LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

A	
  Case	  Study	  of	  a	  Social	
  Educa2on	
  Class	  Debjani Ray
This paper is a case study of a social education class for senior citizens. It gives an account of thestudents and their relationship with their teacher and what motivated the teacher to do the study. It
tries to clarify what social education is and the relationship between that and adult learners. The
study was conducted using a questionnaire and follow-up interviews. The results of thequestionnaire and the interviews were analyzed and revealed many more and different outcomesthan expected. The results show that the learners mostly approved the content of the class, which
was the main concern of the teacher. They show that the learners were mainly interested in keeping
themselves occupied rather than in learning the language. The results also underline the necessityof using special social and communication skills to connect with older learners.
この論文は、シニア市民の社会教育クラスに関するケーススタディである。生徒について、生徒と教 師の関係について、そしてこのような研究を行ったきっかけについて述べている。社会教育とは何で あるか、社会教育と社会人学生の関係はどのような
ものであるかを明らかにしようとしている。研究 は、アンケートとインタビューによって行われた。結果の分析では、予想外の回答が多く得られた。 生徒のほとんどが、授業の内容を好んでいたことが分かった。また言語を学ぶことよりも、自身を忙 しくしておくことに興味があったことを示していた。さらに、高齢な生徒とは特別なコミュニケー ション、接し方が必要であることも明らかにされた。

Introduction
The present study discusses the achievements and challenges of a social education class. Social education
classes present particular challenges for teachers because of the important role the experience and knowledge ofadult learners plays (Dewey,1938). Influenced by their past education and expertise, the adult learners bring avast experience to the class that needs to be considered while planning lessons for them (Knowles, 1980).
Knowles (1980, p.4) also notes that adult learners exhibit a higher degree of “internal motivation”.
This is a case study about the perception of their class by a group of retired professionals that I have beenteaching for over a decade at a community center in Saitama, Japan. This was quite a long time to teach a class,Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201519

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
with some old learners leaving and some new learners joining in. My teaching style was mostly the same
throughout this period, except for one time, around the third year, when I tried to incorporate some basic
grammar exercises into the teaching material, thinking it would be helpful to improve and raise their general
English level. It did not meet with much enthusiasm from the learners and after four times of trying hard, I
realized that they were not happy to do anything with grammar, even if it was only some easy grammar
worksheets to practice grammar in use, not any way teaching grammatical rules explicitly.
I decided to conduct this study in my eighth year teaching these students as I was curious over the way thelearners of this particular group might perceive their English class. I wanted to know their perception of theclass so that I could make any amendments that might be necessary to improve the class as the teaching style
was the same all along. Over this extended period I came to see that they were not really interested in
improving their English at all. Thus, my other intention was to throw some light on the underlying reasons fortheir joining and continuing the class. I tried to find out what they thought of the class and the class activities
and thought that this way the answers might lead to understand their motivation. I collected data through aquestionnaire to investigate about the group, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to more fully
understand the responses that were given.
Social Education
The term social education is a relatively new one and is easy to confuse with education for the society/social
uplifting. It encompasses everything within a broad spectrum of adult education. Adult education itself is not a
crystal-clear term and creates confusion. As McCullough (1980) puts it, it is difficult to determine if it is apractice or a program, a methodology or an organization, a ‘science’ or a system, a process or a profession andalso if it differs from the other forms of education, e.g., continuing education, vocational education and higher
education. He even goes as far as saying that adult education might be “everywhere and yet nowhere inparticular”. (McCullough 1980 quoted in Jarvis 1987, p. 3).

