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Project Plan Abstracts
Group 3 (2000-2002)
Project Titles
- The significance and contribution of evening high school to the education of youth and adults: Three case studies, Guillermo Acosta Medina, Colombia
- Sociocultural contexts of knowing: Epistemology, learning, and self-development among immigrant women of color , Mary Alfred, U.S.A.
- Literacy for empowerment: Developing appropriate skills for economic survival and well-being in Malealea, Gillian Attwood, South Africa
- Power and learning in mentoring relationships,Catherine A. Hansman, U.S.A.
- Simulation-games as an educational strategy for working with adults, children, and youth from popular urban sectors, with a low level of education and in the process of becoming literate, Julián Alberto González Mina, Colombia
- Bi-dialecticalism, literacy, and the African American adult learner, Talmadge Guy, U.S.A.
- Power and learning in mentoring relationships, Catherine Hansman, U.S.A.
- A pedagogy of action: Producing knowledge toward a more democratic society, Peter Malvicini, U.S.A.
- Spirituality, commitment, and action in environmental adult learning, Barbara McDonald, U.S.A.
- Practice-based inquiry in adult education through open learning and distance teaching: A pilot study of micro-enterprise development and management, Mandivavarira Taruvinga, Zimbabwe
Guillermo Acosta Medina
Colombia
The significance and contribution of evening high school to the education of youth and adults: Three case studies
The changes in the contemporary world have situated the market forces as one of the principle criteria of regulation in society. Globalization, opening, decentralization, etc. can offer paths to development and modernization, but it is certain that they also widen the breach between the small groups making up this global society and the vast sectors who are marginalized: structural unemployment and poverty has increased, hunger persists and in the poorest countries diseases are found that were eradicated long ago in the developed world. In this context of deficiency and inequity, adult education, and in particular, the evening high school can contribute to diminishing the cultural and economic breach that exists in sub-developed societies.
From a theoretical perspective, the project will emphasize aspects like the relationship between education-employment, cultural heterogeneity, the aptitudes and interests of the adult users, the relationship between teacher-students and selectivity, among others.
The study seeks to analyze three significant evening high school experiences for their social impact and for their contribution to the debate on adult education and to divulge the successes and the problems of this important sector of the education of youth and adults, that by its marginal character has not had the support of coherent policies nor with systematic and up-to-date information for making decisions.
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Mary V. Alfred
U.S.A
Sociocultural contexts of knowing: Epistemology, learning, and self-development among immigrant women of color
The purpose of this study is to investigate, analyze, and describe the process of epistemology, learning, and development among immigrant women of color in the United States. Research in this area is needed because little information is available in the adult education literature on the learning and development experiences of these learners. Adding this information to the literature of adult and continuing education would render a more inclusive literature base - one that would better inform the theory and practice of adult education.
This study will use an integrative framework in order to capture both the individual and contextual aspects of the learning. The major theoretical constructs that will guide the study include constructivist epistemology which is a unified cluster of related perspectives, including feminist theory, critical theory, cognitive theory, and transformative learning theory, and cultural theory. Interviewing will be the primary source of data collection and will draw participants from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and West Africa.
The study will add to the adult education literature by answering these four questions:
- How do immigrant women of color describe and interpret their cross-cultural experiences in the United States?
- How do social context and culture influence the epistemological development of immigrant women of color?
- What are the relationships among ethnic culture, epistemological development, and self-development?
- What learning activities--formal and nonformal--facilitate the socialization of immigrant women of color into the dominant culture?
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Gillian Attwood
South Africa
Literacy for empowerment: Developing appropriate skills for economic survival and well-being in Malealea
Mokhotlong district is situated in the mountainous and remote area of Lesotho in Southern Africa. Poverty, malnutrition and unemployment threaten the well-being of those living in the area. Adult participation in development initiatives aimed at addressing these factors is currently jeopardised due to high rates of illiteracy. This application sets out a participatory action research proposal to work in collaboration with a development organisation, GROW, in order to develop an adult literacy programme appropriate to the needs of adults in the district.
The proposed literacy programme will set out a relevant curriculum and learning and teaching methodology. Learning materials as well as a facilitators manual will be developed to support the programme. It is intended that the collaborative process of developing the programme with potential participants should build the skills and capacity of these people, who will play a vital role in sustaining such a programme upon its completion. It is intended that the participatory action research programme participants develop a thorough understanding of the theoretical and methodological foundations of the project, which in turn should maximise the potential success of the implementation and the sustainability of the programme.
Although the programme will be developed within the Mokhotlong context, both the materials produced, and the experience of a participatory research methodology should inform literacy and development initiatives in rural southern African contexts and developing countries more widely. Information generated and collected from this research project will be disseminated at conferences and in journal articles.
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Julián Alberto González Mina
Colombia
Simulation-games as an educational strategy for working with adults, children, and youth, from popular urban sectors, with a low level of education and in the process of becoming literate
This work derives from an experience of sensitization to independent ideas of productive businesses in which participated almost 40 students from the Center of Adult Education in the El Rodeo (Cali) neighborhood, students between the ages of 10 and 60, with diverse social and productive roles and low levels of education and literacy (middle school, night school, and partial literacy). The pedagogical strategy was centered in what we called "simulation games", and which, in this specific experience, we formalized under the modal of "business games".
As an outcome of this experience we found that the simulation games are a possible alternative for educational work with working adults, youth, and children from populous sectors, that permit the integration of some of the aims previewed by the conventional school in primary education (literacy, learning basic mathematical operations, recognition of history and geography, basic knowledge of biology, ecology and the environment, knowledge about human anatomy, etc.) with daily experience and the knowledge gained by the students in daily life as workers, inhabitants of suburbs, consumers and readers of means of communication, migrants and travelers.
