What I understand of Adult Education’s current goals?
“The Adult Education classes guided me through the various concepts. I was left feeling feel lost as to what the profession is “collaboratively” working towards, as there are so many directions and purposes:
- A purpose to empower the disenfranchised, and teach them how to leverage the systems marginalizing them.
- A purposes of educating those which were not privileged to an education most grew up with.
- A purpose of seeking “justice” and “equality” for those marginalized.
- Learning of some of the exemplars, such as the success of The Highlander Research and Education Center.
Most importantly, this is the first time I have been exposed to the dynamics of power in relation to the various forms of disenfranchised populations. What I found most interesting is the struggle for understanding is always continuing for every difference we recognize and experience. The various voices need to be heard and recognized. This has lead me to understand maybe everyone is still flipping some of the puzzle pieces over, and we aren’t ready to start putting the billions of puzzle piece together. For me though, I now have to decide what I would like to do with what I have learned.” (D.Tusler, Reflection taken from course discussion post)
Adult Education and inclusiveness?
I respect Adult Education, because the domain values all 8 billion and growing puzzle pieces; each voice. I have decided, the domain is attempting to strive for inclusiveness. Inclusive means “including or covering all the services, facilities, or items normally expected or required… containing (a specified element) as part of a whole.”
However, you add the concept of “other” (philosophy) and this makes 
“perception” more difficult. Because you just multiplied the number exponentially! But first, the voices I looked for in the Adult Ed courses. And to clarify, the Penn State Adult Education department recognizes voices are missing, and asks for people to join in the research, to make those voices heard.
Voices of My life…
Here are the voices I felt were missing from the dialogue from my two courses. But I want to point out; covering such a broad domain, and attempting to give equal voice to all the voices needing to be heard, is a huge task. This may not be doable, and the amazing attempt was thought provoking in my courses. This means the courses; Introduction to Lifelong Learning and Historical and Social Issues in Adult Education. My personal perspectives
in the domain create more complex, and exponentially difficult conditions to understand on the topic of diversity.
First, Asian Americans, as I am one. My dad gets upset when I identify one. But, I am one of the growing number of Asian Americans. My father is blonde blue eyed, from Kansas, with stoic family roots of settlers midwestern settlers,with Southern Baptist upbringing. Those who know me, no “Friend of Dorthy comments”, yet! My mother is Taiwanese, a first generation immigrant from Taiwan, and old world Chinese Confucianist upbringing. Here lies some perceptions. My father sees me as his white son. Put me in Kansas, and I am not perceived as a white man. As the location changes, so do the perceptions of my ethnicity and all the bias that goes with this perception. In Pennsylvania, some people assumed I am Hispanic. Chinese people didn’t perceive me as Chinese. My appearance, and not speaking Chinese, created more of a perception gap for them. But in saying I was Taiwanese, added another perception. Mainland Chinese students said I was Chinese. My mother would argue no, and so would many Taiwanese, because Taiwan became independent from China at the end of WWII 1945. My mother is adamant, because she had her leg shot from a Japanese plane attack overhead as she dived under a tree as a little girl. As a person experiencing WWII, she grew up during the political ambiguity, and war time strife. This sense of pride in her heritage and democracy, is understandable for anyone. After all my dad is Veteran of the US Military. Incidentally, I ask, who’s experiences and perceptions are valid?
I have just added five or six perception differences, all routed in different times, places, culminating over a lifetime. Am I an apple that fell far from the tree; my mother or my father?
Place and Time…
In our course, we understood history and context play a role. I found this statement an over simplification. Because, as I moved for school as an adult, live abroad, and being a product of the military life, the history
and context of my experiences stayed with me. The history and context or “prior learning” over the course of “lifelong learning” stays with each person. There is this level of “incidental learning” we all carry with us, and manifests in so many various ways.
Let me add being gay to growing up as a Military Brat. Suddenly, we add me being an Asian male, synonymous with “Orientalism“, being gentile, and effeminate, gay, and in a culture of hyper masculinity. Yes, Asian men seem to be seen as not masculine, and this is both in heterosexual and homosexual cultures. And the homosexual culture has no problem saying NO ASIANs, or only picking an ASIAN, because of the Orientalism fetishism, and dealing with perceptions of masculinity found in the sociocultural learned behavior. Again, depending on the region of the world I live in, and where the people I meet are from, these factors impose a socio-cultural perception on my self perception. This imposed socio-cultural perception affects everyone.
How does one live up to all those perceptions and expectations? How does one belong or develop a self-reflective understanding of themselves? When the factors we identify; race, gender, culture, sexuality, and so much more, are then place into a place and a context, everything changes. Self perception changes based on who your environment, and social connections. This social perception and self perception feed each other in an endless cycle. I guess the idea of “the Other” is a reality.