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201520

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
Courtney (1989, p. 17-23) gives five basic perspectives on adult education, which overlap in some areas. The
perspectives are: 1. the activities of certain institutions and organizations, 2. a special kind of relationship, as
Brookfield (1986) explains, between the external conditions and the internal change in adults that is learning, 3.
a profession or scientific discipline, 4. it stems from spontaneous social movements with historical significance,such as the women’s movement and anti- colonial movements (Lovett 1988), 5. its goals and functions are
distinctly different than the other kinds of education. According to Darkenwald and Merriam (1982), threeelements exist in adult education: working with adults, learning for adulthood, and adults working to help
others (who might not be adults). The definition of adult education by Merriam and Brockett (2007, p. 8) iswell- rounded: it is “activities intentionally designed for the purpose of bringing about learning among those
whose age, social roles, or self-perception define them as adults.” Adult education is concerned not withpreparing people for life, but rather with helping people to live more successfully. Thus if there is to be an
overarching function of adult education, it is to assist adults to increase competence, or negotiate transitions. It
also supports people in their social roles (worker, parent, retiree etc.), to help them gain greater fulfillment intheir personal lives, and to assist them in solving personal and community problems. (Darkenwald andMerriam, 1982, p. 9)
In a nutshell, any kind of adult education, non-formal education, out-of-school education, or community-based
educational activities fit into the frame of social education. It is also called lifelong education and in the UK
and in Ireland, further education. Social education basically differs from formal education in that it does notcontain the educational activities of the school curriculum and it does not focus on competitiveness andemployability. Although, in some cases adult education is considered as a component of lifelong learning(European Commission, 2006), here both are treated as the same. The notion of lifelong learning that came into
prominence in the late 1960s has been emphasized in Japan in recent years. According to the Fundamental Law
of Education in Japan, the principle of lifelong learning is that, individual citizens can learn anywhere andanytime throughout their entire lives to have better personalities and to enjoy rich lives (MEXT, Japan, 2011).

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201521

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
Moreover, it is a way of “community development and networking with participation and initiatives of local
people” (UNESCO).

Adult Learners
Different societies and cultures might have contrasting understandings of what it is to be an adult. The term
‘adult’ can be set against ‘child’. In between adult and child or overlapping between them, there may be an ideaof ‘youth’. At base adults are older than children. Therefore, a set of expectations automatically get attached toit. They are not necessarily mature, but ‘they are supposed to be mature, and it is on this necessary supposition
that their adulthood justifiably rests’ (Paterson, 1979, p. 13). Other scholars state that “psychological maturity
and social role” define an adult (Merriam & Brockett, 2007, p. 7). As Lindeman (1926, p. 4) puts it: “This new
venture is called adult education not because it is confined to adults but because adulthood, maturity, defines its
limits.”Andragogy, a well-known theoretical approach to adult learning by Knowles (1984), gives a five-point
framework regarding the characteristics of adult learners. One of them assumes that the adults bring vast
experience to the learning context that is a resource for learning/education.

Background
The learners in the English class which is the focus of this study join the class as a form of recreation in theirretired lives, as social education helps them in improving their lives with a range of useful activities to engage
in. The number of people in the class varies usually between 5 and 12 as some people leave and some otherpeople join. Members leave the class either because of fragile health and health-related problems or the death ofa spouse. Only one of the class members has attended throughout the ten years I have taught the class. The restof the members have been switched and at present they are seven in total. Almost all of them are retired
professionals and are of the same age group. Initially the title of the class, chosen by the members, was Silver
English Conversation. I was asked by a city hall employee to carry on with this class after their former teacher
had left Japan twelve years ago. Three years ago, in an effort to attract new and younger members, they decided
Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201522

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
to change the title of the class. The members put their heads together and after a long and heated discussion thetitle was changed to Friendship English Lounge. Unfortunately, it did not fulfil its purpose of attracting young/younger members but it did bring some young visitors to the class and finally two not-so-young members.
The class meets twice a month, the first and third Friday afternoon for an hour and a half. Depending on themembers’ schedule, the day and the time might change sometime. In class we generally engage in simple
conversation on a variety of topics, sometimes chosen by the teacher, sometimes by the students. Usually they
start with telling each other about what they did in the past week or weekend. The students never have ashortage of news as they really enjoy doing things. They do things individually or with their families and at thesame time they often go out with their classmates. In their outside activities with the classmates, going to themovies, eating out, having tea/coffee are common, next comes going to a garden or a park and going to aconcert or a play. Once in a while they might take trips as a group, although everybody might not join every
time. They might go to another place in Japan, like, Kyoto or Hokkaido, or a nearby country, like, Taiwan or
Singapore. When they have little to report, they talk about recent news or TV programs.
After they finish talking about their activities or the news, which usually takes about 30 minutes to half of theclass time, they usually do an activity that I have brought in. It might be a simple worksheet to read and write alittle or it might contain a little reading and then discussion. They are all college graduates and their level might
be the same as the present college students. Occasionally, someone starts saying something totally different andthe other joins in and they might get carried away. They basically keep talking in English, except for a few
Japanese words thrown in here and there.

