Cyril O. Houle Scholarship Program

Monica Arboleda
Colombia

Factors that contribute to harnessing and promoting the transformation
of a social organization into a political organization

This research had the goal of understanding the political participation processes of the Madres Jardineras (Daycare Mothers) and the Madres Comunitarias (Community Mothers) of the locality of Usme, identifying tools and resources such as themes, discourse analysis, alliance strategies, local-national political context, participation strategies, that the women's organizations require to qualify their political responsibilities. The methodology was based in general on a qualitative approach and in specific on studies of narration that are adequate for the reconstruction of experience. Among the methods included in the qualitative approach, the research was guided by the historic hermeneutic method, which has the semi-structured interview and memory workshops as its primary instruments. The population that participated and benefited directly from the project were the women of the organizations: Association of Daycare Mothers (ASOMAJ) and two organizations of Community Mothers (ASIBRU and AURORA). The research was sustained from the epistemological approaches of radical democratic feminism, the psychology of need, and the approximation to the logic of collective action. The principal results produced by the research were the reflection and recognition on the part of the population, as active subjects with a political exercise in public from their female being, of a new public space where the feminine and the masculine have the same possibilities and opportunities, and a pedagogical proposal for adult women with a gender perspective.

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This article shares the results of two studies exploring the phenomenon of women's gender consciousness development in two parts. Part 1 describes a case study investigating the process and results of a corporate women's network charged with improving women's standing in the organization. The network ultimately failed. The findings describe the women's concerns about participating in and sustaining a women's network. They assess the network results against a gender consciousness continuum and propose a model of gender consciousness development. Part 2 reports the findings of an action research project focused on gender consciousness development. Participants were a group of eight women, the majority of whom are employed as family violence prevention and treatment policy makers and service providers in the Midwest. The action research group functioned to reflect on its learning about gender, use new knowledge generated to take action, and return to the group to share learning. Findings show that women's gender consciousness development is impacted by three general experiences. The first is identity development through "the hidden curriculum" that teaches girls and women subordination to the dominant patriarchal system of power. The second element of gender consciousness development involves becoming aware of gendered power relations as described above, critiquing them, and ultimately rejecting them. The third aspect of gender conscious development is connected action. This level assumes that women function with a high level of awareness of gendered power relations and take strategic action to promote change, protect or help women, and teach others to promote more aware and equitable systems. Implications for women and organizations are introduced, and suggestions for future research are made.

Using life histories of non-literate women
in an informal setting to facilitate their literacy process

This study presents a critical reflection on the vulnerability of both the researcher and the researched when an at risk population coping with sensitive issues was researched. In this study of the lives of women who are living in an unsettled, informal environment, the suitability and fit of existing research models to effectively access and reflect the multiple layers of the women's lived experiences came under scrutiny. In an attempt to privilege the women's experiences, multiple data collecting methods were incorporated in the research design. The synergetic relationship between interviews, observations, photography, and drawing as data collection methods are discussed within this specific context. The process of recording the lives of women as community builders in this African setting evolved as collaborative and challenging experiences for both researcher and researched. This is a report on collaborative research and the impact it had on the quality of the research results.

the providers, clientele, needs of the clientele, professional competencies needed by facilitators, constraints faced, general aspects of adult education, and suggestions to improve adult education. Information was gathered through consultative meetings and the use of a self-administered questionnaire to 20 institutions. One hundred practitioners participated in this study from which sixty-six (66%) returned usable questionnaires. The findings of the study show that: (1) all the institutions provided adult education except CARITAS; (2) the clientele include both youths and adults, men and women; (3) the learners' needs which were met to an appreciative extent were problem-solving, farming, coping, writing, resource management, and reading skills; (4) facilitators of adult education needed all the competencies rated in order to teach more effectively; (5) the constraints faced in conducting adult education included a shortage of resources, attitude of people towards adult education, shortage of trained personnel and facilitators in adult education, too broad learning needs, misconception about adult education, current status of adult education, lack of competent leaders in the field of adult education, existence of a gap between practice and research, proliferation of institutions offering adult education, international trends in adult education, and lack of government support; (6) the conception of adult education varied from institution to institution; and (7) there were many ways suggested ,which if adopted, could improve adult education in Swaziland. It is recommended that a national conference on adult education be organised in order to allow representatives from the various institutions to present their institutional position and experiences with adult education and debate whether or not an organ could be created to harmonise and co-ordinate adult education in Swaziland.

