Sharan B. Merriam - Learning in Adulthood

Neoliberal ideas of free trade, privatization, and “reduced capital controls on cross-border flow of finance” fuel the images most associated with the economic view of economic globalization (Desjardins, 2013, p. 183). These images include the loss of low-wage manufacturing jobs to less developed corners of the world, with transnational companies operating in a space outside national boundaries and control, with consumerism and commercialism supplanting other interests. Those opposed to the neoliberal agenda say that the costs of globalization include the loss of human rights including poor working conditions, although proponents indicate that globalization promotes economic growth (Richards & Gelleny, 2016). Although the market economy is clearly a driving force in globalization, so too is information technology. Technology has changed the way we work in that individuals can work from anywhere in the world. Changes in information technology have changed the teaching/learning transaction. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), synchronous and asynchronous distance courses, communication tools such as Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangouts, and the plethora of web-based resources including LinkedIn Learning, and YouTube have affected the way individuals learn alone and in groups.

But globalization is not only about economics. Brysk (2003, p. 22) contends that it is a combination of four elements:

Connection means greater traffic in bodies, goods, services, and information across borders.

Cosmopolitanism describes the growth of multiple centers of power and influence above, below, and across national governments: international organizations, grassroots groups, and transnational bodies from Microsoft to Greenpeace.

Communication is an increase in technological capacity that strengthens transnational networks of all kinds (from multinational corporations to nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] to terrorists) and diffuses ideas and values more quickly and broadly.

Commodification is the expansion of world markets, and the extension of market-like behavior across more states and social realms. Increases in global capital flows, privatization of formerly state-owned enterprises, and increasing employment of children are all examples of commodification.

Brysk goes on to show how these elements of globalization are both a plus and a minus for human rights issues:

Connection brings human rights monitors to Chiapas, but it also brings sex tourists to Thailand. Cosmopolitanism creates a U.N. Human Rights Commission and countless NGOs to condemn China's abuse of political dissidents and religious minorities; yet commodification makes China the United States's second-leading trade partner. (p. 22)

Part of the controversy surrounding globalization has to do with economics. Those countries that can be competitive are already better off and become even richer through globalization. Critics of neoliberal policies observe that more wealthy countries hurt less developed countries because richer countries “extract more money from developing countries than they invest, displace local capital, and add to unemployment by promoting capital-intensive production rather than labour-intensive activities” (Richards & Gelleny, 2016, p. 219).

What does all this mean for adult learning? Walters (2014) asserts that globalization “has been a driving factor in the commodification of learning” and that learning has become individualized and more expensive, widening the gap between the rich and the poor (p. 186). She argues that global economic changes that build on capitalism drive down labor and production costs. This means that skilled labor is underutilized and that people are being deskilled. An alternative view is that the business world is increasingly responsible for education. Increased worker responsibility for their learning and teamwork approaches are necessary in this global economy. Adult education and human resource development (HRD) have responded with broad-based workplace literacy programs and training and development packages designed to address a wide range of economy-driven needs (Finger, 2005b). Indeed, HRD and corollary concepts such as organizational learning have become a parallel adult education system, one lodged in the workplace where responsiveness to globalization is paramount.

The global economy is having an impact on learning in broader ways too. Education is viewed as a service (Guilbault, 2018). Some argue that students are consumers, and faculty and staff are customer service providers in this market-drive economy (Guilbault, 2018). As Koris and Nokelainen (2015) state, “Students expect to be treated as customers in terms of student feedback, classroom studies, and to some extent in terms of communication” (p. 128). Interestingly, they did not see themselves as customers when it came to grade expectation or curriculum (Koris & Nokelainen, 2015).

This shift to the marketplace as the primary site of adult learning has caused some adult educators to discuss the effect of neoliberalism on adult education. Neoliberalism is “a global system of political economy with interests in protecting and expanding the hegemony of private markets,” which ultimately results in less funding for social services and increased benefits to the wealthy (Abendroth, 2014, p. 18). Adult literacy programs grounded in Freirean concepts such as problem posing have closed as the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) meant federal funding for literacy was tied to workforce initiatives and “ABE [Adult Basic Education] instructors … felt pressure to become technocrats who provide a linear instruction for passing a high-stakes test” (p. 19).

Intertwined in globalization is a shift from a society employed in producing durable goods to one employed in providing services. Given the United States's aging population, it is not surprising that health care is one of the top five industries driving the economy (Deutch, 2018). Healthcare sector jobs increased 20% since 2008 and they are expected to grow another 18% by 2026 (Deutch, 2018). The top job sector in the United States is retail (Deutch, 2018). Business and professional services are also expected to continue to expand into the 2020s as they have in recent decades (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). The brisk growth of the service sector is paralleled by rapid growth in professional and related occupations.

The important thing about these projections is that these two occupations are at the opposite ends of the education and earnings distribution. That is, professional occupations require extensive educational preparation and are generally well-rewarded. Service jobs require lower educational credentials, with corresponding lower job rewards. (Bills, 2004, p. 97)

Concurrent with the shift to a service economy is the shift to what has been called the information society—a shift that has had a major impact on workers as economic units. Skills learned in preparation for a job or career cannot keep pace with the demands of the world of work, the ability to learn becomes a valuable skill in and of itself. This factor is underscored by the fact that a skill's half-life is 5 years—that is, a skill learned 5 years ago is half as valuable as it was when it was learned (Kasriel, 2017); in high-tech areas software engineers may need to upgrade their skills every 12 to 18 months (Gurchiek, 2017).

In this fast-paced tech world, trainers are wondering how to best serve workers. “Micro-learning” or providing workers with short learning sessions when they need the skill is one method that is being used (Gurchiek, 2017, para. 10). Other suggestions for those in business settings include centralizing training, using text messages to encourage workers to complete their training, and delivering training in classrooms, on computers, and via cell phones (Gurchiek, 2017).