Introduction to the field of adult education. Students will develop an understanding of the scope of the field, current trends and issues, and the role of the adult educator in today's society. Special attention will be given to Native Canadian education, gender issues and education of people with disabilities.
Introduction to planning, conducting, and evaluating continuing education programs in a variety of formal and informal contexts. Students are actively involved in the examination and use of methods and delivery systems. Special attention is given to Native Canadian education, gender issues and education of people with disabilities.
Special Topics
These courses are offered occasionally by visiting
faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
EDCNT 498.3
1/2(3S)
GRADUATE COURSESDepartment of Educational Foundations, College of Graduate Studies & Research
EDCNT 810.3
Registration Info — 2003-2004 Regular Session»Learning for Life: Practice and Theory in Adult Education 1/2(3L) Prerequisite(s): Admission to the College of Graduate Studies & Research.
Introduces graduate students from various backgrounds to the scope and aims of modern adult education in all its diversity. The content is significantly shaped by recent studies in Canadian adult education practice and theory and these developments are viewed from international perspectives.
Enables participants to gain an understanding of the history of continuing (adult) education, with emphasis on the twentieth century North American experience. Discusses key movers and shapers of the field of practice. Provides opportunity for conducting historical-philosophical analysis and for identifying perennial ethical, social, and political problems facing adult educators.
Builds upon the content of EDCNT 830. In-depth study and analysis of a selected topic or topics related to the history and/or philosophy of continuing (adult) education. Examples: seminal figures in the history of the field; the early literature base of continuing (adult) education; the advocates and opponents of the professionalization of the field of continuing (adult) education; the issue of mandatory continuing education; currently emerging controversial issues which affect decision making in the practice of continuing (adult) education.
Program development is examined within the context of Continuing Education. Specific elements of the program development process which will be discussed include the planning context, need identification, educational objectives, and learning experiences. Issues related to these concepts will be viewed from a theoretical framework. Participants will have an opportunity to apply or test some of this theory in an educational setting.
Draws on research and theory in several social sciences to provide an understanding of the changing needs and capacities of adults for learning throughout the life span; optimal learning environments for adults; teacher-learner interaction in adult education; social facilitation of learning.
Provides participants with international perspective on the field of adult education. Critical analysis of various approaches to adult education and "development" is encouraged. Ethical questions confronting the individual practitioner will be explored. Previous offerings have included discussion of alternative approaches to research and practice in adult education and have analyzed the work of such adult educators as Myles Horton and Malcolm Knowles, Ivan Illich and Julius Nyerere, John Sewell and Paul Bergevin, Paulo Freire and John Lowe, John Ohliger and Ned Corbett.
Community development as a process in effecting social change is examined from historical and philosophical perspectives. Theory and research from the social sciences is utilized as a means for developing analytical and developmental models from which community, change and the community development process might be analyzed. Canadian programs and experiences in community development serve as basic data for the course.
Selected approaches and models of evaluation are compared and contrasted as they apply to programs of Continuing Education. Students are expected to gain experience in designing evaluation studies and in using the results of evaluation.
EDCNT 885.3
Registration Info — 2003-2004 Regular Session»Application of Learning Principles in the Practice of Adult Education 1/2(2P) Prerequisite(s): EDCNT 875; or permission of the instructor.
Requires participants to undertake the role of facilitator in arranging a learning experience for an adult group, using a variety of adult education procedures. The role of the project will be primarily to help the students gain increased understanding of themselves in facilitating adult learning.
Participants are encouraged to deepen their knowledge and skills in an area of their choice in adult education. In the past, mainstream adult education has been an important area for selection of such topics. Alternative adult education enterprises have also been a valuable source of subject matter for analysis and discussion: environmentalism, de-schooling, pacifism, and various freedom movements around the world.
Using classroom and field community experiences as a means for generating information, the learner examines various community development practices on the Prairies. In so doing learners may assess their own level of competence in putting into practice community development theory, principles, and methods.
Some currently important aspects of the field of adult education are reviewed and analyzed.
EDCNT 892.3
Registration Info — 2003-2004 Regular Session»Workplace Learning (Internship) 1/2(100S) Prerequisite(s): Admission to graduate program in Adult and Continuing Education, Educational Foundation, or Indian and Northern Education.
Provides a hands-on workplace learning experience in adult and continuing education. The learning experience is monitored throughout by a faculty advisor and a field-based supervisor. Placements are made with organizations that best suit students' academic interests and career aspirations.
The first part provides background and experiences in the conduct of literary-humanistic historical research in education. The second part deals with the conduct of empirical social science research in education.
These courses are offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.