Part of being a productive person and being a citizen of a country is finding a way to make a living and not be a burden to society. To this end, all governments have a duty to provide free education to their citizens, and in return all citizens have a responsibility to acquire education for their own benefit. In fact, children go to school to learn to read, write, and count, and they acquire new knowledge and skills as they grow older. And after graduating from college and now as adults, they are expected to find a job or try to start their own business and become responsible adults and citizens. But learning shouldn’t stop after graduation; it should be continued long after the completion of academic activities at school. In fact, adult education should be one of our priorities, as education should be a lifelong process, never stopping at a specific body of knowledge, but going through different disciplines to make a person comprehensive and knowledgeable. Of course, in the real world, that’s pretty much impossible – nobody can know everything there is to know. However, you could always have a reason to want to learn more, and that is to improve yourself and qualify for more responsibility, especially at work where you could seek a promotion or a raise.
Adult education is very different from what we went through as children and in our youth. Young people would lack the self-direction and autonomy that allow for unhindered learning progress. Adults are able to focus on their actual goal in life and have acquired the basics of life experience and practical knowledge of family and professional activities through their previous formal school education. Adults want to learn something that can lead to the realization of their goals and they would be willing to pursue any type of education as long as it is relevant to what they aspire to. Because they are hands-on, they can focus on lessons that have proven useful in their field of work.
We find many adults today who are ready to learn new skills but are reluctant to take the first steps. They feel that because they are past their prime, they have no more opportunities to acquire new knowledge, much less to live by what they would have learned. They are afraid of not finding open doors that would lead them to a new career path. But that’s just not true. You can find a lot of help when it comes to adult education opportunities. In fact, you can find many online career counseling opportunities that are right for you. You can contact them via email or phone and ask for career advice.
You can do a self-assessment by asking yourself what exactly you want to achieve at this point in your life. Can you afford to learn new skills and knowledge, or can you afford not to? A relevant question to keep in mind is timing – is this the right time to take adult education courses? Are you personally disciplined enough to follow the lessons?
Many adult education courses are designed to take advantage of today’s technology, which usually means online courses can be accessed anywhere in the world that you can bring a computer and have an internet connection. You don’t have to sit in a physical classroom if you’re scared of it. Some are designed so you can learn through volunteering in your community or by doing research at your local library.
Thanks to Alex M Stevens
