Courses (Undergraduate)

Course Descriptions:

ADHE 327 – Teaching Adults

In ADHE 327, learners individually and collectively engage in the ongoing process of becoming teachers. Whether we have no experience, some or a lot of experience, we can all learn about ourselves and our teaching. Experienced adult educators will have opportunities to reflect on their teaching experiences through the lenses of theory and practice in greater depth and for new teachers, the course creates opportunities to discuss course materials and draw on their experiences as learners in preparation for becoming teachers. The course topics include identity, positionality and authenticity in teaching; diverse ways of knowing, teaching and learning; decolonizing, inclusive and holistic teaching; educational/teaching philosophies and teaching perspectives, as well online teaching, learning assessment and evaluation of teaching.

ADHE 328 – Institutions of Adult Education

This course is designed to introduce students to the major contexts of adult education as it relates to a wide range of social institutions including the economy, workplace, the government, community, and the media. Through discussions on the key theoretical traditions in critical adult education, students gain a deep understanding of aboriginal education, feminist pedagogy, social movement education, lifelong learning, environmental adult education, health and food democracy, and immigrant and citizenship education. The course closes with a discussion on the relationships between adult education and participative democracy through an examination of recent social movements. It raises the question of the impact of technology and social media on the future of adult education.

ADHE 329 – Developing Short Courses, Workshops and Seminars

Program planning is an ubiquitous, but largely underrated activity in adult education. It is the work that goes on behind the scenes of teaching and learning environments. As learners, we often experience the results of planning without knowing much about how those results were worked out. In this course, you will look at and take on the program planner role in the development of your own short educational program. An educational program can take shape in different formats, such as a course, a workshop, a seminar or some mix of any of these formats; it can take place in a class, online, in a home, at a workplace, in the community, or anywhere that groups of learners gather. The planner, who is a central person in putting together these programs and may or may not be the teacher or facilitator, carries out a range of duties and tasks that go along with program planning.

ADHE 330 – The Community Practice of Adult Education

This course focuses on community-based adult education (CBAE). It emphasizes how the social, economic, cultural and political environments significantly shape the initiation and development of adult education activities geared towards social justice. What differentiates CBAE from other forms and sites of adult education are its ‘bottom up’ approach and the extent to which the community initiates, develops, facilitates and evaluates those activities. CBAE is characterized by a significant amount of community control. This course offers students an opportunity to explore the community and organizational contexts of CBAE.

ADHE 412 – An Overview of Adult Education

This course is an introduction to the theory and practice of adult education and learning in Canada and the world. The course provides foundational knowledge and explores major ideas and issues, including sites of adult learning and education, lifelong learning, the history, aims of and participation in adult education of diverse groups in various contexts, as well as access and barriers. Links between theory and practice are forged through applying the material to adult education practice, current topics and settings.

Although ADHE 412 is a 400-level course, it is an introductory one that provides a broad base of knowledge for exploring and understanding more specific areas of adult learning and education.