Health changes in Hispanic older adults in a Spanish arthritis self -management education program

Arthritis is the most common chronic condition affecting older people and is a major cause of limited activity. Arthritis education programs in English have demonstrated a positive impact on health but these programs have not reached the Hispanic communities where arthritis is the leading cause of disability. Minorities, such as Hispanics, have traditionally been reluctant to pursue self-help programs, and have been identified as an under-served population in terms of medical care. This study examined the effectiveness of one community health adult education program targeting Hispanic older adults with arthritis, the Spanish Arthritis Self Management Education Program (SASMEP), by evaluating changes in the participants' general health, pain, disability, self-efficacy, health perceptions, frequency of physician visits, and exercise. A pre and post control group experimental design and analyses of covariance were used to determine the pre and post differences in health status and health behaviors for a group participating in the SASMEP and a group who did not using gender and age as covariates. A repeated measures design was also used, and repeated measures analyses of variance and post hoc tests were done on health status and health behavior data collected pre, post and one-year post education to determine long-term differences. ^ Results indicated the participants' health status significantly improved in general health, significantly decreased in pain, and significantly decreased in arthritic disability immediately following the education. Self-efficacy and health perceptions increased for both groups but not significantly. The participants' health behaviors showed significantly fewer physician visits and significantly increased time spent performing stretching and strengthening exercise and time spent performing aerobic exercise. No group differences were found in the frequency of arthritis physician visits. ^ The improvements seen immediately after the SASMEP participation were not reflected in the post one-year scores. No significant differences were found for the participants' health status or health behaviors one year following the education. Health status and health behaviors did not return below baseline scores after one year suggesting the participants' health, although not improved, did not deteriorate. Therefore, the SASMEP education provided short-term health benefits for older Hispanic adults with arthritis, but not long-term health benefits. ^

Dealing with the Legacy of Ethnic Conflict: Confronting ‘Othering’ through Transformative Adult Education—A Northern Ireland Case Study

Despite its peace process, Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. The legacy of a 30-year conflict has ensured that the state continues to be prone to outbreaks of violence over contentious issues such as Orange Order parading and the flying of national flags. This paper argues that in order to address this legacy, there is a need to confront the Othering processes that have helped to generate and sustain division. It will argue that programmes of adult education can play an important role in helping the conflicting groups to reimagine their ‘exclusive’ notions of the nation to one capable of incorporating the Other.

Widening Access to Higher Education through Partnership Working

This chapter considers the policy and practice of partnership working amongst educational organisations and related service providers as a means of promoting social inclusion in higher education (HE). It draws on an empirical study of partnership working in an area of England which has low levels of participation in HE, consistently performs poorly in national measures of educational achievement, and contains pockets of severe economic and social deprivation. The empirical research focuses on the work of senior managers from seventeen organisations who formed a sub-regional partnership as a strategy to raise aspirations, widen participation in HE and promote social inclusion.

Global citizenship education. Politische Bildung für die Weltgesellschaft

Der Beitrag gibt einen kurzen Einblick in ein neues Masterprogramm zu Global Citizenship Education und die damit verbundene Konzeptentwicklung, die sich um eine enge Verknüpfung von Globalem Lernen, Politischer Bildung und Friedenspädagogik bemüht. Dabei werden auch Spannungsfelder und Perspektiven für Kompetenzorientierung und -entwicklung in einer global orientierten politischen Bildung beleuchtet. (DIPF/Orig.)

