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Assumptions about Under-Educated AdultsJust as students have misconceptions about adult education,
adult education educators and policy makers may have misconceptions about
individuals who choose not to participate in formal adult education.
This study demonstrates that, in many ways, the experiences of
respondents challenge assumptions commonly held about undereducated adults.
Unless educators and policy makers become more familiar with the complex reasons
that individuals decide not to participate in adult education programs, they may
continue to believe the following assumptions about undereducated adults that
are frequently embedded in programs and policies directed toward them: Again, some of these statements may be true of some individuals some of the time and education providers and social service counselors are often in the best position to observe consistent behaviors over time. In fact, it is the everyday validation of our assumptions that makes us cling to our beliefs. Every time a student does not show up for a tutoring session or when a trial program of offering classes at a new time or location fails, commonly held assumptions about under-educated adults are re-confirmed. However, the reasons individuals chose not to attend adult education programming are complex and certainly do not reflect a lack of appreciation for the opportunities education may offer. “They do not value education.”
While it may appear reasonable on the surface to
assume that undereducated adults do not value education, this assumption is
strongly contradicted by the data collected through this study.
Time and again study participants stated that they do in fact value
education highly. Most regret not
finishing school. 65% of our
respondents stated that they liked to read, indicating that they may continue to
learn albeit through non-formal means. Virtually all who are parents vow to do
everything within their power to help their children finish high school.
In most cases, their work experiences and economic situations have made
it amply clear to them that education is important and frequently necessary for
access to well paying jobs and workplace advancement.
Having struggled to find jobs that allow them to support their families,
most study participants clearly value education, both for themselves and for
their children.
It’s held me back. I mean, I could have got a better job if I had of finished high school and had a diploma. If you don’t have a high school diploma or GED they won’t hire you, there’s a whole bunch of factories that just won’t do it . . . I want my kids to finish school, number one. And they will if I have anything to do with it. That’s what I want for them.
While most respondents placed a high value on
education, they also frequently emphasized its practical application over purely
academic skills. For many study
participants, much of the value of education was found in its practical
usefulness. You got to know something about everything, no matter what job you’re on. You got to know math in everything. You got to know how to spell ‘cause if you don’t write that down right, how they going to know what you’re saying? Especially if you’re writin’ down what you need. If you don’t know how to tell ‘em then they don’t know. You got to know how to read and write and all that. In conjunction with their emphasis on practical skills,
many respondents indicated they learned best through hands-on experiences.
Therefore, many believed on-the-job training--rather than “book
learning”-- was the most appropriate preparation for the kinds of work they
were typically engaged in. Construction, you don’t have to go through no tests. You learn how to do it and you do it. That’s what I like about that. They teach you right there. And sure, you’ll mess up once or twice, but they will show you again and you will get it right. Thus, while study participants clearly value education,
they value its practical aspects over purely academic knowledge. Since many study participants indicated that job-related
concerns were their primary motivation for pursuing further education, they
wanted to see clearly how further educational experiences would lead to
meaningful and well paid work opportunities.
Training that does not have practical workplace application is therefore
far less valued by study respondents.
“They do not recognize that ‘education pays’ in important ways.”
This assumption is a corollary of the previous one.
It implies that undereducated adults do not recognize the value of
education for workplace access and job success and, like the assumption that
they do not value education, this second assumption is also challenged by the
present study. While many
respondents were well aware of the rhetoric about the value of education, they
frequently observed that in many situations education doesn’t pay
adequately enough to make it worth their effort.
This is especially true in areas where unemployment is high, as discussed
earlier. One respondent reported,
“Most of them that I know that’s graduated, that’s took the GED classes
and everything, they said that, really, as far as job-wise, it’s not helped. They still haven’t got a job.”
Respondents’ comments indicate that many have carefully assessed the
relative value of further education given the work they perform and the jobs
typically available in their community and concluded that, often, education does
not pay sufficiently to justify its cost in time and effort.
For example, Kentucky Department of Transportation workers who were hired
without the GED are now required to obtain it in order to receive salary
increases. If they successfully
pass the GED exam, workers receive a bonus and are also eligible for additional
pay increases. The following
comments illustrate how one DOT worker carefully assessed the relative value of
the GED in light of these opportunities. I think they’ve offered me a bonus. But I figure if it’s ten percent of what you make, you get say, fifteen hundred dollars, what I make, fourteen, somethin’ or the other. Then the government will get half of it, so you ain’t goin’ to get but six or seven hundred dollars and that’s just a one time thing. It ain’t all that important. I mean, I need the money, don’t get me wrong. It just ain’t that important to get up there and make a fool of yourself. To me--it may be to somebody else. While this worker is obviously aware that “education pays”
in the context of his workplace, it does not pay sufficiently to make it worth
the effort he feels it would require. “They do not recognize the need for educational credentials.”
