Chris commented on: Group 2 & 4
Rob commented on: Group 2 & 4
Mary commented on: Groups 3 & 4
Ben commented on: Groups 3 &4
Unique
Adult Education Programs
Chris
Cathcart
Rob
Hill
Mary
Henehan
Ben
Ranfeld
Ball
State University
EDAC
631 Adult and Community Education
March 3, 2014
Introduction
Adult education in the United States has taken on many
shapes and forms since our country became a nation. We chose to investigate both a local adult
education program and a national one.
The Cornerstone Center for the Arts in Muncie, IN serves the city and
surrounding areas providing lifelong education to both children and adults. What started out as an organization promoting
the arts to underprivileged children has blossomed and grown into a wide
variety of learning opportunities for all ages.
The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is a nation-wide program aimed at
delaying and preventing type 2 diabetes in adults. Both programs seek to build local ties in
communities and empower adults to better themselves. They rely on staff, volunteers and donors to
provide services and maintain facilities.
They also have partnerships with community, government, educational
institutions and businesses to ensure relevancy and success.
Cornerstone Center for the Arts
Cornerstone
Center for the Arts resides in Muncie, Indiana’s historic Masonic Temple. Construction was started on this building in
1920 and completed in 1926 with facilities for the Masonic lodges, and a
banquet hall and auditorium meant for public use. Over the years the Masonic organization
dwindled and in 1989 community members formed the Masonic-Community Building
Foundation to restore, preserve and protect the building (Hein & Lawin, 2006). In 1993, they received a Ball Brothers
Foundation grant and an endowment fund was setup in 1995 to maintain the
building. In 1999, the building was
falling into disrepair and community leaders took over control of the building,
renaming it the Community Civic Center.
In 2004 the Community Civic Center merged with the Muncie Center for the
Arts and in 2005 the building and organization were renamed to Cornerstone
Center for the Arts (Cornerstone).
The
Center today acts as landlord to resident organizations including the Muncie
Masonic Organizations and the Community Center for Vital Aging. It strives to offer arts programming and
activities to underprivileged children within the city and Delaware
country. “Cornerstone has made efforts
to reach individuals of all races, ages, cultures, and socio-economic levels
through arts programming, [and] family-friendly special events” (Hein &
Lawin, 2006). Financial aid is available
to students of all ages who enroll in classes and workshops; this assists those
without the necessary means to participate.
The education program has over 1,000 students enrolled annually and more
than 20% receive financial aid assistance (Hein & Lawin, 2006). Adult programing is offered through semester
courses, workshops and single events. Courses
include salsa and ballroom dancing, sign language and Spanish classes, yoga and
acting. One day events include Coffee with Picasso, Geography of Black History
Month and the World of Women. (Cornerstone, 2012). A Celebration Open House occurs at the end of
every 12-week session to display, demonstrate and celebrate what was learned,
and the Cornerstone Art Show occurs annually.
Cornerstone
is managed by a board of directors. They
employ full-time and part-time staff, and also rely on the generosity of
volunteers. Ball State University and
other community partners work with the center to offer internships, federal
work-study jobs and volunteer opportunities to students. Funding comes from the National Endowment for
the Arts, leasing of the facility for events, resident organizations, donations
and participant fees (Cornerstone, 2012).
YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program
The first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was
founded by George Williams in London, England in 1844. Thomas Valentine Sullivan, a retired Boston
sea captain, formed the first U.S. YMCA in Boston on December 29, 1851. While the original purpose of the
organization was to bring locals together on religious grounds, its true
purpose was to meet a social need in communities and bring together people from
all walks of life. Over the years, the
U.S. YMCA has spread across cities and communities throughout the United States
offering safe and affordable lodging, gyms, auditoriums, programming for
children, and leadership development for college students (YMCA about, 2014). In the twentieth century, the YMCA started
offering evening classes for working-class adults in order to make vocational
education and higher educational more readily available to the masses. “By 1950, YMCAs operated 20 colleges in
cities across the country, and many of these YMCA-founded schools became
freestanding institutions of higher learning” (YMCA about, 2014).
Some may think of their local Y as just a gym where they exercise and go
swimming, but the organization offers much, much more “as a leading nonprofit
for strengthening community through youth development, healthy living and
social responsibility” (YMCA diabetes, 2014).
Type 2 diabetes is
a preventable and treatable disease from which 26 million Americans suffer and
it is estimated another 79 million Americans are at risk with pre-diabetes
(Hussein & Kerrissey, 2013). YMCA’s
Diabetes Prevention Program is a 12-month, group-based program consisting of 16
weekly sessions along with monthly sessions led by a lifestyle coach. Participants are encouraged to eat healthy,
increase their physical activity and lose weight. The community fostered by the program helps
to motivate and encourage individuals trying to make lifestyle changes to
prevent and delay type 2 diabetes. This
program is based on research by the National Institute of Health and the
National Diabetes Prevention Program led by the Centers for Disease Control,
and is supported by the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (YMCA
diabetes, 2014) The program is the first in which Medicare and Medicaid are
investing in a community based organized to deliver a disease prevention
program. Early implications show that
Medicare costs will be lowered (PR, 2013). Along with its partnerships with government
and health care agencies, YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program also partners with
local businesses and community organizations to meet the needs of the
community. The program, started in 2010, has been extremely popular and has
doubled in size each year (Award-Winning, 2013).
Comparison
When first analyzing commonalities between the Cornerstone
Center for the Arts and the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program, it appears there
are few similarities. A closer analysis,
however, reveals many shared traits.
Both programs are available to adults. The age when a person is
considered an adult is not a clear distinction.
