Adult Education Responds to Workforce Needs With a Focus on Rider 82

Next Steps in Instructional Applications to the World of Work

The Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks, Equipped for the Future’s Standards Framework, and the SCANS Competencies provide us with a continuum, guiding us through the corridor of time, and reinforcing the principle that lifelong adult learning is not about content knowledge (what people know) but rather process knowledge (what people do and how they do it). All three insist that basic communication, interpersonal, and thinking skills (such as problem solving, making inferences, and predicting outcomes) are critical to any quality adult education curriculum. Often embedded in instruction, these skills can be emphasized and the relevance to workforce or community made more explicit.

The adult education classroom is a natural place to begin developing workforce and life skills. In addition, the advent of the Texas College Readiness Standards (CRS) have implications for adult education. The legislative charge has a familiar ring: to specify what students must know and be able to do to succeed in entry level courses offered at Texas’ postsecondary institutions.

ESL instructors in particular have long recognized that language learners perform best as they develop skills that allow them to function as active, creative, and self-directed problem solvers who can work effectively on their own and with others. For example, many ESL instructors are highly skilled in creating a learning environment that simulates situations in the “real world.” Likewise, those delivering basic skills, literacy, and GED instruction who survey their learners’ needs and interests incorporate into instruction opportunities for individuals to develop the knowledge and skills needed to function successfully in their families, communities, and workplaces.

Source: Study Circle on Preparing Adult English Language Learners for the Workforce (CAELA Guide for Adult ESL Trainers 2007)

Many of the processes and methods employed in ESL instruction already utilize learner-centered strategies that contribute to the development of workplace and civics competencies. Cooperative learning, project assignments, and the use of technology help learners develop information management and technology competencies as well as the interpersonal skills identified by both SCANS and EFF as necessary for success. Marshall¹ provides excellent examples of these and other “multi-purpose” learning activities usually associated with English language instruction but easily adaptable for other adult education instructional settings. Even classroom management and behavioral expectations provide learners with opportunities to develop and strengthen standards of workplace behavior.

Helping adult learners achieve their individual goals while acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the workplace and community does not require reinventing curricula. The state content standards for adult education provide an excellent foundation for such.

1. Preparing for Success: A Guide for Teaching Adult English Language Learners. Marshall, Brigitte (2002). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.