A competent workforce is a guarantee of success for any country this is why education is a number one issue to deal with when striving for economic prosperity. In the world of limited working places and high competitiveness in the labor market adult education is gaining more and more popularity. The modern adult learning programs “are promoting strong linkage with business and industry and argue for lifelong learning to increase human capital and maintain a competitive edge in the globalized marketplace” (Merriam, Courtenay, & Cervero, 2006, p. 113). Adult Basic Education is one of the programs which prepare adult learners for acquiring new professions through improving their workplace literacy and professional skills. The interview with the ABE program administrator has revealed the funding sources of this program, as well as determined the program success and the contribution of the program influences into responding to globalization.
Any educational program requires certain funding which the program manager has to apply for. ABE program administrator has shared this information during the interview stating that the program in question succeeds in obtaining the grant from the U.S. Department of Education annually: “In every five-year funding cycle our program receives certain foundation funding which is necessary to launch the program. Since the importance of adult education is ever-increasing, our program is never denied in funding” (Interview with Steinberg, 2009). Funding accounts for several learning activities which the program offers to its learners with both stakeholders and target learners recognizing the necessity of the program for preparing the adults for further employment.
Reporting about the performance is also significant for the program management. The interviewee has admitted that one of the aims of the program is to develop an efficient accountability system which consists in reporting about the success of the program and its level of performance: “One of our major goals is to create an adult education system which will be based on performance. At this, not only the students’ performance, but the instructors’ competency has to be evaluated” (Interview with Steinberg, 2009). Thus, the accountability system is responsible for reporting about the students’ performance and the instructors’ competency which help to measure the success of the program.
As discovered in the course of the interview, the ABE education curriculum has undergone certain changes in the light of globalization. The interviewee has noted that the curriculum is likely to experience further changes due to the society’s rising awareness of the social injustice issues: “More and more emphasis is placed today on the holistic and inclusive approaches with the curriculum designers turning special attention to cultural awareness, as well as to the fight with racial, gender, religious, and any other kind of discrimination” (Interview with Steinberg, 2009). Academic programs aim at integrating these issues and at making learning easily accessible to everyone “who seeks relevant and high-quality educational programs, programs that honor all forms of knowledge and support learners in adding new knowledge to that already in use in their lives” (Merriam et al., 2006, p. 103). These influences have significantly modified the program under consideration.
These modifications, however, have been mostly beneficial for they enabled trainers and facilitators to respond to globalization. Making the curriculum more oriented towards the fight with social injustice gave the instructors a possibility to “furnish learners with the skills and knowledge they need to function in a competitive marketplace” (Merriam et al., 2006, p. 113). Globalization has brought severe competition to the labor market and made job opportunities dependent on the social status: “Whether the workforce is competent and qualified depends significantly on its access to proper education. Our program aims at finding solutions to this problem trying to promote social equity and make the population equally educated” (Interview with Steinberg, 2009). Therefore, ABE’s response to globalization consists in orienting its curriculum towards the fight with social injustice.
In sum, adult education programs are beneficial for those who seek for transition to post-secondary education. As discovered, such programs as ABE can facilitate this transition and, if properly funded, are quite successful in not only giving the learners proper level of education, but in responding to globalization through incorporating the fight with social injustice into the curriculum.
Reference
Merriam, S.B., Courtenay, B.C., & Cervero, R.M. (2006). Global issues and adult education: perspectives from Latin America, Southern Africa, and the United States. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Steinberg, B.M. (2009). ABE Administrator, Adult Basic Education Program. Interview.