CROSS-LINGUISTIC TRANSFER OF SPELLING SKILLS IN SPANISH-SPEAKING ADULT ESL LEARNERS

Spelling is an important literacy skill, and learning to spell is an important component of learning to write. Learners with strong spelling skills also exhibit greater reading, vocabulary, and orthographic knowledge than those with poor spelling skills (Ehri & Rosenthal, 2007; Ehri & Wilce, 1987; Rankin, Bruning, Timme, & Katkanant, 1993). English, being a deep orthography, has inconsistent sound-to-letter correspondences (Seymour, 2005; Ziegler & Goswami, 2005). This poses a great challenge for learners in gaining spelling fluency and accuracy. The purpose of the present study is to examine cross-linguistic transfer of English vowel spellings in Spanish-speaking adult ESL learners. The research participants were 129 Spanish-speaking adult ESL learners and 104 native English-speaking GED students enrolled in a community college located in the South Atlantic region of the United States. The adult ESL participants were in classes at three different levels of English proficiency: advanced, intermediate, and beginning. An experimental English spelling test was administered to both the native English-speaking and ESL participants. In addition, the adult ESL participants took the standardized spelling tests to rank their spelling skills in both English and Spanish. The data were analyzed using robust regression and Poisson regression procedures, Mann-Whitney test, and descriptive statistics. The study found that both Spanish spelling skills and English proficiency are strong predictors of English spelling skills. Spanish spelling is also a strong predictor of level of L1-influenced transfer. More proficient Spanish spellers made significantly fewer L1-influenced spelling errors than less proficient Spanish spellers. L1-influenced transfer of spelling knowledge from Spanish to English likely occurred in three vowel targets (/ɑɪ/ spelled as ae, ai, or ay, /ɑʊ/ spelled as au, and /eɪ/ spelled as e). The ESL participants and the native English-speaking participants produced highly similar error patterns of English vowel spellings when the errors did not indicate L1-influenced transfer, which implies that the two groups might follow similar trajectories of developing English spelling skills. The findings may help guide future researchers or practitioners to modify and develop instructional spelling intervention to meet the needs of adult ESL learners and help them gain English spelling competence.

Education at last! Taiwanese grandmothers "go to school"

Language socialization is a life-long process in which individuals are continuously socialized into new roles, statuses, and practices. This process becomes more complex in multilingual contexts. However, we know little of the language socialization of older adults and we know even less of minority-speaking elders' experiences of linguistic marginalization in contemporary communicative milieus. In this ethnographic and discourse-analytic study, I examine the language socialization of non-Mandarin-speaking elderly Taiwanese women in senior adult education programs in a rural township in Taiwan. Through examining autobiographical narratives, master narratives about elders, and classroom discourses, this study explores the historical construction of their sociolinguistic marginalization and their negotiation and resistance of such marginalization. The majority of the elderly women were denied education when they were young. Some received Japanese education during the Japanese colonization period. While the uneducated and illiterate elders have a strong aspiration for learning, they are dismissed as "unable to learn" by their teachers, peer students, and community leaders. By contrast, the Japanese literate exhibit a strong learning identity associated with colonial modernity. These two groups, however, have to contend with the social stereotype associated with their non-Mandarin speaking status. Under a Mandarin-only ideology that links Mandarin with modernity, discourses that have actively mobilized the category of “illiterate” to reference the older population are part and parcel of Taiwan’s modern identity. By demonstrating how these women are treated, in official discourses and in classroom interactions, as children for their lack of Mandarin abilities, I argue that the literacy education that set out to “compensate” these women for their earlier lack of educational opportunity has paradoxically reinforced their marginalization. Further, in recent years, they have become even more marginalized as the government has prioritized the education of recent young female marriage immigrants from Southeast Asia, who are considered in charge of educating the “future sons and daughters of Taiwan.” This research demonstrates how language socialization is a contested and life-long process and calls attention to the effects of language ideologies on literacy and language education. The findings have policy implications for improving literacy and language education both within Taiwan and elsewhere in the world.

The sources of inequity in the education system of Serbia and how to combat them

The concept of equal opportunity for all students is deeply embedded in the Serbian constitution and in education laws. On that level, there is no doubt that everyone is ensured an opportunity to receive quality education. Many measures in education policy have been created specifically to achieve this objective and make the system fair and inclusive. The Coleman Report was linked to a wave of optimism that certain educational measures would help in achieving these noble goals. This aim is a high priority in education in a democratic country, and due to its importance needs to be re-examined. Thus, the present research examines the equity of students in the Serbian education system, detecting areas on all educational levels that could be (or already are) systemic sources of inequity (e.g., criteria for preschool institution enrolment, the system of student awards, rationalisation of the school network, the concept of entrance exams to secondary school or university, etc.). A number of measures have already been taken in the system specifically to deal with inequity (e.g., the Preschool Preparatory Programme, dropout measures, inclusion, scholarships, etc.). The effects of these measures in particular are analysed in the present work. In addition to an analysis of the systemic sources of inequity in the Serbian education system, the article also makes recommendations for their overcoming. (DIPF/Orig.)

