Is Adult Education a Calling? Shaping Identity and Practice in Steel Mill Learning Centers

Abstract

Adult educators employed in steel mill career development programs offer the field a unique glimpse into the relationship between context and career trajectories. This article explores the lives of these adult educators against the backdrop of contemporary theories of career development, situated learning, and continuing professional development as a function of career identity. In particular, this article reports on a study that examined how teachers reflected on their practice and the implications this may have for the development of their professional identity. The specific questions this research addressed included: How did the teachers acquire the knowledge they feel they need to teach in the classroom or work in an adult education setting? How do they come to see themselves as adult educators'? What does this mean to them? To what extent does reflection on practice lead to the development of identity as adult educators ? Evidence suggests that although the field of adult education has explored career paths of its members in numerous contexts and theorized about how these elements come together, it has yet to describe, much less theorize, the path of those who locate themselves within and contribute to the practice of adult education outside of the mainstream.

Front-Line Facilitating: Negotiating Adventurous Learning within Workplace Programs

“…This inquiry follows other studies of the experience of teachers within steel mill learning centers (Rose, Jeris, & Smith, 2002;2004;2005). The focus this time was on the adults' learning as perceived by instructors.…”

“…Nevertheless, how the vision and mission are enacted in learning situations depends on interactions of facilitators and participants. When Rose, Jeris and Smith (2005) studied the career trajectories of CDP personnel, they discovered that local leaders behave in accordance with andragogical principles. They noted, Although none of the teachers and administrators who participated in this study had an academic background in adult education, over the course of time and for some of them in several settings, they all developed a deeply held conviction of what it means to become an adult educator.…”

Percepciones sobre la educación de personas adultas. Análisis de la formación, la práctica docente y el perfil profesional

“…Los educadores y las educadoras de personas adultas, tal y como han demostrado Rose et al (2005), trabajan en esta área sin la preparación académica suficiente. Organizaciones tales como la UNESCO, en la mayoría de sus conferencias internacionales sobre esta temática, han reconocido la insuficiente formación del profesorado que se dedica a dicho ámbito y han plasmado entre sus recomendaciones la necesidad de preparar mejor a estos profesionales.…”

“…Aunque los profesores de personas adultas consideran, en cuanto a la formación, que su función principal es seguir aprendiendo, también opinan que no es requisito imprescindible el recibir formación específica para impartir educación a dicho segmento de edad. Este hecho conlleva que, actualmente, en los centros que se dedican a dicho ámbito, las clases sean impartidas por educadores que no poseen una formación específica sobre el mundo adulto (Rose et al, 2005) que les permita desarrollar una práctica pedagógica de calidad y adecuada al colectivo al que se dirigen. Sin embargo, esta formación sí existe en el caso de otros colectivos, puesto que tanto en educación infantil como en primaria se recibe formación específica adecuada al nivel y a las características del alumnado.…”

Finding the Worker: Adult Education and Workers' Education

“…This particular paper is a result of our broader study of these CDPs. Over several years, we have interviewed a number of teachers in the CDPs, observed classes, talked with steelworkers, attended the annual conferences of the CDPs, and participated in several action research projects to gain a nuanced understanding of the identity development of adult educators in the CDPs (Rose, Jeris, & Smith, 2002& 2005; and their views on the varied purposes of adult education (Rose, Jeris, & Smith, 2004). In this paper we look more closely at their views of the steelworkers as members of a union and as workers.…”