Overview of counseling and information services for adult learners

Counseling and information services for adult learners exist in technologically developing and developed countries. Counseling services are performed by professional counselors, by adult education administrators and teachers, by practitioners in related agencies, and by paraprofessional counselor aides. Information services include mediated and interpersonal marketing and recruitment activities performed by administrators, teachers, and public information specialists. In developing countries, adult education programs and related counseling services tend to be concentrated on categories of adults whose personal development has high priority in national development plans. In developed countries, a wider range of adult education sponsors serves a higher proportion and a more representative cross section of the adult population.There has been increasing recognition throughout the world that counseling and information services for adult learners are important but inadequate. Most counseling of adult learners is provided by people who are not professional counselors. In developing countries, counseling related to adult education is seldom provided by professional counselors, tends to be associated with literacy, employment, and health programs and uses few support materials. Adult education tends to be related to national development goals. In developed countries, counseling related to adult education uses support materials and assessment procedures for planning regarding a wide range of topics and adult life roles. Adult education emphasizes personal development and postsecondary education.The societal context of adult education is reflected in service provision. In developing countries, the extended family performs some functions that in developed countries are performed by counseling personnel. In developing countries, information services to encourage adult education participation rely on word-of-mouth, convenient locations, and inclusion in other activities. In developed countries, recruitment procedures include mail brochures and television announcements.Organizational arrangements for counseling adult learners tend to be more formalized in developed than in developing countries, as reflected in the establishment of community-based educational counseling centers for adults. Inadequate preparation of counselors is a recurrent theme. Comparative analysis and evaluation of counseling and information services for adult learners can yield findings of use throughout the world.

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Zusammenfassung Bildungsberatungs- und Informationsdienste für Erwachsene gibt es sowohl in technisch entwickelten als auch in Entwicklungsländern. Beratung wird durch professionelle Berater, Erwachsenenbildungs-Administratoren und Lehrer, Mitarbeiter in entsprechenden Organisationen und halb-professionelle Beratungsassistenten erteilt. Zu den Informationsdiensten gehören mittelbares und direktes Marketing und Anwerbung durch Administratoren, Lehrer und Experten des öffentlichen Informationswesens. In Entwicklungsländern konzentrieren sich die Erwachsenenbildungsprogramme und die damit verbundenen Beratungsstellen meistens auf diejenigen Kategorien von Erwachsenen, deren persönliche Entwicklung von vorrangiger Bedeutung für die nationalen Entwicklungspläne ist. In entwickelten Ländern steht für die Beratung und Information eines grösseren und repräsentativeren Bevölkerungsanteils ein ausgedehnterer und vielseitigerer Kreis von Erwachsenenbildungs-Förderern zur Verfügung.Auf der ganzen Welt wächst die Erkenntnis, dass Beratung und Information in der Erwachsenenbildung wichtig aber unzulänglich sind. Grösstenteils werden die Erwachsenen von Nicht-Professionellen beraten. In Entwicklungsländern wird diese Beratung nur selten von professionellen Beratern erteilt; ausserdem bezieht sie sich meistens auf Alphabetismus-, Beschäftigungs- und Gesundheitsprogramme und verwendet wenig Hilfsmaterial. Erwachsenenbildung wird oft nur auf nationale Entwicklungsziele bezogen. In entwickelten Ländern benutzen die Beratungsstellen Hilfsmaterialien sowie Bewertungsverfahren für die Planung eines reichen Angebots an Themen und Erwachsenenrollen. Die Erwachsenenbildung legt Nachdruck auf persönliche Entwicklung und höhere Bildung.Der soziale Kontext der Erwachsenenbildung spiegelt sich im Angebot wider. In Entwicklungsländern übernimmt die Familie einige Funktionen, die in entwickelten Ländern von Beratungspersonal ausgeübt werden. Die Informationsdienste in Entwicklungsländern verlassen sich darauf, dass die Bevölkerung durch Hörensagen, günstige Lage und Einschluss in andere Aktivitäten zur Teilnahme an Erwachsenenbildungsprogrammen angeregt wird. Die entwickelten Länder benutzen Werbungsverfahren einschliesslich durch die Post versandter Broschüren und Fernsehansagen.Die Organisation der Erwachsenenbildungs-Beratung ist in entwickelten Ländern meistens formeller als in Entwicklungsländern. Dies zeigt sich u.a. in der Errichtung von Gemeindeberatungszentren für Erwachsene. Immer wieder kommt jedoch die unzureichende Ausbildung der Berater ins Gespräch. Eine vergleichende Analyse und Evaluation der Beratungs- und Informationsdienste für Erwachsenenbildung könnte Befunde ergeben, die für die ganze Welt von Nutzen wären.

