ADULTHOOD:
THE TEACHER
AS AN ADULT
Dr CM Kwenda
ADULTHOOD
“0nly by reclaiming a meaningful conception of
adulthood can education be defended and only by
so doing can individuals hope to understand the
world around them"
(Quill, 2011).
ADULTHOOD
• Adulthood- a stage when a person has achieved
responsibility, individuality, dignity and
independence.
• Historical definition- Adult male citizen (adult
women not considered as 'adults'. See Quill,
2011:334).
• Legal definition- Citizens above the legal 'age of
majority'.
• Achieving full liberty and autonomy.
• Adult citizens, from a liberal perspective, are
expected to be educated and to work.
ADULTHOOD
• The purpose of education is therefore to produce adult
citizens (a literate and technologically literate society, a
high-skilled society of 'knowledge workers').
• The electronic age is causing the disappearance of
'adulthood‘ (discuss this with someone).
• Old ways of achieving adult autonomy through
work/employment are being redefined by new ways of
relating to work and production.
• The link between education and work has weakened
(no assurance of finding work after school or university.
Note: Notion of 'Young Adulthood').
ADULTHOOD
• Invention of 'writing' in Europe created
'adulthood' symbolically through the novel and
the media.
• Adulthood had to be earned, as a symbolic
rather than a biological achievement.
• Children would 'need to become adults' through
the process of reading and education.
• European civilization invented 'schools' where
children were turned gradually into adults.
• Childhood became a necessary prerequisite to
become an adult.
ADULTHOOD
Cognitive stage theory re-enforced the
idea of children‘ becoming adults'
characterized by:
• Logical thinking
• High order abstraction
• Ability to defer gratification
• Self-control
• Schooling (reading, writing) is not natural but
requires maturation and discipline, hence
development.
ADULTHOOD
• Philosophically, education was considered to be
'hard' so needed strict discipline and control.
• Television changed earlier conceptions of the role
of education in developing adults (How do you
think this happened?).
• Television broke the child-adult divide in several
ways.
• It made most children learn about adult things
without having to work hard in school.
• Childhood became meaningless.
ADULTHOOD
"In a non-literate world there is no need to distinguish
sharply between the child and the adult, for there are
a few secrets, and the culture does not need to
provide training in how to understand itself'' (Postman,
1986:13 in Quill, 2011: 330).
ADULTHOOD
Discussion:
• The terms 'man' and 'woman' relate to the state of no longer being a
'child'. How does the term 'adult' differ from the former terms?
• Is the critique of post-modern 'adulthood' presented above justified?
• Elite schools and universities exist alongside public mass schools and
universities in many countries. How do these differences impact on our
idea of 'adulthood' (independent, dignified, productive citizenship)?
ADULTHOOD
The Creation of Adulthood
• Historically- no symbolic or functional distinction between 'childhood' and
'adulthood'.
• Changes in technology, social organization, politics and economic
organization in Europe led to the differentiation between the 'child' and
the 'adult'.
• Policy-makers had a re-think about the connection between children,
adults, schools, society and the economy.
• Stable industrial economies re-defined family, parenting, employment
and social life. Life-long career paths for adults after school and college.
• Infancy and old-age became divided by an uncertain period of the
'adult-child'.
• Technology redefines our notions of 'self', 'identity', 'relationships'
'education', 'society', etc.
• The internet is redefining the concepts of 'childhood', 'adulthood' and
'education'.
ADULTHOOD
New technologies (knowledge economy) are
alienating many adults from work and citizenship.
The Loss of Adulthood
What is needed is a new 'knowledge
democracy'.
“While the [knowledge economy} measures educational success by striving
towards the ever cheaper creation of an army of technically literate workers
that increasingly find themselves unprepared and overwhelmed by the
demands of the market, [knowledge democracy} conceives a
technologically advanced society, and the education within that society, as
one that empowers and liberates individuals
(i.e. restores their 'adulthood'). To recover adulthood will require us,
therefore, to consider the purpose not only of education, but of technology
and employment as well”.
(Quill, 2011:329).
ADULTHOOD
Loss of Adulthood in South Africa
• Unemployment is forcing parents to fail in looking after
their child as adults should.
• Children end up looking after their parents (e.g. parents
suffering from AIDS) so roles are reversed.
• Some parents abandon their children and abuse
substances.
• Older men abuse young girls they should be protecting
as adults.
• Young adults depend on their parents and fail to ‘leave
the nest’ to become independent adults.
• Poverty dehumanizes older people and they lose
respect in the community, the young now look down on
older people.
ADULTHOOD
• Poverty leaves some adults feeling and thinking like
children, without much sense of achievement or
self-worth.
• Some adults have become lazy, they are cleverer
but less wise, more emotionally under-developed,
have shorter attention-spans, love fun more than
hard concentration and toil.
• The 'adult' is becoming less self-respectful, entitled
and dependent on the state.
• Fewer 'adults' care to vote or attend civic meetings
or demonstrate community responsibility.
ADULTHOOD
• Teachers are adults and so should meet the
psychological, social, legal and philosophical
definition of an adult.
• Teachers work with minors and so should be
responsible for turning minors into acceptable
citizens.
• If teachers fail in their adult role the fabric of society
breaks down.
• A society can only be as great as its educational
system and the calibre of its teachers.
