Now that I have myself a little education (I want a lot more than I have), I know there are a lot of things that I can do today and I don’t have to sit back and cry and moan and groan and not do anything. I don’t have to go out and rob no banks or stick anybody up. I’ve got several options. I’m working on all of them. It’s crazy but, that’s the way it works. Just get up and learn how to deal with life on life’s terms.”

Perhaps the most significant outcome of ABLE program participation lies in its ability to transform participants’ attitudes about themselves and their place in the world. The re-examination and re-valuation of self that arises from the fulfillment of participants’ needs for security, belonging and esteem creates a powerful energy field. Freed from constricting assumptions, participants establish fresh expectations, deal with persistent obstacles, expand their potential and reach out to take charge of their world.

DISCUSSION OF LEARNER OUTCOMES

What do successful adult learners have to tell us about the long-term impact of ABLE participation?

External Analyses

Both the Impact Survey and the QOLI present the facts and leave it to the researcher to interpret “what is”, “what changed” and “what it significant.” The facts indicate positive outcomes for both ABLE program participants and their communities. Despite concerns about finances, these participants are highly satisfied with their lives and consider themselves middle class citizens. Their steady employment records back this claim and a significant drop in welfare benefits after program participation confirms the ABLE connection.

The desire to learn and the willingness to change experienced as part of adult education continues far beyond the classroom. This is amply demonstrated as nearly all participants, having completed entry level educational goals, continued learning for life either formally or on their own. A spiral of “learning” and “doing,” reaching out for assistance and then providing help to others has become an ongoing way of life. We can measure generational impact in terms of children’s and even grandchildren’s educational performance.

We can assess community impact. Civic problems such as jail, probation and bankruptcy which were evident prior to program enrollment did not reappear during or after participation. In their place, we find adults who went no further than a GED serving as community development coordinators as well as public school and adult literacy tutor coordinators.

Participants Point of View

The successful adult learners who are the subjects of this study entered adult programs with specific goals in mind. They were not “illiterate” in the sense that “illiterate means a person who can’t do anything.” They might have been abandoned, abused, addicted, in jail, homeless, troublemakers, single parents, dropouts or told again and again that were stupid until they believed it. But they had survived, they were resilient, and they were on a mission to change their lives.

Despite their determination, most participants entered adult programs sensitive and vulnerable, steeped in myths and unsure of their ability to learn. For some it had been 30 years since they were in a classroom and often the memories were not pleasant. For others, school was a whole new experience. A few had excelled in their studies before marriage, pregnancy or prejudice cut short their exposure to formal learning. This was a second or third try for several participants who studied on their own or enrolled in classes without meeting their objectives.