Adult Education the Ideal Application

Adult Education

The ideal application of Responsible Practice:

The basis of all education lies in the application of what one has learned in the form of a social action. Max Weber is perhaps the pioneer of all of the foundations of social action that have been laid down both in psychology and philosophy. He was the first to declare that all of the society's cultures and structures are designed by and developed around the actions of the individuals of the society. Hence, it is perhaps of the highest importance that the adults and individuals of a society learn and are taught how and why they need to be responsible.

Perhaps one of the biggest tasks of responsible practice is to know what you're practicing. Ignorance or lack of sufficient knowledge about a task at hand can not only impact the outcome of the task on the individual and the society but can also impact the overall confidence and esteem of the individual. Hence, it is important that all adult education is not only restricted to the specifications of the dos and don'ts of the subject that is being taught but should also entail the encouragement of the use of common sense and general awareness of the surroundings.

Furthermore, it is imperative for the individual to feel a natural connection and responsibility towards the society that he/she is growing up in. he/she should realize the ethics and morals of the society and not try to divert his actions from the ethical and moral boundaries that have already been set by the society at large. Furthermore, the individual should also feel a sense of obligation to help in the growth of the economy by being loyal to his own field and work.

Responsible practice and the adult education that promotes responsible practice needs to also help the individual in creating and sustaining good and efficient relationships with other integral individual, institutions and organizations of the society. Any relationship needs a certain level of cooperation, interdependence, hard work, trust, mutual respect, coordination with all other aspects of life, etc. Similarly, the practice of all educational knowledge needs a high level of hard work and mutual respect between the individual and the institution or the organization of the society. The individual needs to be able to balance his personal life/relationships as well as his/her professional responsibilities. If and when the individual keeps his responsibility and ethics of the society in check with his own abilities and input, the overall attitude and behavior of the individual would reflect his/her choice of responsible practice.

The practical application of Responsible Practice:

In an ideal world, all of the above characteristics would be easily and readily available. The fact of the matter, however, is that the reality of the social structures in the world today makes the ideal scenario a little difficult to consistently and globally exist. I can only refer to my own practical application with full authority and compare the similarities and dissimilarities between the ideal application of responsible practice and its practical application in my life.

I do feel that I am personally a very hard worker, have relentless dedication and am always willing to learn. This was perhaps my biggest advantage when getting my degree, however, in hindsight, I do believe that it has been these three aforementioned traits that have helped me get as close as I could to the ideal of responsible practice. For case in point, I will relate a recent incident when I was part of a media coverage team of an event and had the responsibility of managing a team of 5 people and delegating responsibility. The team was made up of eager interns who were very willing to learn. The early mornings and the late nights, however, were unanticipated parts of the job that they weren't willing to comply with. My own dedication to the work was one of the reasons that I felt it was my responsibility to pick the slack that was caused due to their lack of willingness to burn oil at both ends. However, a week after the pattern of my working at both the early hours of the day and the later hours of the night, I began to see a change in the willingness of the interns on showing up early and staying late. Even though the change wasn't drastic, overnight or one that allowed me to change my pattern of work, it was still enough to unstill in the interns a sense of awareness of their responsibilities as well as a respect for the nature of the job as well as for me.

The one thing that is perhaps more difficult to attain in today's society is the mutual interdependence between the individual and the organization. The current pattern of the business world today is in the consistent fluctuation of resources i.e. employees. This simply means that the belief nowadays is that while the experienced employees are preferred, the new technological advancements force the organizations to move towards the recruitment of fresh graduates. This leaves very little job security for any and every employee. I personally feel that I want to work in an organization that not only appreciates my work but shows it by giving me a good overall working package and improving it with the passage of time. This is one of the main reasons why I have had three different jobs in the past 8 years. In an ideal world, however, the elements of loyalty and interdependence are more important to the success of responsible practice by the individual and organization while in reality responsible practice is no longer a collective action but is more of an individual choice.

Characteristics of Institutions:

In order to understand the characteristics of the institutions that impact the responsible practice of the adults in the society, it is first imperative to understand the meaning and role of the institutions within a society. Normally, the institutions within a society denote the regulations and the restrictions that are imposed within the society to ensure a certain pattern of lifestyle and sustainability. Also, institutions are often used as synonyms for the concept of organizations within a society i.e. schools, businesses, government offices, political groups, public and private companies, etc.

There are many different kinds of institutions all with different kinds of characteristics and structures that impact the individual and society at different levels and in different ways. For example, the two main forms of institutions when understanding them as regulations are: 1) personal 2) social. Both are independent of each other i.e. The personal institutions structure the abilities, hobbies, likes and dislikes, opinions and attitudes of the individuals while the social institutions are responsible for the social interaction of the individual within a specified and controlled environment. Yes the personal institution of an individual may have an influence on his/her social institution but that is not always true as the social institutions includes organizations like schools and businesses which serve as teaching outlets for the individual to fully explore their potential. So in essence, the personal and social institutions separately can teach the individual different methodologies of how and why they should practice what they have learned in responsible manner.

