Adult Education in BC’s public schools: Lost opportunities for students, employers, and society—A BCTF study of working and learning conditions

Welcome to the Adult Education in BC’s public schools home page. You will find all the reports from this study here; you can access and read chapters individually, through the links below, or open the entire report in one PDF document (8MB). The data for this study were collected in 2013, and these reports were published in June 2015.

Staff who have compiled this study appreciate any comments, questions, or feedback, and may be reached at researchteam@bctf.ca.

 The following documents are in PDF format. Adobe® Acrobat® Reader is required.   

Acknowledgments

Key findings, by chapter

Table of contents

Chapter 1: Adult educators who responded to the survey and the settings in which they teach

• About the survey
• How representative is the sample of survey respondents, by school district?
• How survey respondents compare to all teachers in the province
• Teacher characteristics of survey respondents
• Summary

Chapter 2: Adult educators in BC public schools: Who are the students they teach?

• Composition of students in adult education programs
• Summary

Chapter 3: Adult educators’ education and Professional Development

• Adult educators and their education
• Professional Development for adult educators
• Summary

Chapter 4: Working conditions and workload issues in Adult Education

• Introduction
• Instructional hours—Full-time and part-time contracts
• Workload issues
• Scheduling issues
• Summary

Chapter 5: Adult educators’ views on working conditions and sources of stress

• Changes in job satisfaction, workload, and work-related stress
• Would you recommend adult education teaching as a career to others?
• Are you considering leaving the profession for reasons other than retirement?
• Sources of work-related stress
• How satisfied or stressed are adult educators in their work?: A qualitative data analysis
• Effects of stress
• Appendix 1: Sources and levels of stress—Additional data breakdowns
• Appendix 2: Ranking of all levels of stress experienced

Chapter 6: Adult educators’ views on the impact of poverty on adult learners and the adequacy of resources to support them

• Survey design and background to the survey
• Survey results
• The extent of poverty among adult education students
• Poverty-related barriers to attending adult education courses
• Adequacy of resources to support adult students
• Summary
• Discussion and implications
• Appendix: Adequacy of resources for adult students experiencing poverty

A synthesis, and two directions

Chapter 7: Priority areas of focus to improve working and learning conditions in Adult Education

• Priority areas of focus to improve working and learning conditions in Adult Education, from highest to lowest—All areas
• Priority areas of focus—Working conditions
• Priority areas of focus—Learning conditions
• Priority areas of focus—Professional issues
• Summary
• Appendix: Priority areas of focus—Additional tables

Chapter 8: Recent policy changes and funding cuts to Adult Education: Moving towards a less equal and more unjust society - A discussion paper

• Introduction
• Adult Education—An essential element of a poverty-reduction strategy
• Ministry announces cuts to tuition-free academic courses for adults upgrading their qualifications to pursue a post-secondary education
• School districts propose funding cuts for 2015–16 that will further undermine adult education programs
• Conclusion

Chapter 9: Implications and possible directions for BCTF advocacy in support of Adult Education in public schools - A discussion paper

• Why do we need Adult Education?—The big picture
• What does the report tell us about Adult Education in BC that relates to the big picture?
• Where do we need to go from here? The need to renew the provision of Adult Education in BC
• Choose the option to renew the adult education system