Identifying the needs of returning female students
enrolled in distance education programs

Distance learning technologies have the capability to extend opportunities and to alleviate problems for adult women interested in continuing their education at colleges or universities. To create environments that support adult female students in distance learning programs, educators must possess an understanding of the characteristics and needs of these learners. In this study, the researchers conducted focus groups with 40 returning adult women and surveyed 400 male and female students enrolled in distance education courses. Most of these students had returned to college for job-related reasons and were enrolled in distance education courses because of the convenience and flexibility associated with this type of delivery format. The results of the focus groups were analyzed, and the women's needs were grouped into five general categories: needs involving communication with instructors; needs surrounding interactions with other students; needs for technical assistance; needs involving support services provided by the campus; and personal needs, including the support of spouses, family members, and employers. Themes from the focus groups were then used to develop an on-line survey that was administered to 400 men and women enrolled in on-line courses. The survey data were then analyzed and differences in responses by gender were identified in a few areas. Faculty, support staff, and administrators may use the findings of this study to design and implement distance learning programs that meet the needs of adult learners.

A quarter century of African Americans in adult education:
An unheralded presence

This project examined a twenty-five year period of African Americans in Adult Education by accessing the archival holdings of three major data centers: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Moorland-Spingarn Archives, and the Hollis Burke Frissell Library. This study also examined the 1920-1945 issues of The Journal of Negro History and The Journal of Negro Education. The socio-political context of the data was analyzed using a Black feminist theoretical framework. Three themes emerged from the data and were seen to be representative of the major issues found in Adult Education for African Americans: education for assimilation, education for cultural survival, and education for resistance.

This paper reports the results of empirical research that had the objective of assessing in what measure adults that attend literacy and basic education programs learn new skills related to reading and writing and use these in their daily lives. In order to understand this, performance in understanding written texts; reading and writing practices; and the socioeconomic and cultural profile of 435 students were investigated. These were students of two youth and adult education programs in the city of São Paulo with different structures and functioning procedures. The collected data suggests that educational ambience has an essential role in promoting literacy among those students because they do not have many opportunities to use reading and writing at work and in their daily environment. The data also suggests that the impact of the program can be significantly enhanced if it facilitates and prioritizes not only the mastery of school abilities but also the experience of diverse social practices of literacy.

This qualitative longitudinal study explores how practicing adult educators' beliefs about teaching were impacted by participating in a graduate program in adult education. Sixteen practicing adult educators were interviewed twice over a period of two years. Findings reveal that graduate school had little impact on the teaching beliefs of participants. The majority of participants maintained a teacher-centered view of teaching, continued to view knowledge as separate from the knower, maintained a belief about learning as an increase in knowledge and the result of doing, and continued to reflect an instrumental view of teaching. A change in belief that began to emerge was a growing recognition of the significance of engaging student experience in practice. Implications for graduate schools are identified and discussed.

Despite the attention focused on the advantages of Web-based education and training for adult learners in adult education organizations, the adult learning elements within the instructional design of Web-based training/instruction have not been examined. The omission of this core factor can impede the successful delivery of instruction via the Internet. Therefore, the training may not be effective, which will cause major implications for the learner and the organization. The purpose of this project was to determine the adult learning principles that are critical for effective Web-based instructional design, barriers to effective Web-based instructional design, and the practices of professionals who design Web-based training/instruction. To determine these constructs, national experts in the areas of adult education and Web-based training design were interviewed and the resulting product was an online assessment, which was then completed by ten Web-based instructional designers. Electronic document analysis of Web-based training/instruction was completed to examine the actual practices of instructional designers. The outcome of this project yielded adult learning principles critical for effective development of Web-based training/instruction, factors that affect the Web-based instructional design process, and barriers that impede successful delivery of Web-based instruction.

Project Plan Abstracts

Group 2 (1999-2001)