Content area
The purpose of this research was to discover: (1) If there are concepts of adult education that can be used to plan an educational program, and if there are, what are they? (2) What characteristics would a workplace literacy program have if based on the concepts of adult education? (3) To what degree are current workplace literacy programs based on the concepts of adult education?
After establishing the concepts of adult education used in program planning, a learner-centered model of workplace literacy education was developed that incorporated these principles. Then, twelve workplace literacy program descriptions, chosen from the ERIC database, were analyzed to determine the degree to which planners used the knowledge base of education.
The workplace literacy program descriptions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis was based on both the presence of attributes in the documents and on inference when meanings were not clearly stated. The sample was drawn using the criteria for redundancy sampling and maximum variation sampling.
The data were analyzed by comparing the program descriptions with the criteria for workplace literacy programs. The analysis showed that with a few exceptions, program planning, learner and teacher role in evaluation, and learner and teacher role in instruction in these workplace literacy programs, as reflected in the program descriptions, were not based on the assumptions of adult education. The analysis also showed that involvement of unions in the workplace did not increase learner involvement in the planning, evaluation, and implementation of the workplace literacy programs.
Recommendations include making information on learner-centered education more available, changing teacher education programs, and educating funders on learner-centered education. Further research could include investigating the importance of teachers in workplace education programs and determining if learner-centered programs impact on academic achievement. Also, the structure of workplace education programs is based on the structure of the workplace. If the workplace structure changes, will there also be changes in workplace education? Finally, an interesting follow-up would be to visit the sites of the programs analyzed and see if the program descriptions reflect what is actually occurring in the programs.