The murky waters of neoliberal marketization and commodification on the education of adults in the United States

We approach marketization and commodification of adult education from multiple lenses including our personal narratives and neoliberalism juxtaposed against the educational philosophy of the Progressive Period. We argue that adult education occurs in many arenas including the public spaces found in social movements, community-based organizations, and government sponsored programs designed to engage and give voice to all citizens toward building a stronger civil society. We conclude that only when adult education is viewed from the university lens, where it focuses on the individual and not the public good, does it succumb to neoliberal forces. (DIPF/Orig.)

A Comparison of the Effects of Classroom and Multi-User Virtual Environments on the Perceived Speaking Anxiety of Adult Post-Secondary English Language Learners

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) globally has been increasing substantially every year. In the United States alone, adult ELLs are the fastest growing portion of learners in adult education programs (Yang, 2005). There is a significant need to improve the teaching of English to ELLs in the United States and other English-speaking dominant countries. However, for many ELLs, speaking, especially to Native English Speakers (NESs), causes considerable language anxiety, which in turn plays a vital role in hindering their language development and academic progress (Pichette, 2009; Woodrow, 2006). Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), such as simulation activities, has long been viewed as an effective approach for second-language development. The current advances in technology and rapid emergence of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) have provided an opportunity for educators to consider conducting simulations online for ELLs to practice speaking English to NESs. Yet to date, empirical research on the effects of MUVEs on ELLs’ language development and speaking is limited (Garcia-Ruiz, Edwards, & Aquino-Santos, 2007). This study used a true experimental treatment control group repeated measures design to compare the perceived speaking anxiety levels (as measured by an anxiety scale administered per simulation activity) of 11 ELLs (5 in the control group, 6 in the experimental group) when speaking to Native English Speakers (NESs) during 10 simulation activities. Simulations in the control group were done face-to-face, while those in the experimental group were done in the MUVE of Second Life. The results of the repeated measures ANOVA revealed after the Huynh-Feldt epsilon correction, demonstrated for both groups a significant decrease in anxiety levels over time from the first simulation to the tenth and final simulation. When comparing the two groups, the results revealed a statistically significant difference, with the experimental group demonstrating a greater anxiety reduction. These results suggests that language instructors should consider including face-to-face and MUVE simulations with ELLs paired with NESs as part of their language instruction. Future investigations should investigate the use of other multi-user virtual environments and/or measure other dimensions of the ELL/NES interactions.

Andragogy as a Knowledge Driving Discipline in Higher Education

This paper exposes the diachronic (historical overview) of Andragogy (or Adult Education) and its introduction as a discipline in the context of university education. Based on the andragogical principles of the adult thought process and the work experience, this study sets out Adult Education as an education option to be implemented in higher education, in Costa Rica, to develop cognitive and meta-cognitive competencies in the university students, in the different academic areas simultaneously, by reproducing the Socratic maieutics, which is structured within the Kolb’s experiential learning cycle.

Scaling up: Achieving a breakthrough in adult learning with technology

The first report commissioned by Ufi Charitable Trust. It investigates opportunities for and barriers to the application of digital technology to adult learning. It focuses on possible ways to transform the UK’s vocational education and training system, identifying three main priorities for funding by the Ufi Charitable Trust: * increasing the capability of those involved in running the vocational learning system * exploiting networks to bring together learners, learning content and learning professionals * harnessing computers to support individualised and differentiated learning.

