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

[Colin Harrison]

Hi Tom

Well said!

Thanks for this timely reminder. I don’t think that critical digital literacy is doing too well in a number of nations right now….

Best regards

Colin

Sent from my iPhone

On 28 Jun 2024, at 21:48, Thomas Sticht <tgsticht at gmail.com> wrote:


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

_______________________________________________
Reading-hall-of-fame mailing list
Reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
https://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/reading-hall-of-fame
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/pipermail/reading-hall-of-fame/attachments/20240629/c558edb0/attachment-0001.htm>