Undergraduate adult education in the contemporary neoliberal university

Abstract

In contemporary times, undergraduate adult education programs have to respond to changing student profiles and needs, institutional requirements, marketplace and workplace demands, and emerging technologies. Students in these programs tend to be non-traditional learners who are usually older and employed. They come with an array of prior learning experiences in life, work, and community contexts. These motivated learners have diverse reasons for wanting to engage in academic studies in adult education: They require knowledge of adult education to become trainers in business and industry; they have been educators, but they need to know what’s new to enhance and update their everyday pedagogical practices; they seek a university credential to ensure a new future; they need new learning for job transitions; they need to learn new modes of assessment; they want to work with industry partners to write curricula. This list of reasons is far from exhaustive. Considering the kinds of non-traditional students seeking a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education today, admission requirements need to be more in tune with what they bring to the learning table. For example, prior learning assessment that recognizes significant experiential learning could be a stronger criterion in the admissions process. In this perspective piece, we examine the current learning milieu in the neoliberal university and some matters affecting student participation in undergraduate adult education.