MEd program students must complete MDDE601 & MDDE602 prior to all other courses.
Early access to the Moodle Learning Management System begins a few days before the official start date of your course. At that time you will have limited course access.
Availability: Fall Term Only
Overview
MDDE 611: Foundations of Adult Education introduces the purposes of adult education, and provides an overview of adult education theory and practice. Although the course is not intended as a comprehensive examination of the field of adult education, it will provide you with a foundation for studying other adult education courses and related fields.
A complementary course to MDDE 611 within the MEd and MAIS programs is MDDE 613 Adult Education and Lifelong Learning.
Outline
The course is composed of seven units:
Unit 1: Exploring the Foundations
Unit 2: Understanding the Social
Unit 3: Education for Economy
Unit 4: Education for Transformation
Unit 5: Education for Diversity
Unit 6: Education at a Distance: Online and Open
Unit 7: Canadian Adult Education in a Global Context
Learning outcomes
The goals of the course are to provide you with the following skills and knowledge:
Critically discuss the foundations of adult education;
Describe the dominant theoretical perspectives in adult education and relate them to practice;
Identify and discuss the key social, economic, and political issues that currently affect adult education.
Analyze an adult education issue using an integrated approach;
Discuss how adult education theory relates to distance education;
Discuss your informed, critical perspective on the purpose of adult education for the 21st century.
Evaluation
Students will be assessed on the basis of six assignments and their participation in the course.
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1: Chapter Review
25%
Assignment 2: Program Critique Group Presentation
25%
Assignment 3: Research Paper
30%
Course Participation
20%
Total
100%
Materials
Athabasca University (1988). Perspectives: On adult education. (Interviews with Malcolm Knowles, Allen Tough, Patricia Cross and Roger Boshier). Athabasca, AB: AU Press. (eText)
Freire, P. (2003). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Revised 30th Anniversary Edition. New York: Continuum. [Original work published 1970]. (eText)
Nesbit, T., Brigham, S., Taber, N., & Gibb, T. (Eds.) (2013). Building on critical traditions: Adult education and learning in Canada. Toronto, ON: Thompson Educational Publishing. (Online)
Spencer, B., & Lange E. (2014). The purposes of adult education: A short introduction. Toronto, ON: Thompson. (Online)
Welton, M. (Ed.) (1987). Knowledge for the people. Toronto, ON: OISE. (E-text) (Online)
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.