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UN/ - 7 September 2006 - If we were to examine the current populations in need of training and continuing education in the United States, we would not be surprised to see the vast numbers that are both legal and illegal immigrants in comparison to the numbers of U.S. citizens who are high school dropouts and back-to-school baby boomers. If
we conducted similar comparisons within
lesser-developed countries, we would likely find
similarities in the characteristics of these
populations needing training and continuing
education. For
instance, people from countries that are south
of Mexico tend represent the illegal immigrants
in Mexico just as Mexicans are to the United
States or as Haitian immigrants are to The
Bahamas.
This
migratory fact along with the inevitable global
workforce transition lends more urgency to the
request that multi-national corporations and
education institutions invest more in the
workforce preparation and education policies and
programs of lesser-developed countries.
The use of workforce intermediaries both
domestically and at off-shore locations is the
most economical and accountable approach.
Workforce
intermediaries like the Council for Adult and
Experiential Learning (CAEL) and Jobs for the
Future (JFF) believe that in order to
effectively address the training and retraining
needs that are changing and escalating
constantly, educators, employers, government
leaders, union leaders and anyone else with
significant influence on national and regional
workforce policies will need to create new
methodologies for projecting and addressing
current and future needs.
Training
and educational institutions both in developed
and lesser-developed countries would need to
seriously assess institutional readiness in
addressing workforce development. The
same methods used in the United States and being
adopted by other developed countries can be
applied just as effectively to lesser-developed
countries; particularly countries that make up
Central Latin America and the Caribbean,
including The Bahamas. An initial approach that has been found extremely effective is CAEL’s Adult Learner Focused Initiative (ALFI) where educational and training institutions are assessed for effectiveness in addressing the needs of adult learners. All too often, higher education institutions in both developed and lesser-developed countries tend to present a one-size-fits-all approach to everything from orientation to synchronous and asynchronous teaching and training. Both
in the U.S. and abroad, this approach is totally inadequate
in preparing workers for changing societies.
And, as Friedman (Selinger, 07/2006)
pointed out “We don’t just need more
education, we need the right kind of
education.”
In addition to assessing the services of higher education institutions, the readiness of faculty and staff in both developed and lesser-developed countries must be assessed. The ALFI can be complimented with the use of an Institutional Self-Assessment Survey for administrators and faculty designed by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and released in 2004. This would help to determine the level of understanding and adaptability of the staff to provide access to educational services and opportunities as well as their tolerance and appreciation for differences at a global level. All
too often, the very institutions that encourage
exposure and learning opportunities through
study abroad and experiential learning, end up
limiting the learning experience by having
faculty and staff who lack exposure and
understanding and are thus unprepared to embrace
and encourage traditional and non-traditional
learners. Experiential learning credits for both traditional and non-traditional age students may be used toward attainment of college degrees, thus lending great assistance in the move from poverty to financial security. Students categorized as adult-learners could be administered an adult student survey called the Adult Learner Inventory designed by both Noel–Levitz and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, also released in 2004. Using Prior Learning Assessment
techniques, college credits can be awarded for
relevant work and study abroad experiences.
More access to education and training
will increase the middle class population.
This is the most direct line to economic
and political stability. Lifelong Learning
Accounts United States Senator Maria Cantwell is pushing to introduce The Lifelong Learning Account Demonstration Act. "The Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a demonstration of Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs), with up to 200,000 participants. "Lifelong Learning accounts are educational savings accounts in which both employee and employer contribute funds to be used for the education and training of the employee. "If the LiLAs Demonstration Act is passed, ten demonstration states would be selected based upon applications to the Department of Treasury. The demonstration would be designed to provide an incentive to lower and middle-income earners to save and spend for education and training to improve their career related skills and knowledge.” Successful LiLA programs would contribute
significantly to the competitiveness of both the
American workforce and that of its neighboring
countries.
Only recently, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education indicated that “Lifelong Learning and Continuing Education” would be listed among the top priorities for the Twenty-First century (The Chronicle of Higher Education, April and June 2006). In the May issue of The Chronicle, it was reported that the Commission was considering Lifelong Learning Accounts as a way to help close the educational funding gap for adult workers. However,
in the latest report of the Commission support
for a national pilot program dealing with
lifelong learning accounts was removed.
A pilot program of this magnitude would
lay a significant foundation for creating more
effective methodologies for addressing what is
already predicted to be massive training and
retraining workforce development “needs”
associated with the Twenty-First
century:
a global workforce.
National and Global workforce development concerns can be effectively addressed if we face the facts and are willing to take action. Workforce intermediaries like the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and Jobs for the Future (JFF) have demonstrated their capacity to positively affect the lives of tens of thousands of young people and adults, in the U.S., in South and Central America, and in South Africa. It
is time for higher education leaders,
governments, and U.N. agencies to call on
organizations like CAEL, JFF and other workforce
intermediaries as advisors in seeking to address
global workforce development needs. The JFF has several key initiatives currently being implemented with support from several major partners. With help from and in partnership with the United Nations and all its valued resources, we need to do the same in lesser-developed countries. We should have learned by now that social and economic issues in lesser-developed countries eventually become, through emigration, social and economic concerns of the developed countries.
Dr. Rodney D. Smith Dr.
Rodney D. Smith is a senior consultant on
International Education with MaximsNews.
He has served internationally in senior
education positions and as president and CEO of
American and overseas higher education
institutions. He serves on several national
boards and state agencies. Dr. Smith is working
on a related book. He
can be contacted by sending an email to DrRodneySmith@MaximsNews.com
or
roddavsmith@hotmail.com.
References: Before
It’s Too Late.
National Commission on Mathematics and
Science teaching for the 21st Century
(2000)
Employment
Outlook 2000-2010: Occupational Employment
Projections to 2010.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2001) Grow
Faster Together or Grow Slowly Apart: How Will
America Work in the 21st Century?
The Aspen Institute 2003 Study Justin
Heet, The Hudson Institute, The American Outlook The
Adult Learner. Pamela Tate, President and
CEO, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
(CAEL) February 6, 2006
Toffler, “United
Nations experience Offered to Local Students”,
by Agustina Guerrero, Tampa Bay Business
Journal, April 18, 2006 Workforce
Intermediaries for the Twenty-First Century.
Edited by Robert P. Giloth, Published in
association with The American Assembly, Columbia
University, 2004 .
~~~ MaximsNews.com, An Independent Voice from the U.N., provides commentary and analysis from leading world figures: King Abdullah II (Jordan), HRH Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Sir Brian Urquhart, Hans Blix, Amb. Richard Holbrooke, Anwar Ibrahim, Bianca Jagger, Shashi Tharoor, Kerry Kennedy, Ian Williams, Stephen Schlesinger, Sen. Timothy E. Wirth, Marc Morial, Barbara Crossette, Amb. Pierre Schori (Sweden), Amb. William H. Luers, Mehri Madarshahi, Gloria Feldt, Jeffrey Laurenti, Rodney D. Smith, Rory O'Connor, Genevieve Stamper, Max Stamper and others.
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