Josie Campbell - History of Adult Education: 1980s

 The History of Adult Education during the 1980s

Josie Campbell

Ball State University 

EDAC 631 Adult and Community Education

Dr. Bo Chang

Name	Commented On
Josie Campbell	Jayne Rohlfing

Introduction 

The 1980s in America were plagued with crime, a crack epidemic and economic issues. Nonetheless, the decade allowed for drastic improvements to adult education with the redevelopment of adult literacy and workforce development programs. Advancements in adult education would not have been possible without the help of technology.  

    The economy in the early 1980s was in a poor state due to two recessions. The first of the two recessions began in January of 1980 and it was “the most significant since the Great Depression” (University of California, 2011). Many individuals were unemployed during the recession. “The American economy experienced a modest recovery beginning in the summer of 1980 but declined again from July 1981 to November 1982” (University of California, 2011). Beginning in 1983, the economy began to recover but many Americans still lived in poverty. 

    The recessions had a large impact on the workforce in America and many companies were forced to close. “Many manufacturing and mining industries never recovered from the two recessions; others recovered their production levels, but did so with fewer workers” (Plunkert, 1990). Once the economy was able to recover, it became evident that workforce development would be needed in order to ensure that workers had the skills necessary to complete their work duties. Technological advancements helped to move workforce development forward. 

    During the recession, “a cheap, highly addictive form of cocaine known as ‘crack’ was first developed” (History.com Editors, 2018). Due to crack’s low cost and easy availability, it became very popular. “In 1985, the number of people who said they used cocaine on a routine basis increased from 4.2 million to 5.8 million” (History.com Editors, 2018). As a result of the increase in crack use, the crime rate increased. “The crack epidemic particularly devastated African American communities --- crime and incarceration rates among this population soared during the 1980s” (History.com Editors, 2018). 

    “Viewed presidentially, the ‘80s were one part Jimmy Carter, eight parts Ronald Reagan and one part George Bush” (Zinsmeister, 1990). President Carter’s presidency ended when President Reagan was inaugurated on January 20, 1981. President Reagan had a profound effect on America in the 1980s and as a result, the decade is referred to as the Reagan era. 

Highlights 

A major issue that emerged during the 1980s was illiteracy. In fact, the concerns were “coming to be seen as a crisis in literacy” (Rose, 1991, p. 25). “In May 1986, according to a government study on literacy, approximately 1 of every 8 Americans could not read.” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013, p. 18). Due to the data collected in the 1980s regarding illiteracy, the United Nations declared the year of 1990 as the International Literacy Year (Bhola, 1990). It was determined that despite many adults being employed and graduating from high school, they were not literate (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013). One of the reasons for the focus on illiteracy was due to a “heightened concern with national productivity and the link between literacy and economic development” (Rose, 1991, p. 25).  There were concerns that the workforce would not function well due to a decrease in unskilled labor.  

Another reason for the focus on literacy was a concern that the needs of immigrants were not being met. Between the years of 1981 and 1990, “some 7.3 million immigrants came to the United States” (Stitch, 2002). However, there were no programs to support services to limited English proficient adults. Yet, many limited English proficient adults were involved in the workforce. 

Once illiteracy began to be addressed, workforce development programs began to be redesigned so that workers would be equipped to fulfill their job duties. “According to national data, the percentage of workers receiving employer-provided training increased steadily from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s” (Lerman, McKernan, and Riegg 2004, 221-23, as cited in Eyster et al., 2016). 

    Many of the changes related to workforce development programs were initiated due to rapid technological advancements. On August 12, 1981, IBM introduced the IBM-PC, which was their version of the personal computer (America’s Best History, 2020). However, IBM’s personal computer sold for $1,565 so most families were most likely not able to purchase the computer. Nonetheless, the easy access of technology began to impact the workforce. “In an effort to compete in a worldwide market, many factories were modernized during the 1980’s, with more and better machines enhancing workers’ output” (Plunkert, 1990). There became a need for workers to be familiar with technology in order to have high productivity rates. In addition, there was an increased need for workers to be able to read instructions in order to complete their job duties. 

Influential Factors 

    There were several public and private literacy initiatives created in order to help end the literary crisis in America. “In 1981 the nongovernmental Coalition for Literacy was established” (Rose, 1991, p. 25). The Coalition for Literacy “emphasized volunteer activities, publicity for literacy issues, response to public inquiries, and fund raising to support these activities” (Rose, 1991, p. 25). 

    In 1983, President Reagan created the Adult Literacy Initiative (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013). “The purpose of the initiative was to have the U.S. Department of Education conduct a series of national meetings and conferences to increase awareness of adult illiteracy and promote cooperation among adult education programs in eradicating adult illiteracy” (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013, p. 17). The initiative did not include funding. The Adult Literacy Initiative used volunteers in order to help facilitate their literacy activities in an attempt to decrease costs (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2013). 