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Résumé Il existe des services d'orientation et d'information pour élèves adultes dans les pays développés et technologiquement en voie de développement. Les services d'orientation sont tenus par des conseillers d'orientation professionnels, par des administrateurs de l'éducation des adultes, des enseignants, des praticiens d'instances apparentées et par des aides-conseillers paraprofessionnels. Les services d'information comportent des activités interpersonnelles et interposées dans les domaines de l'étude de marchés et du recrutement, pratiquées par des administrateurs, des enseignants et des spécialistes de l'information publique. Dans les pays en voie de développement, les programmes d'éducation des adultes et les services d'orientation qui leur sont associés ont tendance à se concentrer sur les catégories d'adultes dont le développement individuel a une grande priorité dans les plans de développement national. Dans les pays développés, un plus ample éventail de garants de l'éducation des adultes sert une proportion plus forte et une tranche plus représentative de la population adulte.Il a été reconnu de plus en plus dans le monde entier que les services d'orientation et d'information pour les élèves adultes sont importants mais insuffisants. La plupart des consultations d'orientation pour adultes sont données par des gens qui ne sont pas des conseillers professionnels. Dans les pays en voie de développement, les consultations afférentes à l'éducation des adultes sont rarement données par des conseillers professionnels, ont tendance à être associées aux programmes d'alphabétisation, d'emploi et aux programmes sanitaires et se servent de peu de matériaux de support. L'éducation des adultes a tendance à être apparentée aux fins du développement national. Dans les pays développés, les consultations d'orientation afférentes à l'éducation des adultes se servent de matériaux de support et de procédures d'évaluation des besoins, concernant un ample assortiment de sujets et de rôles de la vie d'adulte. L'éducation des adultes met l'accent sur le développement individuel et l'enseignement supérieur.Le contexte social de l'éducation des adultes se reflète dans l'approvisionnement en services. Dans les pays en voie de développement, la famille, ayant une portée plus grande, assume certaines fonctions dont s'acquitte le personnel d'orientation dans les pays développés. Dans les pays en voie de développement, les services d'information désirant encourager la participation à l'éducation des adultes se basent sur la verbalité, des emplacements favorables et l'inclusion dans d'autres activités. Dans les pays développés, les procédures de recrutement comportent des brochures postales et des annonces télévisées.Les dispositions concernant l'organisation des consultations d'orientation pour élèves adultes tendent à être plus formalisées dans les pays développés que dans les pays en voie de développement, ceci étant reflété dans la création de centres de consultations éducatives pour adultes, basés sur la collectivité. La préparation insuffisante des conseillers est un thème récurrent. L'analyse comparative et l'évaluation des services d'orientation et d'information pour élèves adultes peut mettre à jour des résultats pouvant être utiles à travers le monde.

     

Educational brokering: New services for adult learners

This paper describes a fast-growing variety of programs that directly enable adult learners to pursue educational and career plans within their communities. Educational brokering serves an intermediary role between individual clients and the vast array of educational resources in a region. This paper considers the missions of brokering—advisement, assessment, and advocacy—its organizational arrangements, and the sources of its support and development. Specific successes and impacts of brokering are presented, as is the importance of the brokering idea to several larger public policy issues. Efforts currently underway to expand brokering activities on a national level are also discussed.Dr. Heffernan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Higher/Postsecondary Education at Syracuse University and is Coordinator of Research and Editor of theBulletin of the National Center for Educational Brokering. He has been assisted in the preparation of this article by Francis U. Macy and Donn F. Vickers, Director and Associate Director, respectively, of the National Center for Educational Brokering, 405 Oak Street, Syracuse, New York 13203.     

Counseling and advisory service for adult learners: An Open University perspective

The nature of counselling and advisory services which the Open University offers its students and applicants is dictated by the fact that its students are learning at a distance, are adults, and are not engaged in full-time study. In addition, a policy of open entry means that while some students come from a background of higher education, others have few or no previous qualifications. These factors require the University to try to provide an individual service to its applicants and students whenever possible. In pursuit of this aim students are allocated to Tutor-Counsellors, part-time staff who are locally based and who have a continuing responsibility for the progress of individual students from their initial registration until graduation. These Tutor-Counsellors play a considerable part in determining the extent, nature, and timing of the resources with which the university can support an individual student. Tuition for higher level specialist courses is normally provided by tutors at a greater distance, with the Tutor-Counsellors continuing to provide local generalist support. The Open University has set up a regional infra-structure of full-time academic and administrative staff for the support, briefing, supervision, and organization of this local network of part-time staff.     

