Adult Learning: Facilitation Observation Paper Adult learning involves adults engaging in systematic educational activities so as to gain new skills, values, attitudes and knowledge. This is normally done after the years of traditional schooling have passed. The adults may have never had the opportunity to undertake learning in their early stages of life, or a number of circumstances may have forced them not to go to school. Thus, the adults engage in such to fulfill personal long-term literacy goals (Sharan & Brockett, 2007). The art and sciences by which adults are assisted to learn is referred to as andragogy. This is quite different from pedagogy, in that it perceives adults as potential learners in search of learning opportunities, for particular reasons to attain certain goals (Wilmarth, 2010). For adult learning, the learners are free to choose educational activities of their liking, unlike formal learning where the syllabus is kind of fixed. For instance, students in high schools and universities have little say on what they should learn. The curriculum is normally pre-developed by the government and the respective educational institutions, and that is what the teachers follow (Zmeyov, 1998). For the whole duration of the last century, research has been carried out on why adults choose to participate or not participate in adult learning. However, the documented findings lack coherence and the much-needed theoretical framework (Boeren, Nicaise, & Baert, 2010).

I will discuss some observations made in one adult learning program in the East African country of Uganda. First and foremost is the language used. Adult learning programs in Uganda are conducted in the local languages spoken where the learning institutions are located. The country of Uganda has diverse local languages, virtually each region with a different language. Nuwagaba (2005) observed that the larger part of the content taught adults is developed by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (GL&SD). The curriculum integrates reading and writing skills with economical, social and political activities that the learners can relate with. Both men and women enroll for adult learning. The ratio was however unbalanced, being that there were 50 women and 17 men. On top of the basic reading and writing skills, women engaged in cooking activities, whereas the men got involved with business and numeracy skills. The facilitator was from the local community.

The adult learners looked motivated. They had the desire to get at par with the current world, and they knew that this could happen only through education. They however had little confidence because of their illiteracy. Thus, they sought to learn the basic reading and writing skills so as to gain the confidence. Normally, adults readily learn any skills they can use to help solve the challenges they face in life. There has to be a relationship between the content taught and the stage of development of the learner. For instance, it would be unfair to give first year residents a lecture on phacoemulsification with premium intraocular lenses. Third year residents can however benefit from such a lecture (Palis & Quiros, 2014).

The day’s activities were outlined at the beginning of the lecture. This is beneficial to the adults, who normally want to know what they will be learning beforehand. This assumption has the following pedagogical implications:

· The teacher needs to know and comprehend the expectations of the learner. This is best done before any teaching commences. Both the teacher and the students can therefore plan ahead, and more so avoid teaching something that the students already know. The teacher can also avoid teaching a concept too difficult to be grasped by the adult learners. Content can be difficult in two ways: the adult learners may not have the necessary knowledge base or it may not be relevant to the needs of the adult learners.

· Another important item to introduce at the beginning of the lecture is the objectives or goals of that particular lecture. This helps the learners get to know how exactly the lecture will be of benefit to them. At the end of the lecture they can also check whether they have met the objectives as laid out at the beginning.

· A summary of what will be taught presented to the learners at the beginning of the lecture serves as a preview into the lecture.

For the adult learning program in Uganda, the teacher...

The facilitator also mentioned the tasks that would make up each of the listed activities. Such organization seemed fruitful to me because the learners got well prepared for the day’s lessons.
Learning Activities

The adults engaged in learning activities that would improve their functionality both at home and in the community, they come from. These included languages, math, reading and writing and domestic activities. The facilitator would make the necessary follow ups after the lessons. The facilitator also made the adult learners know that he was following the guidelines of the national government regarding what was to be taught. Of course, he had some discussion beforehand with the adult learners on what they would want to learn, but still the ministry guidelines had to be incorporated into their schedule. Even so, some adult learners reported that there was no mutual agreement on what they were learning. The truth on this needs further inquiry.

The activity that consumed the better part of the day was reading and writing. This may partly be attributed to the fact that Ugandan adult learners have a poor background in formal education. Most of the enrollee for the adult education programs are basically seeking to know how to read and write, because they see these skills as very essential in one’s life, especially in today’s world. Numeracy skills was the next item in the list of priority. It is a fact that basic numeracy skills are inevitable in one’s life, being that every individual must be involved in some business of some kind, whether as a buyer or as a seller. Learning of the English language was also a top-priority activity. Being the official communication language for Uganda, it was only wise to improve the adults’ understanding of the language. Cooking lessons were largely perceived as “women activities”. This is common especially among Africans who still hold to their traditional beliefs that draw a line between male and female duties. This can also be the reason why the female learners greatly outnumber their male counterparts.

To sum it up, it was clearly evident that the learning activities were specially tailored to impart the adults with important skills for application in their day to day life.

Theoretical relevance

The major aim for adult education programs is to gear up the adults for social, economic and political development. Thus, you will find most of the programs combining literacy skills with others such as agriculture, health, gender issues, and social interaction skills which the adults find useful. These items dictate the design of the curriculum.

No adult education is relevant unless its learning activities are related to the daily life of the learner. Bhola (1944) supported this idea, and actually defined adult literacy as a combined learning of literacy and economic skills. Such integration goes a long way in helping the adult learners to solve their problems (Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development, 1996). Probak (2004) likewise affirms this, saying that both literate and semi illiterate adults are more captivated by learning activities that are actually part of their daily lives, including money transactions, reading road signs, newspapers, addresses, medicine labels, medical cards, and measurements and calculations, among others.

The perspective of reference group theory

According to this theory, an individual will in most cases identify with a social group to which he belongs, or one which he intends to belong to. The group to which the individual belongs to is referred to as the Normative Reference Group (NRG). The group to which the individual has that desire to belong to is referred to as Comparative Reference Group (CRG) (McGivney 1992). The reference group theory has quite a long history. However, it has not been much applied in adult education. The theory can be used to study the participation or non-participation of adults in adult learning. It also gives reasons as to why individuals may ditch their own interests and work for the benefit of others.

Group Influence on adults

A person may or may not do what his friends are doing. Take for example one adult surrounded with friends who like attending learning programs. There is a high likelihood of this person to sign up for such a programme. On the contrary, if…