Leadership can get described as a process by which social influence get instituted (Wang, 2012). This power involves methods to enlist ways to aid and support the others facing challenges to accomplishment tasks. Some, however, understand a leader as someone whom people follow, like that who can guide or influences the rest to success. Others talk of leadership as the act of organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal or objective (Sadler, 2003). Studies about leadership adhere to the thriving of theories that involve traits relating to effective leadership practices. These principles relate to matters that include intelligence, situational interaction, function, behavior, charisma, power, among others. This paper focuses on one particular aspect or characterization of leadership in education that is communication and education. Among other values, communication has been found to be one method of stimulation particularly those undertaking adult learning. These people find it a challenge to take their time, leave their businesses plus probably families and invest in schooling (Sadler, 2003).
Leadership of adults in education requires plenty of communicators. Success in leadership at all levels particularly in the field of adult learning requires good communication skills. Thus, a good leader has to be a good speaker (eloquent) and an active listener. People should be able to communicate throughout all levels of their institutions (Komives, 2011). They should be able to converse with adult learners, attending to their queries and asking them questions in order to get assurance of their understanding. They should have the capability to win them over through sharing of interesting thoughts and visions. Through the use of enticing words, they should be able to draw the adults’ trust and motivate them in education. It’s thus right to relate that the purpose of communication between the learner and the teacher can never get over said.
Adults are sometimes hard to contain. Monitoring their education is increasingly becoming one of the most demanding issues in educational of the 21st century. These adults belong to different religions, cultural backgrounds and social beliefs, a political basis among other diversities. All these are aspects that they already have grown to learn, and thus they understand them broadly. To some extent, they know better than the tutor. A feasible leader should thus enable a participatory approach to teaching (Northouse, 2010). That calls for aggressive communication skills. In addition, the challenges that adult students face today seem to call for changes in our social, political and economic arrangement. The Adult Learning and Leadership Program emphasize enactment of a transformative learning and development for adult and organizational change in many of our different settings today. These programs are thus entirely aimed at preparing educational leaders to craft bridges to strengthen the community organizations up to the national capacity (Northouse, 2010)
Educating adults differs from doing the same to children in several ways. One aspect is because adults have already gathered knowledge and experience. They thus feel they just need to add to the learning experience. Another source of difference is that most adult education is charitable. Therefore, adult learning requires participants who are self-motivated. Thirdly, adults apply their knowledge in a practical fashion in order to learn effectively, they must have goals that the knowledge they gain will help them further their goals of professionalism. Community Education entails establishing of a great place to live through experiencing educational opportunities and building relationships. People come together share their knowledge and learn from each other (Komives, 2011).
Adults have many responsibilities that they have to balance all the demands associated with learning. Due to these responsibilities, adults have to face several barriers and challenges that hamper their learning and furthering their education. The challenges can get classified as institutional, situational or dispositional (Drago, 2004).
Some of these obstacles are significant and severe. They include the lack of time to balance career and family demands, financial problems, low confidence, misinformation about opportunities of education, scheduling and budgeting, and problems with child care. Other obstacles include fear, shyness, ego, and stigma. Due to these problems, some adults prefer distance learning that can help solve some of the challenges such as class scheduling and financial requirements (Bolman, 2011).
A leader should thus use his/her communicational skills to motivate adults into studies. Some would do that through instilling confidence in them. Strengthening positive self-esteem would also help get desires to develop into lifelong learners. Typical motivations skills would include a requirement for competence while licensing. Other enticements get promised promotion, job enrichment, a willingness to maintain old skills or learn new ones. The necessity to adjust to a new job conditions, structural changes or to comply with company directives is other reasons for adult schooling (Bolman, 2011). The best ways to inspire adult learners is simply by enhancing their reasons for enrolling and help eliminate their barriers. One good instructor must be able to learn why their students got enrolled. They have to discover what is keeping them from learning. Afterward, the instructors must plan their motivating strategies. Successful strategy includes directing these adult learners to the relationship between training and an expected promotion. By enlightening them that the course benefits them reasonably, they will perform better, and the benefits will be longer lasting. It is, therefore, crucial that teachers should be aware of the personalities of their learners and that they should develop lessons that address both the strengths and the needs of their individual students. They only achieve this by engaging straight talks with the learners (Drago, 2004).
Issues relating to adult and community education are as discussed below.
Budgeting
Budgeting is the process planning for future utilization of resources. In this context, it relates to how adults get involved in planning for making ends meet. Adults get involved with numerous responsibilities in their daily lives. Some have families, businesses and other social responsibilities to make ends meet. Their time and money are thus subject to budgeting. Sufficient budgeting techniques are vital if they have to succeed in education and still cater for their dependants (Gboku, 2007).
Finance
Finance relates to money and any other liquid resources owned by these adults. Adult education is sometimes a challenge due to financial shortages. Others who have it face a challenge of efficiently utilizing it. According to studies, financial acquisition, utilization and investment in adults is one of the issues relating to adult and community education. Leadership of those programs should try hard to communicate best ways of balancing education and finance. Adult educationists face the challenge of decision making between investing their funds in education or other profit making charities (Wang, 2012)
Personal supervision
In the light of adult education, it’s evident that no one manages the other. Academic leaders bear no burden of supervising adult students. Students’ academic well-being, success in a certain module, conduct and dressing are hundred percent personal decision to them. Leadership communication just illustrates the attributes to follow, but decisions get arraigned to students (Wilson, 2009).
Marketing
Adult education has mentality of being steeped from tradition into marketing and related technology management. The result is an updated set of practices and systems able to support the agility that the current adult education standards require so as to stand in the market. Moving forward and maintaining competitiveness will require the ability to implement new approaches to outreach swiftly. The bottom line of the future of higher education marketing involves the use of data down to the least level. That means, leadership listens to their future and current students and respond to their needs. The result of good communication will market both the student and the institution (Gboku, 2007). Retaining staff-good top to bottom and vice versa communication will enhance understanding between staff. Hiring of personnel will thus be an easy task.
Conclusion
Leadership in Adults and community get based on knowledge and consideration of several aspects. The first one is that adults cannot be compelled to learn. They will only do so when they become self-motivated to do so. Educators should thus get committed to working an extra mile installing radical motivational values to adult learners. Maximum discussion is the one way to enhance motivation (Liveright, 2009). Another fact is that adults will only learn what they feel they need to learn. That means that, in other words, they are practical, and they will always want to develop on what they think is important to them. In addition, Adults learn by doing. To them, active participation is especially very necessary. Adult learning is problem-based though these problems must be realistic. Adults enjoy finding solutions to problems. Adults learn what they consider they necessary to acquire knowledge about whereas children learn from a set curriculum. Children are driven by guidance whereas adults want information that will help them improve their position or that of their children.
References
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Northouse P. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Ltd.
Wang, C. (2012). Technology and its impact on educational leadership: Innovation and change. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference (Wang, 2012)
Wilson A. & Hayes, R. (2009). Handbook of adult and continuing education. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons
Gboku M., Lekoko R. & McClellan M . (2007). Developing programmes for adult learners in Africa. Hamburg, Germany: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in Write My Research Paper For Me services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order.
