Chapter 24 – Military Contributions to Adult Education
This chapter provides a brief glimpse of how supported military education has expanded access to adult education and been a catalyst for educational and social transformation while also examining current practices and challenges. (Kasworth, Rose, and Ross-Gordon, 2010)
Previously viewed as an asset to a prosperous society, Adult Education access was limited. While adult education is more available today, adult education providers continuously strive to broaden accessibility. The military has contributed significantly to reducing the gap between the “haves and the “have-nots by focusing on literacy education. (p.264)
Originally, military education was about improving soldier morale, as …show more content…
As noted by Blassingame, 1965), Adult Education continued during the Civil War, as Union Lieutenants were called to duty in “eradicating widespread illiteracy among African American Soldiers” (p. 264). As a result, during reconstruction, The Freedman Bureau, an organization, created to educate freed slaves (p.264). During the call to arms of World War I, over 250,000 men left the country with a literacy level so low, they were unable to compete or maneuver precisely in the new professional and mechanized military. Therefore, the military introduced a new four-month compulsory course to improve English skills, in 1918, which would educate previously illiterate and non-English speaking troops. Subsequently, by February 1919, the program successfully trained almost 25,000 service members through the work of development battalion’s initiated by the Army (Borden, …show more content…
According to Kime and Anderson (1997, 2000), today’s U. S. military –literacy related issues were embedded in the recruitment of what they term “college proficient” soldiers who lack basic literacy skills. Upon seeing the success of the original aptitude skills program, the armed forces adopted the Basic Skills Education Program (BSEP) in 1979. The BSEP process addressed the need for “college - bound” soldiers who lack proficiency skills demanded in the new armed forces. Thirty years after its inception, BSEP has bridged the divide between Soldier educational capabilities and the armed forces occupational requirements (p. 264).
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (The G.I. Bill) Signed in 1944 by President Roosevelt, the G.I. Bill is considered “the most significant piece of legislation- socially, economically, and politically – ever enacted by the federal government” (p. 265). The G.I. Bill made the possibility to attend college a reality for returning war veterans and helped many families across the socio-economic barriers of poverty and low-income. By 1956, of the 7.8 million returning veterans from the foreign wars, more than half used their G.I. Bill benefits for college, vocational, and/or on the job training
This chapter provides a brief glimpse of how supported military education has expanded access to adult education and been a catalyst for educational and social transformation while also examining current practices and challenges. (Kasworth, Rose, and Ross-Gordon, 2010)
Previously viewed as an asset to a prosperous society, Adult Education access was limited. While adult education is more available today, adult education providers continuously strive to broaden accessibility. The military has contributed significantly to reducing the gap between the “haves and the “have-nots by focusing on literacy education. (p.264)
Originally, military education was about improving soldier morale, as …show more content…
As noted by Blassingame, 1965), Adult Education continued during the Civil War, as Union Lieutenants were called to duty in “eradicating widespread illiteracy among African American Soldiers” (p. 264). As a result, during reconstruction, The Freedman Bureau, an organization, created to educate freed slaves (p.264). During the call to arms of World War I, over 250,000 men left the country with a literacy level so low, they were unable to compete or maneuver precisely in the new professional and mechanized military. Therefore, the military introduced a new four-month compulsory course to improve English skills, in 1918, which would educate previously illiterate and non-English speaking troops. Subsequently, by February 1919, the program successfully trained almost 25,000 service members through the work of development battalion’s initiated by the Army (Borden, …show more content…
According to Kime and Anderson (1997, 2000), today’s U. S. military –literacy related issues were embedded in the recruitment of what they term “college proficient” soldiers who lack basic literacy skills. Upon seeing the success of the original aptitude skills program, the armed forces adopted the Basic Skills Education Program (BSEP) in 1979. The BSEP process addressed the need for “college - bound” soldiers who lack proficiency skills demanded in the new armed forces. Thirty years after its inception, BSEP has bridged the divide between Soldier educational capabilities and the armed forces occupational requirements (p. 264).
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (The G.I. Bill) Signed in 1944 by President Roosevelt, the G.I. Bill is considered “the most significant piece of legislation- socially, economically, and politically – ever enacted by the federal government” (p. 265). The G.I. Bill made the possibility to attend college a reality for returning war veterans and helped many families across the socio-economic barriers of poverty and low-income. By 1956, of the 7.8 million returning veterans from the foreign wars, more than half used their G.I. Bill benefits for college, vocational, and/or on the job training