The purpose of this project is to design two series or lines of simulation games: the first, in education and work, intends to stimulate independent ideas of productive business and to stimulate some of the (latent) productive and creative attributes of the business culture within the students; and the second, in education and peaceful living, is oriented towards encouraging qualified behaviors and practices of social living, collective solidarity, feelings of belonging, and non-violent forms of conflict resolution.
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Talmadge Guy
U.S.A.
Bi-dialecticalism, literacy, and the African American adult learner
The purpose of this study is to examine the cultural relevance of instructional practice in adult literacy classrooms in which the learners are predominantly African American. The theoretical framework for the study draws from two sources. James Gee's theory of literacy underscores the sociocultural nature of literacy and language use (Gee, 1990, 1994). Culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1996; Pewewardy, 1992; Guy, 1999) serves as a second theoretical source for the study. Research on culturally relevant pedagogy points to the corrosive effects of mainstream cultural practices on marginalized learners within educational contexts. The study will explore the degree to which instructional practices that are culturally relevant promote and enhance learning and participation among African American literacy learners.
The central questions addressed by the study concern the identification of instructional practices employed in predominantly African American adult literacy classrooms, how these practices are responsive to learners culture, and how learners respond to instructional practices that are culturally relevant. The results of the study should provide a basis for recommendations to practitioners regarding the use of culturally relevant methods in adult literacy and to stimulate further research regarding African American learners as well as other cultural groups who participate in adult literacy.
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Catherine A. Hansman
U.S.A.
Power and learning in mentoring relationships
Formal mentoring programs within organizations are usually designed and implemented to provide opportunities for enhanced growth and development for both mentors and protégés. Mentoring relationships are power relationships; typically, a mentor may have "power" invested by virtue or their positions within organizations. As popular as formal mentoring programs are little research and discussion accounts for how adults actually learn and develop within mentoring relationships. Also missing is an in-depth examination of the power relationships that exist between mentor and protégés, how power relationships may affect learning, and how mentoring programs may encourage the continual replication of hegemonic culture within organizations. The problem this research project seeks to address is this gap in the research had literature concerning learning and power relationships in mentoring. The purpose of this research is to explore mentoring programs within organizations or academic from a critical perspective that allows the examination and analysis of learning and the power relationships within the mentor/protégé relationship and the intersection of these relationships with gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and organizational values and culture. This research is important to adult education because it will enhance the understanding of mentoring and the power relationships that frequently drive these programs. Secondly, examining how some of the concepts of formalized mentoring are realized in real world practice may provide answers concerning how best to plan formal mentoring programs to encompass workplace learning and adult growth and development.
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Peter Malvicini
U.S.A.
A pedagogy of action:
Producing knowledge toward a more democratic society
The disconnect in the social sciences between learning and action serves society poorly. However, when students work with communities, they learn more, and the courses improve. This project generates new knowledge about the nature of critical pedagogy in practice. I will develop a curriculum for democratic social change at a seminary in the Philippines that wants to help churches address poverty. Learners will become participatory researchers and partner with local people to address concrete problems. Participatory action research (PAR) analyzes causes of poverty while doing something about it. Critical pedagogy infuses group reflection into this learning process, helping seminarians question both their privilege in society and the larger political economy.
Can critical pedagogy be sustained in adult education practice within a mainstream academic institution? This PAR project will build a critical pedagogy in the classroom and then examine the impact of the program on the seminary. The project will analyze the process and results asking: who held power and influenced decision-making? how do educational institutions relate to social action? and, how does critical pedagogy emerge in practice? It is possible that critical pedagogy would threaten existing power structures and perceptions of authority maintained by the faculty and administration. It is also possible that, if this innovation catalyzed positive change, it could strengthen the institution over the long-term.
Adult education practitioners and scholars will access the learner's website, a forum for sharing processes, critical reflection, and results. Learners will use critical pedagogy in practice and the field of adult education will gain a better understanding and model of critical pedagogy integrated with participatory research. The goal: reform that links learning to social action.
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Spirituality, commitment, and action in environmental adult learning
This research will focus on two vital but neglected areas in adult education: Environmental adult learning and the role of spirituality in adult learning. The intersection of these two critical areas provides an opportunity to contribute fresh ideas and information to adult education research and practice. This phenomenological research will utilize in-depth interviews with at least 20 adults who are committed to personal action in support of the environment. Using the constant comparative method of analysis and NUD*IST software, the research will explore the role of spirituality in adult environmental learning, and will also describe how spirituality is experienced by adult environmental learners.
This research will contribute to adult education research and practice in two primary arenas. First, it will provide important new information regarding the process of effective environmental adult learning. This is critical because of the escalating environmental crisis and the need for attention by adult education researchers and practitioners. Second, it will shed empirical light on the role of spirituality in adult education. The importance of spirituality has been anecdotally presented and discussed by numerous authors, yet little research has focused on improving our understanding of its role in adult learning.
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Mandivavarira Taruvinga
Zimbabwe
Practice-based inquiry in adult education through open learning and distance teaching: A pilot study of micro-enterprise development and management
The research project will investigate the educational needs of rural women and the girl-child vis-a-vis institutional capacity of the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) to cater to the non-formal sector. My focus is on rural women and girl-child because Zimbabwe's "Gini Coefficient of 56.83 is ranked fifth in the world in income inequality" (Human Development Report, 1998, Harare, Zimbabwe: UNDP, p. 12). Rural women in particular constitute the poorest segment of Zimbabwe's society. The study will seek to establish the nature of available Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) within the institution and to understand how these can be made accessible to women in the poorly resourced communal areas. In addition, in the attempt to meet the needs of the non-formal sector, this project seeks to highlight how the ZOU ought to forge collaborative alliances or partnerships with other educational providers and stakeholders.
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