiences and how these experiences shape their path to reentering college. In addition, Goings (2015) explored the academic and social experiences of high achieving Black male adult learners who attended a historically Black college and university (HBCU). In his study, Goings indicated, “participants were intrinsically motivated to succeed in college to make a better further for themselves and their families (p.237).” By extending research into Black male adult learners, I will determine how they successfully navigate academically and socially within Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). For postsecondary institutions to meet the educational needs of adult learners, they also need to factor how the ethnicity of these students influences their educational experiences. My primary research question is, How do Black male adult learners navigate academically and socially within Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)? Much has been written on the microaggressions, and discrimination traditional aged Black male students experience within PWIs and how they combat the dominate narratives that marginalize them. I argue that the nuances of microagression, discrimination, and ageism that undergraduate Black male adult learners face are unique and differ from traditional age Black male students. Contributed by Charles Jackson, AAACE Special Interest Group Leader for Minority & Human Rights, jacks252@uadv.msu.edu References Coker, A. D. (2003). African-American female adult learners: Motivations, challenges, and coping strategies. Journal of Black Studies [H.W. Wilson - SSA], 33(5), 654 Gast, A. (2013) Current trends in adult degree programs: How public universities respond to the needs of adult learners. In R. G. White & F. R. DiSilvestro (Eds.), New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education: No. 140. Continuing education in colleges and universities: Challenges and opportunities (pp. 17–25). Goings, R. B. (2016). (Re)defining the Narrative: High-Achieving Nontraditional Black Male Undergraduates at a Historically Black College and University. Adult Education Quarterly, 66(3), 237-253. Johnson-Bailey, J., & Cervero, R. M. (1996). An analysis of the educational narratives of reentry black women. Adult Education Quarterly, 46(3), 142-157. Kasworm, C. (2011). The influence of the knowledge society: Trends in adult higher education. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59(2), 104. National Center for Education Statistics, IES. (2009). Digest of education statistics. Retrieved from website: http://nces.ed.gov.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_200.asp Rosser-Mims, D., Palmer, G. A., & Harroff, P. (2014). The reentry adult college student: An exploration of the Black male experience. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2014 (144), 59-68. Southern Region Education Board (SREB). (2010). A smart move in tough times: How SREB states can strengthen adult learning and the work force. Retrieved from http://publications.sreb.org/2010/10E06_Smart_Move.pdf
Commission Member research highlights
2017 American association of adult and continuing education conference call for proposals
The 2017 AAACE Conference will be held in Memphis Tennessee from October 31st to November 3rd 2017 at the Sheraton Memphis Downtown Hotel. This year's conference theme is "Adult Education: One Chorus of Many Different Voices". The AAACE annual conference offers adult educators a great opportunity to connect with colleagues, showcase their work in the field, and learn about the many facets of adult education. You can submit proposals for concurrent sessions, posters, and round table formats. Proposals must be submitted by April 30th, 2017. For more information, see the conference page on the AAACE website at the following address: http://www.aaace.org/page/2017CFP