Newfoundland and Labrador

What it means to be an adult learner
by participants at Bay St. George Learning Centre, NL

There are twelve participants in the Level 1 ABE Program in Stephenville, NL. This wild card, created in April of 2006, reflects their journey as adult students. The participants range in age from 19 to 57 and live in a geographic region that spans a two-hour drive, from one end to the other. They deal with family and health issues, weather, learning disabilities, finances, transportation, daycare, and juggle all the other details of daily life. Some have been out of school for a few years; some for decades. Many have had little support for their educational goals and dreams. Yet the participants show up every day, push themselves and pour enormous energy into their work. They feel frustrated when they are unable to understand their texts yet they relish the opportunity to be full-time students, and wish they could go to school for longer hours, and more days. They ignore the barriers and find the strength to keep trying. They want an education.

The participants created a graphic and written account of what it means to be an adult learner.

• They wanted to show their faces, names and communities to the population at large, therefore they included their photos, names and hometowns.
• They used traditional educational symbols in their work, representations that had meaning for them. For example, there were several drawings of school busses, yet none of them rode a school bus. When questioned, they said the busses represent their journey to attain an education. Some drew a building, a place where they were welcomed as learners. Others showed learning tools such as books and pencils.. Some depicted the connections between all the components of their educational lives.
• They also wanted to capture, in words, what being an adult learner means to them at this stage in their life. They developed questions to help clarify their writing and helped each other capture their thoughts on paper. These musing tended to be positive and suggest their current learning efforts are vital to their lives and something they hope to continue.
• The cover page was a collaborative effort. They wanted others to know that they were comfortable with computers and value those technological skills.

When I was young and crazy, I never made time for school. It feels good to know it is not too late to learn as an adult.
—Doris Hillier, St. George’s

Feeling tense or worried in school is nothing compared to the feeling of not being able to read.
—Jamie Garland, St. George’s

I am in school now so I can teach my son to read and spell.
—Winnie Abbott, St. George’s

I have to do better now to get somewhere in life.
—Natasha Young, Stephenville

I graduated from high school with a grade 6 reading level. Coming back to school was not a difficult choice for me because I wasn’t that long out of school and didn’t want to lose the courage to come back.
—Chrystal Smith, Stephenville

Coming back to school was an easy choice for me because it was something I wanted to do so badly. I left school 34 years ago. I only got as far as grade 5.
—Josephine Jesso, Ship Cove

I’ve attended ABE for two years now. I learned things that I never knew before. My wife is proud of me and I feel good about myself.
—Daniel Russell, Stephenville

School is important. It is very important to read and write. School is everything to me.
—Sarah Lee, Stephenville

I came back to school to get more education, better myself in life, and get a trade.
—Finty Benoit, West Bay Centre

I realized after being in the workforce doing a variety of jobs I needed extra education to improve myself.
—Jackie Benoit, Piccadilly

After you get to know all the other students, you don’t feel out of place.
—Danny