Most study participants realize the need for
educational credentials in the workplace. They
frequently lament their own lack of appropriate credentials--the high school
diploma or GED--and extensively illustrate the repercussions they have suffered
in the workplace. The knowledge
that credentials are often required, however, does not automatically translate
into agreement that these are appropriate requirements.
Many study participants argued that, given the work they perform, the GED
is not a necessary credential. Most
study participants valued job performance over the GED or high school diploma
and felt the demonstrated ability to perform in the workplace was a more
important qualification than a credential they often referred to as a “piece
of paper.” Thus, while most
respondents realized that a diploma or GED is increasingly required in the
workplace, few; however, believed this requirement was in fact appropriate. For hard labor jobs, you wouldn’t have to have that much education even though nowadays they’re requiring at least a high school education or a GED before you can get any kind of work. I have went lookin’ for jobs in places like dry cleaners, laundrymats, restaurants are requiring it. Many study participants viewed the GED as a barrier that
prevented them from getting jobs they were capable of performing. Respondents often questioned the need for “book learning”
for the kind of work they were frequently engaged in.
A former coal miner indicated, “If you could run a piece of equipment
it didn’t matter to them if you could write your name--long as you had coal on
the belt and took care of their equipment, they didn’t care”. The discrepancy between the skills required to obtain the GED and
those required by the workplace made many respondents critical of the GED or
diploma as reasonable credentials.
Significantly, a number of individuals did recognize the value of
education as a means of achieving para-professional jobs in business and
medicine. These references to post-secondary education, however, like the
descriptions of the jobs for which they would be eligible, were vague and
unsubstantiated with knowledgeable detail.
Even for students who are likely to succeed in completing the GED, it
seems unlikely that they would be able to reach professional careers without
significant support and educational counseling.
“They do not participate in adult education programs because of shame or fear.”
In responding to our informal phone survey of adult
education centers throughout the state, providers responded that shame and fear
were among the primary reasons undereducated adults do not participate in
available adult education classes. Study
respondents, however, seldom identified shame or fear when discussing adult
education participation. While
study participants often speculated that other people thought of their lack of
education as a personal failure of which they might be ashamed, respondents
rarely described themselves as feeling ashamed.
In fact, many respondents stated just the opposite. I ain’t embarrassed about it myself. I’m more or less likely to know people that don’t care. Everybody pretty much don’t say nothin’ about it because they don’t want to hurt my feelings or nothin’, I guess. Or make me mad at ‘em. It don’t bother me. Self-consciousness and embarrassment about lack of
education was typically a concern respondents felt was imposed on them by other
people, not one that necessarily reflected their own feelings. Another respondent reported, “A lot of people, whenever you
misspell something, they act like it’s a sin or something."It was others’ reaction to his spelling, however, that troubled this
respondent, not his inability to spell.
Older respondents did sometimes mention
embarrassment and self-consciousness in conjunction with adult education
classes. Often, however, these
comments reflected their concern about the length of time they had been out of
school rather than an inherent shame of their lack of education. “The GED is the most appropriate goal for all undereducated adults”
This study suggests that the assumption that the
GED is the most appropriate goal for all undereducated adults is a faulty one.
Many study participants firmly believed that they would not be able to
successfully obtain the GED and, while this study did not in any way measure
participant ability levels, in many cases their assessments appeared to be
justified. For respondents with
limited literacy skills the GED is often an inappropriate and unrealistic goal.
Many study respondents were frustrated and discouraged because they
viewed the GED as beyond their reach.
Literacy programs are often more appropriate for clients with very low
reading levels. For many of these
folks the GED is not an obtainable goal. She give me a
skill test with some words to see what all I know and I was almost at the
bottom. I think about the third
grade level. ‘Cuz when I was goin’
to school I just couldn’t comprehend the written letters and the words and the
sounds. I know that when I finished
grade school they just passed me to get rid of me.
I made nothin’ but straight F’s.
When I had to get up in front of the class to try to read, I couldn’t
read. I just couldn’t do it.
I guess I ain’t got the learning, I ain’t got it up here.
For students like this one with very low literacy skills,
the assumption that the GED is the appropriate goal is clearly faulty.
While the student quoted here has benefited from literacy tutoring, he is
unlikely to complete the GED. To
expect him to do so is unrealistic and simply sets him up for further failure.
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