Spencer: life, work, and philosophical contributions

Education for Diversity

Were you surprised at the categories he chose to ground his discussion of diversity?

No, not really, the categories Spenser chose seem to be some of the most important and relevant categories of diversity in adult education, and some of them, as he notes, have been ignored for far too long. Women are an important element of adult education, often because they must continue their education while working and caring for a family, and so distance and adult education courses help them manage their time more effectively. It is interesting that women were some of the first targets for adult education, and that their options were so limited in the past, even though they were often the instructors, as well as the students. The mentally and physically challenged have long been ignored in society, and they too are some of the people that can get great benefit from adult education because they can work at their own pace and do not necessarily have to attend classes on campus, making it far easier for their to continue their education.

Seniors were not surprising either, because that is a segment of the population that is growing, and seniors have more leisure time, so they have more time to devote to adult education. What is more surprising is that Spenser had to point out these segments, because they seem quite logical, and it seems administrations and distance learning programs would have targeted many of these segments already, if they had not done so before now. In addition, Spenser mentions minorities, and that makes sense, as well, because they often cannot afford to complete their education all at once, and they do not find diverse classes in their own cultures, but distance and adult education can be much more flexible both with enrollment and time demands, but with more diverse classes, as well.

How useful is this framework for understanding diversity with adult education, as a student and a practitioner of adult education?

The two frameworks presented here, both diversity and labor adult education, are extremely important for understanding diversity within adult education. It is important to recognize the many different areas within adult education, and what type of students these areas attract. Ultimately, for the adult education department to be successful, it must attract a wide variety of students, and keep at least some of those students coming back to continue their education in order to be successful. Adult education serves a vital role in the upper education system, and it serves a diverse amount of people, but in most institutions it also has to support itself if not turn a profit, and that is an important aspect to take into consideration. Therefore, classes must be viable to the institution, but to the student, as well, to keep attracting a wide variety of students into the program.