Many adults who attempt to reach their basic educational goals through the formal adult education system fail to find programs that meet their needs. Based on in-depth interviews with Chicano/as in the Southwest, this report examines the impact of and the extent to which historical and contemporary structural constraints impede their efforts. It concludes that adult education practice at all levels must be restructured to become more inclusive and supportive of nondominant groups that look to adult education for assistance in reaching their academic goals.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Berg, B.
(1989). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Massachusetts: Allyn & B acon.
2.
Beder, H.
(1990). Reasons for nonparticipation in adult basic education. Adult Education Quarterly, 40(4), 207-218.
3.
Darkenwald, G.
, & Merriam, S. (1982). Adult education: Foundations to practice. Massachusetts: Harper & Row.
4.
De La Rosa, D.
, & Maw, C. (1990). Hispanic education: A statistical portrait 1990. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 325562). Washington, DC: National Council of La Raza.
5.
Deutsch, S.
(1987). No separate refuge: Class, culture and gender on an Anglo-Hispanic frontier in the American southwest, 1880-1940. New York: Oxford University Press.
6.
Dirlik, A.
(1987). Culturalism as hegemonic ideology and liberating practice. In A. Jan Mohamed & D. Lloyd (Eds.) Cultural critique: The nature and context of minority discourse, 6(Spring), 13-50.
7.
Flores, J.
, & Yudice, G. (1990). Living borders/Buscando America: Languages of Latino self-formation. Social Text, 24, 57-84.
8.
Fowler-Frey, J.
(1996). Linguistic minority adults and literacy education. Adult Basic Education, 6(2), 84-96.
9.
Fraser, N.
(1989). Unruly practices: Power, discourse, and gender in contemporary social theory. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
10.
Freire, P.
(1985) The politics of education. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey.
11.
Giddens, A.
(1979). Central problems in social theory: Action, structure and contradiction in social analysisBerkeley: University of California Press.
12.
Giddens, A.
(1984). The construction of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. Great Britain: Polity Press.
13.
Glaser, B.
, & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.
14.
Gramsci, A.
(1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. (Q. Hoare & G. Smith, Trans.). New York: International Publishers.
15.
Horsman, J.
(1991). Something in my mind besides the everyday: Women and literacy. Canada: Womens' Press.
16.
Keddie, N.
(1980). Adult education: An ideology of individualism. In. J. Thompson (Ed.), Adult education for a change (pp.45-64). London: Hutchinson.
17.
Macias, R.
(1990). Latino illiteracy in the United States. Claremont: Claremont College, Tomas Rivera Center.
18.
McKay, E.
(1986). Hispanic demographics: Looking ahead. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 274754). Washington, DC: National Council of La Raza.
19.
National Center for Educational Studies
. (1993). Adult literacy in America: A first look at the result of national adult literacy survey. (Publication No. 065-0000-00588-3). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
20.
Ogbu, J.
(1987). Variability in minority school performance: A problem in search of an explanation. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 18, 312-334.
21.
Pai, Y.
(1990). Cultural pluralism, democracy and multicultural education. In B. Cassara (Ed.) Adult education in a multicultural society. (pp.11-27). New York: Routledge.
22.
Popkewitz, T.
(1984). Paradigm and ideology in educational research: The social functions of the intellectual. New York: Falmer Press.
23.
Quigley, A. (1990). Reasons for resistance to ABE and recommendations for new delivery models and instructional strategies for the future. Unpublished manuscript. Pennsylvania State University Continuing and Graduate Education Center, Monroe.
24.
Rockhill, K.
(1983). Motivation out of context. Mobius, 3, 21-27.
25.
Scanlan, C.
, & Darkenwald, G. (1984). Identifying deterrents to participation in continuing education. Adult Education Quarterly, 34(3), 155-166.
26.
Schorris, E.
(1993). Latinos: A biography of the people. New York: W.W. Norton.
27.
Sparks, B. (1993). The politics of Latinola culture in adult basic education: Negotiating identity. Unpublished manuscript.
28.
Sparks, B. (1995). The impact of structural-cultural factors on non-participation in adult basic education by Chicano/a adults in urban communities in Colorado. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1995). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56, A1627.
29.
Stanfield II, J.
(1993). Methodological reflections: An introduction. In J. Stanfield II & R. Dennis (Eds.), Race and ethnicity in research methods (pp.3-15). New York: Sage Publications.
30.
Vogel-Zanger, V.
(1994). "Not joined in": The social context of English literacy development for Hispanic youth. In B. Federman, R. Weber, & A. Ramirez (Eds.), Literacy across languages and cultures. (pp. 171-198). New York: University of New York Press.
31.
Walsh, C.
(1991). Pedagogy and the struggle for voice: Issues of language, power, and schooling for Puerto Ricans. New York: Begin & Garvey.
32.
Weiss, L.
(1983). Schooling and cultural production: A comparison of Black and White lived culture. In M. Apple & L. Weiss (Eds.), Ideology and practice in schooling, (pp. 235-261). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
33.
Westcott, M.
(1979). Feminist criticism of the social sciences. Harvard Educational Review, 49(4), 422-430.
34.
Westcott, M.
(1983). Women's studies as a strategy for change: Between criticism and vision.In M. Humm (Ed.), Modern feminisms: Political, literary, cultural (pp. 395-397). New York: Columbia University Press.
