Non-Participation In Education
As an adult literacy educator, I know that there are adults in the population that need to improve ther literacy and numeracy skills. I know this not only anecdotally, but statistically. According to the 2003 ALL survey, one in seven Canadian adults is functioning at a Level One. In the Province of Quebec, one in approximately five adults is functioning at Level One .( Institut de la statistique du Québec/ Direction de la Santé du Québec) This holds true in the Anglophone and francophone sectors equally. We are a text based society and the inability to decode or read simple instructions limits the societal participation of a low literacy adult.
Participation, or rather non-participation is the key in adult education. Educators have …show more content…
In the socio-economic category the top reasons for non-particiaption were: job-related conflicts, health, money, care of children or elderly parents and transportation. In the program/policy related category the very top reason for non-participation(over 45% of respondents) was that no-one bothered to call them back! Other reasons included the cost of a class, time , schedule and/or location inconvenient, level too high or low and relevance of content. In the program I am …show more content…
This is a part of society that historically, has very low participation rates in any kind of adult education. Often, the cost of the courses and the issue of transportation, especially in a rural area, are huge hurdles for the students to leap over. In my school board, we realized that we could offer off-site literacy classes in several different towns within the school board district. These classes could be offered free of charge under the distance education program. Transportation issues were solved by car-pooling and often I pick students up and drop them off. When scheduling becomes a concern for students, I will often offer in home instruction, or devise lesson plans that may be completed at home. The students may call me or email me when they need help with their lessons. I try to address the socio-economic issues that present themselves in a manner that requires the student to come up with solutions. Often, if I can find a way to breech the barriers a student is presented with, he or she is more than willing to give the courses a
Participation, or rather non-participation is the key in adult education. Educators have …show more content…
In the socio-economic category the top reasons for non-particiaption were: job-related conflicts, health, money, care of children or elderly parents and transportation. In the program/policy related category the very top reason for non-participation(over 45% of respondents) was that no-one bothered to call them back! Other reasons included the cost of a class, time , schedule and/or location inconvenient, level too high or low and relevance of content. In the program I am …show more content…
This is a part of society that historically, has very low participation rates in any kind of adult education. Often, the cost of the courses and the issue of transportation, especially in a rural area, are huge hurdles for the students to leap over. In my school board, we realized that we could offer off-site literacy classes in several different towns within the school board district. These classes could be offered free of charge under the distance education program. Transportation issues were solved by car-pooling and often I pick students up and drop them off. When scheduling becomes a concern for students, I will often offer in home instruction, or devise lesson plans that may be completed at home. The students may call me or email me when they need help with their lessons. I try to address the socio-economic issues that present themselves in a manner that requires the student to come up with solutions. Often, if I can find a way to breech the barriers a student is presented with, he or she is more than willing to give the courses a