Bailey and Cervero's contributions to adult education

Education

According to Baily & Cervero race is a "central location for the negotiation of power and privilege in education and in society," (p. 35). The way race has been construed in education has not changed appreciably, even with diversity awareness. Whiteness continues to be normative, note Baily & Cervero. Non-white "races" are viewed as Other within the prevailing simplistic construct of diversity. Although Baily & Cervero present a generalization of how diversity factors influence student learning, this central concept of race does govern education and forms the basis of social, political, and economic functioning.

Several pedagogical models have addressed the need to eliminate discrimination in education. However, few have eliminated the root cause of the problem: normative whiteness. Multicultural education and diversity awareness offer insights into how individuals can function fully in a diverse society. Some theorists have proposed psychological insights into the causes of prejudice, while others push for more comprehensive and radical transformations to the social, political, and economic infrastructure (Baily & Cervero p. 38).

Baily & Cervero comment on three general categories of race as it manifests in educational discourse. The first is a color-blind perspective that sufficiently ignores race as well as the problems associated with race. The basic norms and assumptions embedded in color-blind educational literature are emblematic of white power and privilege. Assuming that all students are equal dangerously avoids the reality that non-white students are systematically excluded.

Multiculturalism is a second educational perspective that includes awareness of diversity as a core educational philosophy. A third educational perspective banks on social justice as a viable model for guiding adult education. Social and economic class status and gender are included in social justice discourse. Baily & Cervero claim that both the multicultural and the color-blind perspectives are insufficient for addressing the real needs of adult students to navigate an inherently biased world. Only the radically new perspectives offered by social justice theorists can help create a more egalitarian society. Generalizing about how diversity factors influence student learning becomes not only unnecessary but also harmful. Race is not a biological reality, instead it is a social construct (Baily & Cervero). The color-blind and multicultural perspectives are still widely practiced in adult education. Unfortunately outmoded, those theories generalize the experience of all non-white groups as being Other and therefore inferior.

Overcoming the current problems in adult education involves deep structural changes to adult education. Discovering and refining the "hidden curriculum" is one of the most important steps educators can take (Baily & Cervero). Critical analysis of educational literature can help foster awareness of how white power and privilege are embedded and reinforced continually. As awareness of how inequity is embedded in the fundamental assumptions of academic discourse dawns on students, they will become self-empowered. Their analysis of the hidden curriculum in school will enable a critique of the culture and its mainstream media.