Indeed the National Center for Education Statistics includes 16-year-old
persons in their data (NCES, 2014).
Other organizations and programs chose different ages and it is thus
best to let the provider determine what age constitutes adult education. In this case, there is no clear line but it
is evident both programs have a strong adult education component. The YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program is available
to those 18 years or older (Diabetes, 2014).
Cornerstone offers courses typically aligned with the arts and has a
target audience between the ages of fourth grade to adult. Their dance courses are an example of
offerings that are both of the arts and health-based. The YMCA Diabetes Program is also aligned
with health and lifestyle change. Both
programs offer classes that help develop active and healthy lives. Cornerstone has a vast offering of arts
courses that require physical activity.
So too does the YMCA Diabetes program.
Both programs require payment, but financial is assistance available. Some adult programs lack a corporeal structure
and a designed curriculum. Both of these
programs, however, have a staging area for teaching. From a staffing perspective, both programs
are operated from a mix of full and part time employees, volunteers,
partnerships with businesses and government.
Cornerstone was awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Arts,
and the YMCA Diabetes programing receives funding from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention as well as numerous private donors (YMCA diabetes,
2014).
From a contrast standpoint, the programs differ in that,
the YMCA Diabetes Program, is a national program with standardized curriculum with
localized delivery while Cornerstone appears to be solely a local, community
organization. The content for the YMCA
Diabetes Program is more defined in scope, longer in duration (1 year) and
group-based (YMCA diabetes, 2014). Cornerstone offers a range of courses that
are shorter in duration (12 weeks), but broader in content offering
(Cornerstone, 2012). Due to its size and
national offering, the YMCA Diabetes program is far larger than the Cornerstone
Center for the Arts. It is clear that Cornerstone
has a regional/local audience while the YMCA Diabetes has a national stage and is
delivered in localized sectors.
These programs have been organized differently for a
variety of reasons. The Cornerstone
Center for the Arts was designed to provide art programming to the community
while the YMCA Diabetes Program was designed to strengthen the health of
communities through type 2 diabetes education and prevention. Both serve the community but use different
channels and have different outcomes.
Implications
Much can be
learned from the success of these two programs.
Rubenson (2010) suggests adult education consists of three components:
The first critical point is adult education is “lifelong and therefore concerns
everything from cradle to grave”, the second is “life wide recognizing that
learning occurs in many different settings” and lastly ‘it focuses on learning
rather than limit itself to education” (Rubenson, 2010, p. 4). If one were to look at both of these
programs, a case can be made that it is representative of adult education and
meets the criteria. The outcomes of both
programs are to create lifelong learning.
There is no upper age limit required in either program and it is open to
those who want to continue learning.
Both programs occur in uniquely different forums. There is no requirement suggesting a
classroom is the only place for learning to take place in the adult education
arena and these programs offer learning opportunities in settings distinct from
traditional classrooms. Dance rooms,
cooperative settings and gyms are provided to align curriculum. It is evident the purpose of the programs is
for learning to take place. Traditional
education delivery is secondary to learning, thus meeting Rubenson’s last
requirement.
We can also learn how programs change over time to align
with the needs of the participants. Particularly,
the Cornerstone Center for the Arts has evolved from something vastly different
than what it began as. Change has been a
constant in its history. The YMCA has
also changed to meet the needs of society, yet support was derived from those who
saw a need for each program. It is clear
these programs have strong advocacy from both national and localized
donors. We can learn that programs can
grow and benefit society when they are supported, have dedicated stakeholders
and are adaptable to inevitable change.
Table
1
Summary
of Unique Adult Education Programs
|
Cornerstone Center for the Arts
|
YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program
|
Location
|
Muncie, Indiana
|
At participating YMCA’s nationwide
|
Educational
Type
|
Quasieducational
Organization
|
Quasieducational
Organization
|
Educational
Purpose
|
Mission – to
nurture community connections by providing opportunities for creative
expression, educational programs, and events in a historic setting
|
Deliver
support and encouragement to those diagnosed with pre-diabetes, or at risk of
developing type 2 diabetes
|
Educational
Perspective
|
Provide arts programming and
non-formal/informal education opportunities to all ages, races, cultures and
socio-economic levels in Muncie and Delaware County.
|
“Everyone, regardless of age, income or
background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. (YMCA about,
2014)”
|
Learners
|
The Center servers all ages with
special programming for adults.
|
The YMCA serves all ages. The diabetes program targets adults.
|
Educators
|
Full-time and part-time staff, volunteers,
business partners, community partners and college/university partners
|
Full-time and part-time staff,
volunteers, government partners, health industry partners, business partners
and community partners
|
Implications
|
Locally controlled programs have the
adaptability to quickly meet the needs and interest of participants.
|
National programs partnering with many
organizations can make a significant local impact. Government agencies can
successfully partner with faith-based organizations to make significant, positive
impact in people’s lives.
Organizations need to change with the
times based on needs of participants and society.
|
References
Merriam,
S. B., & Brockett, R. G. (2007). The profession
and practice of adult education. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
PR, N. (2013, February 21). The Y launches
project to test cost effectiveness of the YMCA's diabetes prevention program
among qualifying medicare enrollees. PR
Newswire US.
Rubenson, K. (2010). The field of adult education: An overview.
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
YMCA: about us. (2014).
YMCA of the USA. Retrived from
http://www.ymca.net/about-us
Group Roles:
Chris Cathcart - researched programs
Mary Henehan - found additional resources for chosen programs, writing, editing and APA formatting
Rob Hill - wrote implications and comparisons sections, editing and formatting
Ben Ranfeld - researched programs, wrote Cornerstone and YMCA sections, editing and formatting
