Adult education Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adult education - Assignment Example The adult learner shall have developed a different perspective to learning and shall have garnered skills and experience from social and professional interactions. Based on the differences between adult and initial education, special challenges exist that face adult learners and formal policies towards learning strategies are necessary for efficient adult learning. This paper explores the scope of adult learning and its associated challenges and strategies with the aim of recommending a suitable strategy to the Office of Vocational and Adult Education for policy development. This aims at improving benefits of adult education to learners. Adult education: special needs Dynamism of adult learning over the past decades identifies the need for periodic changes in the scope of adult education that offers diversified utility to learners such achieved transformation through self-reflection and development of new knowledge base. The learning process however needs to consider special needs am ong learners. A rich knowledge base has been developed on adult learning mechanism to facilitate identification and management of the needs. Unlike young learners in initial learning frameworks, adult learners are slow in conceptualization and knowledge development. This means longer time in a learning process and possible needs for empowerment to aid the speed of learning. The adults are however able to compensate for this weakness through their vast experience and through effective time management. Differences in visual potentials across age also identify special needs among adult learners. While human development occurs with age, vision begins to decline after the age of 18 year. The decline is gradual until the age of 40 at which the rate of decline increases and means age is a factor to needs among adult learners. Hearing potential also decline among adult learners though this occurs at late ages and hearing aids may be used to facilitate learning processes. Adults also report memory problems during their learning but the problem is less significant in contextual learning (Florida State University, n.d.). Assumptions of adult learning Basic assumptions to adults learning are another set of important factors, to adult education, that educators and policy makers need to consider for successful learning processes. Learners’ self-concept that changes with age explains a transition from nature of learning among young people in initial learning environments. A level of maturity is evident among adult learners who prefer a more independent approach to learning. There is change from dependence on learning environment to a self-reliant approach in which an adult learner is an independent and active party to the learning process. Understanding the shift in self-concept is important among educators because implementing a learning strategy that fails to recognize a learner’s desired level of independence may communicate oppression and compromise effecti veness of the learning process. Transitions across cognitive development stages supports validity of the change in self-concept at adult learning stage because each developmental stage marks increased learning potential that identifies learners abilities to learn on their own. The cognitive development theory supports independence potential by early adulthood and while level of learners’ required independence may vary across age, it is significant among adult learners (Florida State University, n.d.). Adult learning also holds the assumption of significance of learners’ experience that plays to major roles in education. Having interacted with social and professional environments, adult learners