[NLA] The Kennedy AELS/USA Act

[Janet Isserlis]

Sharon and all,

Try starting from here  - a colloquium  (including papers) on life 
long learning presented by the Open University

http://www.open.ac.uk/lifelong-learning/papers/

Janet

> > Where can I get information on what is being done in UK and Australia
>regarding life long learning?
>
>Also, is anyone aware of any exchange programs with either of those
>countries to see first hand how life long learning is supported?
>
>Thank you
>
>
>
>
>March 18, 2002
> >
> > The Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System
> > of the United States of America Act (AELS/USA)
> >
> > Just prior to his tragic death in 1993, President John F. Kennedy
> > established the Task Force on Manpower Conservation.  With Daniel
> > Patrick Moynihan as staff director of the Task Force, a report was
> > prepared for President Lyndon Johnson on January 1st, 1964. Later, in
> > May of that year, President Johnson launched the "Great Society"
> > initiative  that led to the passage of Public law 88-452, the Economic
> > Opportunity Act. The EOA included Title II: The Adult Basic Education
> > program. In 1966, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was
> > amended to include the ABE program renamed the Adult Education Act of
> > 1966.
> >
> > The Adult Education Act of 1966 became the basis for a unique education
> > system within the United States made up of a partnership between the
> > federal and all 50 state governments and U. S. territories. I call this
> > system the Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States of
> > America (AELS/USA-AELS for short).
> >
> > I believe that it is a poignant circumstance that we can trace the AELS
> > from the concerns for adult development that President Kennedy had in
> > 1963 to the concerns that his last surviving brother, Senator Edward
> > Kennedy, has today for conserving and further developing our nation’s
> > adult citizens through his strong belief in the power of life long
> > learning in overcoming social exclusion of many kinds.
> >
> > In recognition of this commitment of the two Kennedy brothers to adult
> > learning and development, and to name and recognize the unique education
> > system that has evolved since President Kennedy established the Task
> > Force on Manpower Conservation, I am suggesting that the Workforce
> > Investment Act of 1998 be amended to remove Title 2: The Adult Education
> > and Family Literacy Act from that law and that a new law be passed
> > establishing
> >
> > The Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System
> > of the United States of America Act.
> >
> > In major developed nations, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and
> > others there exist recognized, publicly funded, adult education systems
> > for life long learning, called further education systems in the two
> > nations mentioned,  in addition to the publicly funded K-12 and higher
> > education systems. And,indeed, in the U.S. there exists such a system
> > but it has not been formally recognized as such. The Annual Review of
> > Adult Learning and Literacy Volume 3 (Jossey-Bass, 2002) includes a
> > chapter that traces the history of the Adult Education and Literacy
> > System of the United States from Colonial days to the 21st century.
> >
> > The long history in the  U. S. to the commitment of providing education
> > for adults which has resulted in the rise of the AELS, and the fact that
> > in the last decade of the 20th century close to 40 million adult
> > enrollments were registered by the AELS, provide strong arguments for
> > moving the AELS from the margins to the mainstream of publicly funded
> > education in the United States, just as it is in other developed
> > nations.
> >
> > I hope that others on the NLA list will take some time to discuss the
> > vision of The Kennedy Adult Education and Literacy System of the United
> > States of America Act. The reauthorization of the Workforce Investment
> > Act offers an opportunity to extract the AELS from that limited context
> > and to broaden adult education and literacy development to include not
> > just workforce development, but active, life long learning for adults as
> > they strive to cope with the exigencies of the fast-paced, complex,
> > ever-changing, modern world of the 21st century.
> >
> > No time is better than the present to make this vision a reality.
> >
> > Tom Sticht
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/nla
> > LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and goodies for literacy
> > http://literacytent.org
>
>
>Sharon Ultsch
>40 EE Cummings blvd
>oob. me 04064
>
>Adult Education Director
>207-934-7922 phone,  fax  934-3705
>sultsch @hs.oob.k12.me.us
>
>
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