The purpose of this paper is to present a brief review of the existing literature on the goals and objectives of adult education. The material covered emphasizes research aimed at delineating the relationship between set goals and objectives and the individual, social, and economic advancement of adult learners.
Adult Education: Goals, Objectives and Student Advancement
Why do adults go to school? According to Papalia and Olds (1992), about 2/3rds of adults enrolled in part-time education classes are there for job-related reasons--these either receive their education in formal institutions or they take education/training classes given in their companies or organizations, often known as "in-house adult eduction".
Other adult students desire to sharpen their academic abilities or to get the high school diploma they did not get as adolescents. Still others simply desire to expand their minds and skills. Helping all of these people meet their various objectives is the primary goal of adult education.
A subsidiary objective of adult education is to not only educate these adults in the areas they desire but to do so in a manner that creates personal satisfaction. Regarding this goal, Vinson (1982) has noted that surveys of adult education students indicate that they are moderately to well satisfied with the services they receive.
According to Vinson, this good level of satisfaction is because most institutions serving adult learners have clearly stated and well-thought out goals based on real needs of adult learners. In other words, Vinson sees a connection between the goals and objectives of adult learners and the good feelings of adult learners about their education.
Regarding adult learner needs and the importance of educational goals being based on these, it is important to point out that adult learners have characteristics that can be fairly different from those of standard student populations. For ex...