    President Reagan signed the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982 in order to address the needs for job-training programs (Fadulu, 2018). President Reagan made the decision to sign the JTPA in response to unemployment.  The JTPA was created after the two recessions and at a time when the unemployment rate was close to 11 percent (Fadulu, 2018). The JTPA “spent nearly $3 billion yearly between 1984 and 1998 and made some adjustments to the previous job-training formula by removing provisions for subsidized jobs in local and state governments and giving more control to the private sector” (Fadulu, 2018).  

    Despite President Reagan’s administration creating the Adult Literacy Initiative, there were concerns about the initiative. There were disclosures to the National Advisory Council on Adult Education (NACAE) about fears that volunteers would not be trained adequately nor supervised (Rose, 1991). In addition, President Reagan’s administration did not increase funding for adult education. Eventually, President Reagan’s administration makes amendments to the Adult Education Act (AEA) in 1984 in an attempt to address issues related to adult illiteracy and increase funding (Rose, 1991). “Thus, the AEA reads that adult education programs will ‘enable all adults to acquire basic literacy skills necessary to function in society’” (U.S. House of Representatives 1987, p. 308 as cited in Rose, 1991, p. 25-26). There was another amendment to the AEA in 1988 that “expanded services to permit partnerships with businesses, labor unions, and educators to provide workplace literacy programs for employees with limited basic skills (U.S. Department of Education, 1991; Rose, 1991, as cited in Stitch, 2002).

    The literacy crisis was worldwide crisis that did not just effect Americans. Discussions began about literacy being a human right and an aid to development. Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo, adult educators and philosophers, wrote a book in 1987 titled the Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Bhola, 1990). Freire gave the world the theme “literacy for liberation.” (Bhola, 1990). In the book, Freire and Macedo state the following: 

“We call for a view of literacy as a form of cultural politics. In our analysis, literacy becomes a meaningful construct to the degree that it is viewed as a set of practices that functions to either            empower or disempower people” (Bhola, 1990).

Implications

Adult education in the 1980s evolved into ensuring that adults not only had basic skills and were literate but it also became a political issue. The large number of illiterate adults forced not only governmental action but also action in the private sector. An important discussion about oppression began and it became necessary for there to be advocates for oppressed adults. These advocates were very valuable for the vast number of immigrants in America at the time. 

The two recessions early in the decade resulted in a sharp decline in the manufacturing industry. Yet, there was an increase in the service industry (Plunkert, 1990). This meant that unskilled laborers had to learn skills that they had no familiarity with previously. It became necessary to create workforce development programs for these individuals. 

The crack epidemic only worsened as the decade went on and the number of crack users was consistently increasing. Therefore, it can only be assumed that the labor pool was low, which could have resulted in decreased productivity nationwide. As a result, it was very important that the laborers that were available to work were well equipped. 

Table 1. Summary of the History of Adult/Community Education

Areas	Summary
Social Background	Two recessions, a crack epidemic, unemployment, industry shifts
Highlights	Literacy crisis, technological advancements at home and in the workforce, influx of immigrants, workforce development
Influential Factors	Amendments to the Adult Education Act (AEA) in 1984 and 1988, the Coalition for Literacy, the Adult Literacy Initiative, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982, Pablo Freire and Donaldo Macedo's Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Implications	Adult education became a political issue and there became a need to speak for the previously oppressed

References

America’s Best History. (2020). U.S. Timeline – The 1980s. America’s Best History.            https://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1980.html

Bhola, H. S. (1990). Literature on adult literacy: New directions in the 1980s. Comparative Education        Review, 34(1), 139-144. doi:10.1086/446907

Eyster, L., Durham, C., Van Noy., M., Damron, N. (2016, March 15). Understanding local workforce    systems. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/understanding-local-workforce-   systems

Fadulu, L. (2018, January 4). Why is the U.S. so bad at worker retraining? The Atlantic.    https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/01/why-is-the-us-so-bad-at-protecting-workers-   from-automation/549185/

History.com Editors. (2017, May 31). Just Say No. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/just-say-no

Plunkert, L. M. (1990). The 1980’s: A decade of job growth and industry shifts. Monthly Labor Review.    https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1990/09/Art1full.pdf

Rose, A. D. (1991). Ends or means: An overview of the history of the adult education act (346). ERIC.    http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.627.914&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Sticht, T. (2002). The Rise of the Adult Education and Literacy System in the United States: 1600-2000.    The Annual Review of Adult Learning and Literacy, 3(2). Retrieved from    http://ncsall.net/index.html@id=569.html

University of California. (2011). The 1980-82 early 1980s recession. University of California.     https://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/debt/1980srecession.html

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (2013). An American heritage   —federal adult education: A legislative history 1964-2013. Retrieved from    https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/Adult_Ed_History_Report.pdf

Zinsmeister, K. (1990). America during the '80s: Summing up the reagan era. The Wilson Quarterly    (Washington), 14(1), 110-117.