A documentary analysis of the support services offered to adult learners with dyslexia in higher education

ABSTRACT

The National Student Survey (NSS) seeks to measure how ‘satisfied’ students are with their programmes of study and educational experience. Ongoing NSS data demonstrates that global satisfaction scores are increasing; however, when this is separated into disabled and non-disabled students, downward satisfaction trends for disabled students are apparent. Around half of these students will have dyslexia. This ‘snapshot’ documentary analysis evaluates the currently publicly available information outlining the support services that are available for students with dyslexia. The survey focuses upon a sample of higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Findings indicate that there are notable differences in the types and consistency of support offered across the sample institutions. The most frequently used model is that of additional learning support (ALS), where support is provided outside of the usual class contact time. Mentoring provides benefits for students with dyslexia but fewer than half of the institutions surveyed offered this. Subject specialist mentoring is particularly beneficial but there is little evidence of this taking place. There is a level of support in all the institutions that appears to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) but this does not necessarily indicate that dyslexic students are supported in the most effective way.     

成人学习者的学习心理及基本特性

远程教育的学习者主要以职业成人为主,虽然识记等学习能力有衰弱迹象,但由于元认知能力以及丰富的生活经验,使他们仍具有较强的学习能力。成人学习者在学习过程中表现出功利学习、自我导向学习、经验学习等特征。     

Strategy instruction in writing for adult literacy learners

This study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive strategy instruction in writing with adult literacy learners. Three middle-aged African-American adults participating in adult education with the goal of passing the GED received tutoring in a strategy for planning, writing, and revising persuasive essays along with self-regulation strategies. The study used a multiple-baseline design across participants with multiple probes. All the adults made consistent gains from baseline to posttest in the quality and organization of their essays. Mean gains in overall quality from baseline to posttest for the three students were 2.7, 1.9, and 1.7 on a 7-point scale. Percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) was 100% for text structure organization and 89% for quality. The results demonstrate that strategy instruction, which has had positive effects with school-age students, has potential for adult literacy learners as well.     

Adult learners in three countries: Models for counselling services

One of the more pervasive and important innovations of adult education practice in the seventies can be seen in full blossom in the educational guidance and information centre, a service which specializes in counselling adults about learning opportunities. While most visible in the United States with some 300 centres, similar organizations now exist in many other countries; one European centre in fact predates the seventies and may have pioneered the concept. In 1978 and 1979, the author visited various communities in North America and Europe in search of models for counselling adults about new careers, education options and life goals. This paper describes four centres and discusses how they exemplify aspects of a variety of models for organizing counselling services.Paper presented at Ninth International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, Thessaloniki, Greece, April 1980.     

Toward constructivism for adult learners in online learning environments

Since online learning has a different setting from the conventional classroom, online educators need to use some special techniques and perceptions to lead to success. Moreover, adults have special needs and requirements as learners compared with children and adolescents, thus online educators should know how adults can learn best because of their special characteristics. Philosophical and methodological shifts also affect instruction. Many researchers have suggested that constructivism should be applied in distance education. Thus, this paper attempts to examine the impact of constructivism in online learning environments when focusing on adult learners. The author develops the connection between constructivism and adult learning theory. In addition, the paper proposes instructional guidelines using the constructivist approach in online learning for adults.     

Mature adult learners and the need to know

Sterns and Mitchell (in H. L. Sterns, et al., Gerontology in higher education: Developing Institutional and Community Strength. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1979) point out that Maslow's concept of the need to know is as basic a need as the physical, security, and belongingness needs. And so, mature (25–55 years) and older (55 years and above) adult learning has flourished within the community: in museums, libraries, churches, in trade unions, business and industry, in evening programs emphasizing self-enrichment and vocational advancement, in a range of postsecondary noncollegiate, occupational, and adult education programs. Higher education and its academic disciplines, in contrast, have notably been age segmented and youth oriented. This paper outlines four major sociocultural changes which at once challenge higher education's youth orientation while simultaneously offering educational psychology opportunities for significant research, teaching, and service, for fertile dialectic within the higher education communities, and for wider support of the adult's need to know.     

Counseling services in the Peoples Republic of China

The principal vehicles for counseling in the Peoples Republic of China are the neighborhood council and the extended family. In addition to providing access to many services, the local council offers informal counseling to families and individuals in the neighborhood through peer helpers. This council is also the first level in a three-tiered health care delivery system. Informal counseling is sup-plemented with counseling from paraprofessional health care providers in the neighborhood clinics. Severe problems are referred to the second level — the district hospital — which usually has a psychiatric unit with medical psychologists able to deal with problems on both inpatient and outpatient bases. The third level of assistance is provided through specialized institutes that take a few severe psychological problems for treatment, research, and teaching purposes. Schools refer special behavior problems through the health care or political systems, but care for minor behavior and educational problems is provided through the teacher working with the family in the educational setting. While most counseling services are conducted informally through family and neighborhood council members, the disadvantage is the close linkage of counseling regulatory tasks with functions monitoring behavior and enforcing political policy. On balance, however, it appears that the array of services offered through local councils with a caring neighborly attitude outweighs the disadvantages of loss of privacy and pressures to conform to local behavioral expectations and political demands.