[Reading-hall-of-fame] Adult Learning in the Military Context

[Thomas Sticht]

June 28, 2024

Toward a 4th of July Revolution in Adult Learning in Both Military &
Civilian Contexts

Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education (Ret.)

On July 4th of each year we celebrate the Declaration of Independence of
America from British rule. But true independence came only after a war of
revolution was fought. Over two decades ago I reviewed much of the history
of adult education in the United States and  noted that  in the late 1700s
General George Washington ordered Army chaplains in Valley Forge to teach
basic literacy skills to soldiers during the Revolutionary War for
independence (Sticht, 2002).

More recently (Sticht, 2022) I noted that the military's contribution to
the emergence of the national Adult Education System presently funded by
the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act included the development of
the technology of mass standardized testing, later used for determining
the  ”scale of need” for adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) in the
Nation, the development of ALBE programs for developing basic skills
(reading,, writing, arithmetic) of tens of thousands of undereducated
military personnel in World Wars I and II and the Korean and Vietnam wars
of the 1950s and 1960s, and the development of the tests of General
Educational Development (GED) for military personnel who had not finished
high school when they entered the military and which, when passed,
certified the person as possessing academic  knowledge and skills of a high
school equivalency level (Sticht, 2022).

Last year, in 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine formed an Ad Hoc Committee (2023) on Adult Learning in the
Military and outlined a new program of research and synthesis of literature
on adult learning in military environments. The web pages of the committee
on Adult Learning in the Military state that it will “,…draw on literature
on adult learning in relevant non-military contexts and note the
limitations of applicability to the military. …The committee will develop
recommendations related to supporting learning in the military as well as a
research agenda for the Army Research Institute. The committee’s work will
be guided by the following questions:

1.      What are the motivations shaping learning in adults? How do
motivations change (or not) throughout the lifespan and how do these
changes impact learning behaviors?

2.      How do contextual and equity factors (including but not limited to
task/situation; team; organizational; cultural, societal, and life cohort
factors) shape the effectiveness of training and of personnel policies and
practices? Where is additional research needed?

3.      What are the most promising topics related to emerging learning
technologies for immediate investment and near-term payoff?

4.      What approaches to assessment and evaluation of adult learning and
developmental outcomes are most effective? What deficiencies in the current
approaches to assessments and evaluation might impede accurate measurement
of learning and developmental outcomes?

5.      What, if any, additional research investments should be made to
better understand adult learning in the military context and to fully
utilize contextual factors in achieving organizational effectiveness?”



A previous review of adult education in the military formulated several
“functional context education” principles and procedures that have been
productive for adult education in both military and civilian workplace
contexts (Sticht, et al, 1987). Perhaps this new project on adult learning
in the military will provide a 4th of July revolution for adult education!



References

Ad Hoc Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and
Medicine. (2023). Adult Learning in the Military Context. Online at:
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/adult-learning-in-the-military-context

Sticht, T.G., Armstrong, W.B., Hickey, D.T., and Caylor, J.T.
(1987).Cast-off Youth: Policy and Training Methods from the Military
Experience. New York: Praeger.

Sticht, T. (2002). The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy system in
the United States: 1600- 2000. In: J. Comings, B. Garner, & C. Smith (Eds.)
Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy. Vol. 3. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.Online at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED508720

*Sticht, T. (2022). Adult Literacy and Basic Education in the United
States. Oxford Research Encyclopedias. Online at:*
https://oxfordre.com/education/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-1744?d=%2F10.1093%2Facrefore%2F9780190264093.001.0001%2Facrefore-9780190264093-e-1744&p=emailAmIJHdYoSIKiw
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