Adult Education and Second Chances

Adult education is promoted as a way for those who have fallen behind in society owing to a lack of education and training to be given a second opportunity through a system that has been sold to them as giving them a second chance. Adult education has the ability to assist students in increasing their social standing, level of involvement, and degree of freedom in a manner that is congruent with the values of democracy. In social contexts in which adults are significant consumers of adult education but adults themselves do not participate in adult education, the value of education and training is almost completely inverted from what it would be in contexts in which adults are significant participants in adult education. Non-participants exist in a passive or educationally immune environment. This is in stark contrast to the approach that highly educated people take to adult education, which centers on job advancement. This approach reflects the highly educated people's desire to stand out socially.