The barriers however posed include the context in which social institutions work. The main downside for most educational institutions, for instance, nowadays is that they take into account the level of adjustment that an individual within the realm of a subject and promote the individual into excelling in that subject alone. For example, a mathematical genius is never asked or expected to improve his/her overall communication, writing or art skills just like a mass communication major is never asked to sharpen his/her mathematical understanding. This restricts the abilities of the individuals within the spheres that are determined by the parents, families or teachers of the individual and not individual.

Furthermore, it is important to note here that the legislature of a society is also an institution, and, while the political parties and economic groups all have formal rules and regulations in place, these formal laws promote certain norms and practices in the society that affect their approach towards acting responsibly in different scenarios. This can help in the consistent growth of awareness and astute application of the tasks and responsibilities of the different sectors within the society. So while these laws and their implementation helps in creating a consistency and stability in the activities of the society as well as provides a sense of security in monotony, it does simultaneously take a toll on the financial settings of a society. This simply means that the maintenance of institutions can be very costly and hence can also result in low-income jobs. This can result in individuals slacking or being ignorant of the responsibilities that they have towards themselves as well as the society at large.

Characteristics of the Organization:

The organizations within a society comprise of departments that are made for the provision of basic services to the society and its growth. As aforementioned, the organizations within a society comprise of schools, universities, businesses, government bodies and offices, political groups, NGOs, public and private sector organizations, etc. The primary purposes of these organizations are to tackle the daily problems as well as the long-term issues within a society that will help it grow, sustain and succeed. Keeping the diverse nature of the organizations in mind it is only common sense to know that each organization will have a different set of policies that will have diverse impacts on the society. It is important to note here that the policies though might be different but they are formed under the umbrella of an accepted set of rules.

These organizations perhaps play the major part in how an individual or a society acts upon what they have learned or what they know in a responsible manner. The main element within organizations that needs to be studied is the relationship between the different employees within the organization as well as all the other peripheries like the resources, the clients and the franchises. The main responsibility and trust between and amongst the different structures of the society is developed and sustained within the relationship of the different participants of the organization. This then develops into mutual interdependence and loyalty over a span of time. One of the main educational ideas that are practiced within these organizations is the realization and the establishment of common goals and objectives. Once the common goals have been established within a relationship, it becomes easier to remain associated and work together in order to grow and succeed within the boundaries of responsible individual and social actions.

One of the biggest barriers that the policies of the organizations pose towards practicing what has been learned in a responsible manner is the constant development of newer technologies. The newer technologies increase the overall competition amongst the different organizations as they strive to retain and expand their client base within different societies. While this rise in competition is great for the growth of the organization but the overall impact on the society is not the best because familiarity with newer technology is preferred over experience, low-income jobs increase, prices rise, the motivations for workers to work decreases as the work gets more complicated, etc. All of these factors result in the pursuance of personal goals and not collective goals which dampens the overall responsibility that the individual has towards the society. What characteristics of the organization support you or pose barriers in practicing responsibly?

Characteristics of the Individual:

There are many characteristics of the individual that affect his/her overall application of everything that he/she has learned because the main element behind the success of a responsible action is the choices made by the individual. So below are explanations of the some of the elements that help and hinder the success of a responsible action.

The first and perhaps the most important is the ability of the individual to recognize his/her personal identity. There are still many students and still many professionals who manage to act responsibly but do it based on obligation not on dedication. This is so because they haven't been able to clearly identify who they are as people, what are their personal goals and objectives, what they from their lives and abilities in order to be satisfied and happy with what they give back. This is partially the impact that the influence of the environment and families that makes the individual blend with the wants of other instead of his or her personal wants. There is really no instruction that can be given in order to help an individual recognize their identity; it has to be an internal and personalized effort.

Another main hurdle that the personal characteristics pose is the existence of low self-esteem issues. Most individuals, especially in the modern world, are prone to suffering from low-self-esteem issues. This can be for various reasons like low-grades, increasing competition, preference of one individual over the other, media-projected images of success or what's right, little to no respect from peers, very limited freedom of work, little to no delegating responsibilities, rejection from colleagues, etc. However, there are many studies that are being conducted and efforts are being made so that the self-esteem issues of individuals can be resolved as soon as they have been spotted.

Perhaps the biggest factor that can help an individual act responsibly with his knowledge and abilities is the self-confidence that he/she has in himself/herself. To build the self-confidence of the students is one of the aims of educational procedures like debates and/or presentations that are conducted within a classroom setting or within firms. The confidence in one's abilities makes the individual more comfortable in applying the knowledge that he/she has gained in a proper manner and a responsible way that would help both the individual and the society to grow and succeed together.

Another major element that can help an individual practice what he has learned responsibly is the element of analyses or assessment that an individual possesses. This particular element is important because this alone can help the individual to distinguish between the necessities of a task from the elements that are neither helpful nor hindering. Furthermore, the individual can also assess the structure of the task and the objective so that the expected results of any task can be clearly aimed for and achieved. This helps the individual in determining what results will or won't be beneficial social actions and then take necessary steps to avoid all the results that would be irresponsible to attain on his/her part and/or would be harmful for the society.

Impact of the interactive or contradictory forces on responsible practice: