Saint Joseph’s announces a new adult education & training concentration within the online Master of Science in Education degree. Not only is the concentration practical, adaptable and relevant, it adheres to adult learning theory by drawing on the learner’s experience, meeting the learners where they are, and allowing learners to guide the learning.
This is a master’s degree program that actually practices essential adult learning concepts by fostering the students to build knowledge based on their experiences and prior learning rather than filling up with knowledge from an all-knowing teacher. In essence, it models adult learning principles that are student-centered rather than teacher-centered. Faculty members become mentors and “guides on the side,” while learners mold the program to meet their specific needs. Key adult learning concepts such as these are universally taught but rarely practiced in higher education.
Faculty member Dr. Carol Price, who teaches Theories and Principles in Adult Education & Training in the new program, comments: “It’s exciting that we are actually modeling adult learning principles in delivering this innovative adult education curriculum.”
The degree is perfect for any educator or trainer who works with adult learners in corporations, the military, community organizations, health care settings, community colleges, performance coaching, e-learning, religious education, mentoring, or staff development. Because of the program’s flexibility and learner-driven nature, any adult education or training venue can be the student’s focus for graduate-level learning.
Students establish goals and measurable objectives for all but the earliest courses in the program, as well as for their master’s degree project. They also choose a major project in adult education or human resource training that is useful in their workplace – a project based on the students’ personal interests and needs at their workplace, in consultation with their faculty mentors.
The online master’s degree program in adult education & training has been named the “Sebago Plan” (the college is located on Sebago Lake, the largest in southern Maine). Just as the lake’s expanse of water allows for multiple uses and opportunities within its shoreline, the entire adult education and training program has learning boundaries, or shorelines, within which students navigate their learning as they see fit. Dr. Tom Hancock directs the online M.S. in Education program at Saint Joseph’s.
