There is no place in adult education for ‘classroom management skills' or ‘discipline' as there is in the K-12 system. Rather there is a strong sense of equality between teacher and student, mutual respect, and a particular kind of caring or nurturing to foster the self confidence desperately needed by these adult students. Adult students also bring with them a variety of other issues – barriers if you will – that often hinder them in meeting their goals.

These barriers include poverty, unemployment, underemployment, daycare issues, financial issues, housing issues, family issues, mental and physical health issues, support systems, anger management and substance abuse to name a few. One of the largest barriers here in the Lower Mainland and in small isolated communities is that of language. Our immigrant students come to us with a variety of educational backgrounds in languages other than English – university degrees, technical certification, high school completion, limited education and no education – but all are focused on improving their English. They are enrolled in community English as a Second Language classes, ELSA sponsored classes, English for the Workplace programs (ELSA and others), secondary completion programs, vocational/technical programs, professional programs, and post secondary programs. In our smaller, especially more isolated, communities there may be a lack of trained ESL instructors or there may not be enough students to warrant even having a class. With this issue in mind, it would be relevant to include an ESL training component in a program certifying Adult Educators.

With these major differences in mind, it is the view of our Association that teacher training requirements for the adult education system need similarly to be distinguished from training needs in the K-12 system.

There are programs available that deal specifically with the adult learner. The BC College and Institute System recognizes these programs and some institutions encourage their instructors to take the long standing Instructor Diploma program offered by Vancouver Community College along with a Masters Degree. These programs are also offered at the major Universities in British Columbia and most other provinces and other similar jurisdictions in North America. They have existed for decades. It is our view that these credentials need to be properly recognized in order that ‘Adult Educators' receive credit for training specific to the teaching that they do on a daily basis. It is not appropriate to send Adult Educators with years, even decades, of supervised experience working successfully with adults, into K-12 training environments in order to receive methodology and practicum experience with children. The teaching certificate is specific to children. It is not an adult education credential. What is needed is recognition of the many University certificates specific to the teaching of adults that are in place, rather than some wellintentioned but seriously misguided attempt to have Adult Educators re-qualify as child educators in order to continue to teach adults.

In order to assist deliberations in this area, our Association would be pleased to act in consultation with any of the Ministries or relevant associations to provide appropriate direction. We would also recommend involving the Adult Education faculty of the Faculty of Education at UBC as the longest established historical provider of education specific to the teaching of adults in this Province.

Another recommendation would be to adjust the structure of the BCCT in order to accommodate adult education expertise and experience, in order that appropriate recognition be moved forward systematically in to the future. This would mean taking the time to evaluate these Adult .Educators' abilities which have developed through relevant training programs, professional development aimed specifically at the adult learning environment and many years of experience in the adult area. What is needed is for an evaluation – a Prior Learning Assessment - to determine what instructors have already learned and used in best practice and through relevant training and certify these instructors with the B.C. College of Teachers under a separate stream.

Thank you for your attention to this matter! We, as an Association, look forward to hearing from you and, as mentioned, we are ready to assist in any manner possible.

Yours truly

Nita Jacob, President
Adult Basic Education Association of British Columbia