Para além do biológico, o sujeito com a síndrome de Klinefelter

Este estudo traz à tona nossa intenção de pesquisa: Compreender a história de vida de um sujeito com a Síndrome de Klinefelter, o Ramon. A Síndrome de Klinefelter é muito peculiar e vem ganhando destaque na área médica, não por sua prevalência na população, mas por sua complexidade. Na área da educação, a produção acerca dessa síndrome é incipiente encontramos apenas um estudo em Portugal. No nosso país, no entanto, ressalta-se o ineditismo dessa pesquisa. Nesse estudo pensamos, juntamente com Lev Semionovich Vigotski e outros autores que imprimem em seus textos raízes sócio-históricas, num Ramon para além do biológico, ou seja, para além dos seus limites orgânicos: um sujeito rico em subjetividade que foi valorizada. Objetivamos, assim, compreender a subjetividade desse sujeito que é singular na coletividade, assim, pensar no Ramon é pensar nos outros, nos seus pares e nas intrínsecas redes de dialogismos tecidas na imensa trama que é a vida. Buscamos também observar como ocorreu a inclusão desse sujeito no âmbito escolar. A fim de atingir os objetivos traçados, utilizamos a perspectiva histórico-cultural do desenvolvimento humano atrelando os pressupostos dessa opção teórica à metodologia história de vida. Para entender os detalhes, os indícios, as miudezas, os resquícios da história de vida do sujeito que parecem insignificantes, mas que são imprescindíveis para se compreender alguns processos de grande dimensão, nos apoiamos no paradigma indiciário de Ginzburg. Nessa pesquisa, nossos encontros com esse jovem de 22 anos são descritos e analisados, levando em conta os aspectos subjetivos. Nesses encontros, ouvimos várias narrativas para compor a história de vida do sujeito pesquisado: a do próprio Ramon, da sua mãe Marlene e das professoras da APAE e da Educação de Jovens e Adultos, ouvimos, portanto, Ramon em diferentes contextos: em casa, na APAE, na escola de ensino comum (EJA) e na casa da professora da APAE. Para colher os dados, recorremos às entrevistas biográficas semiestruturadas, as quais foram adequadas à singularidade de cada sujeito ouvido. Todas as entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas em sua totalidade e os dados obtidos foram analisados levando-se em conta o contexto histórico e social de Ramon, assim, observamos as relações dialógicas estabelecidas por Ramon com seus pares e tentamos compreendê-las para melhor entender a construção subjetiva desse sujeito que para além de biológico, é social, cultural, que aprende, apreende e que, para além disso...muito nos ensina!

Da educação de adultos à educação e formação de adultos : o sistema de reconhecimento, validação e certificação de competências em Portugal

Num contexto de revitalização do credo neoliberal, as componentes de educação e formação, tradicionalmente separadas, têm sido alvo de aproximação crescente num processo de articulação e convergência, que permitem a alguns autores reconhecer a tendência para as políticas de Educação de Adultos se transformarem em políticas de Educação e Formação de Adultos. Num país, como Portugal, que apresenta, tradicionalmente, baixos níveis de educação de base e de qualificação e de certificação escolar e profissional da população adulta, em comparação com os demais países europeus, a necessidade de recomposição dos sistemas educativos e de articulação dos sistemas de educação e formação tem conduzido a uma convergência de preocupações em torno da problemática do reconhecimento e validação de competências e da implementação deste dispositivo. Neste estudo, procurámos compreender o processo de construção sócio-histórica de um campo tão rico e polissémico como é a Educação de Adultos, em Portugal, a partir da centralidade assumida pelo Sistema de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências, enquanto novo modelo de educação e formação de Adultos, atravessado por continuidades, descontinuidades, ambiguidades e tensões. Através de uma metodologia de um estudo de caso, privilegiamos uma abordagem qualitativa e descritiva, numa relação de diálogo entre a construção teórica e os dados empíricos. O estudo conclui que o Sistema de Reconhecimento, Validação e Certificação de Competências, instrumento legitimador da articulação crescente entre os sistemas de educação e formação, está construído na tensão entre uma lógica de racionalidade e eficiência económica e os apelos a uma lógica humanista-emancipatória.

A educação de adultos: um novo desafio organizacional na escola pública

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção de grau de mestre em Ciências da Educação Especialização em Administração Escolar

O tempo, um grande escultor

Mestrado em Educação e Intervenção Social - Desenvolvimento Comunitário e Educação de Adultos