Date of Award

12-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education

Department

Curriculum and Foundations

First Advisor

Voight, Adam

Second Advisor

Green, Wendy

Third Advisor

Wlodarsky, Rachel

Abstract

For the past several decades, federal legislation has used accountability measures and funding eligibility to narrow the focus of adult education on workforce development. While many adult learners benefit from these policies, retired adult learners do not. Retired adult learners do not participate in adult education for career-related reasons. Although there are several studies that document the psychological benefits of retired adults participating in education programs, there are limited studies documenting the self-reported motivations and perceived benefits of retired adults who participate in adult basic education (ABE). This study aimed to close the gap in the literature by investigating the motivations and perceived benefits of Black retired adult learners with low literacy skills who participate in an ABE program in Cleveland, Ohio. After conducting semi-structured interviews with six participants between the ages of 63 and 73, six themes emerged through inductive interpretative phenomenological analysis: negative past educational experiences, resilience, dissatisfaction and rectification, positive changes in mood, socialization, and self-fulfillment. The findings show that retired adult learners with low literacy skills participating in ABE often have social and emotional motivations as well as personal goals that cannot be demonstrated on standardized tests. These findings suggest that ABE programs who have retired adult learners with low literacy skills would benefit from reevaluating their practices to ensure their programming is inclusive and takes into consideration this population’s motivations and goals.

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