Hi Folks,
1. COABE's current newsletter is on equity in Adult Ed. Lots of good info. I haven't read it with a fine tooth comb yet. I suggest as a group folks read it, respond on social media, bring up issue of Older Adults as an equity issue.?
I personally think that how Adult Ed became ground down to workforce focus was grounded in white supremacy thinking. Each member of the community is important, deserves support, and makes contributions. That is not something I have had to explain to many of my students from cultures and countries where people are seen as interconnected to each other. (Just like I didn't have to explain why my parents stayed at my house vs a hotel or why I have chosen to help my parents as I have.)
2.?CA Department of Education, Adult Education Office, is working on a Digital Learning Guidance Document for the field.
I was invited by OTAN to join a workgroup on this (because I'm on the OTAN Distance Learning Advisory Panel). Not sure if I will or not.?
If I do join, I will bring up the issue of digital inclusion for Older Adults - whether they are enrolled in ESL, GED/HSD, Career Ed, Citizenship or Community Ed (including Older Adults Classes).?
I often bring up accessibility for low-vision, blind students and community members - this is a group that crosses over into some in the Older Adults community. Accessibility of this kind is rarely addressed in Adult Ed.?
I'm not an expert in ANY of these areas - but know something about low-vision through my previous jobs as reader for the blind (one of my former clients is now director of Lighthouse for the Blind!) and as daughter of someone with macular degeneration who got lots of services thru VA.? I have had some Adult Ed ESL students with low-vision and did my best to provide them accessibility. And as social media person for our school and Adult Education Matters, I learned about and practiced accessibility for low-vision and blind readers.?
----------- Point of this post:
Look to where policy is being shaped in Adult Ed and bring up including and serving Older Adults as an equity issue.?