The Study
The Questionnaire
The people who took part in this study were seven retired professional women over the age of sixty- five who
were taking the class with me at that time. I used a questionnaire consisting of seven questions. The questions
focused on what they thought of the contents of the class activities and how to make the class better for them toSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201523

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
enjoy the experience. They were asked to fill out the questionnaires distributed to them while they were in theclass and return it to me upon completion.

The Interviews
The other method used was semi-structured interviews, a qualitative method of inquiry, with pre- determined,
open-ended questions, conducted a few times over the course of six months. All of the people in the class wereinterviewed. I asked for their permission to let me interview them and they co-operated without a question. I
conducted the interviews in total three times after the class in a cafeteria. The purpose of the interview was toclarify the answers of the questionnaire and to get more information.
The data I collected consisted of the answers to the questionnaire and the notes that I took in the interviews. I
tried to gain consent for recording the interview but they said that they ‘did not like their own recorded voices’.
This way it was a lengthy process and the data organization, analysis and managing was difficult and time
consuming. The data was of a ‘nonnumerical kind’ expressed in words/non-numbers. This kind of data is very
useful in helping “to pin down the facts about people” (De Munck and Sobo, 1998, p. 16).
According to Bernard (1994), ‘Hanging out’ is the process through which a researcher can gain trust and is able
to establish a relationship with the participants over time. Hanging out is also proposed by DeMunck and Sobo
(1998) by which people might “get to know you outside your 'professional' role” (p. 41). I hung out with thegroup at the cafes close to the venue of the class over an extended period of time and did the semi-structured
interviews there. I was fully aware that they might not say anything unpleasant to my face, so I tried to makecareful questions and hide any strong attachments I had to them. I analyzed the data of their written and verbal
responses.

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201524

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

The Findings
First I present the results of the questionnaire, then I discuss the information gleaned from the interviews. I
have chosen to present only the answers that were most revealing and most useful to me in understanding how
the students viewed this class.

The Questionnaire
The first question asked in what way they studied outside the class, if they did at all. The replies were all
positive, and the prominent ones were by watching English language TV programs (mainly news, almost everyday) and sometimes movies in English with/without subtitles, by listening to the English language radio
programs/music, from Japan and/or abroad, by reading easy books/graded readers written/translated in English,
singing English songs, and talking with foreigners.
In answer to the sixth question, which asked if they liked anything particular about the class, they said that they
liked the opportunity to use their English and the environment that was made of wonderful classmates and thecheerful and energetic young teacher. I was very flattered by this last comment. Some liked discussions onmusic, art, movies and culture in different countries and Japan. Most of them were not sure about acquiring
English or developing their English competency but they were happy keeping in touch with English through theclass. Some said they came to know a lot about other countries and cultures and even about Japan through some
activities and discussions in the class.
The last question asked what should be changed to improve the lessons. Some were neutral or had no opinion.
Overall, most of them felt nothing needed to be changed and a few felt that one area might be changed, but theresults differed as to which area should be changed.

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201525

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

The Interviews
One of my queries, apart from the questionnaire, was why they were taking English lessons. The answer varied
but the main points were, for communicating with foreigners in Japan, for talking with local people while
traveling abroad and especially for ‘bokeboushi’ (guarding against senility).
I mainly tried to emphasize the same questions as in the questionnaire to clarify the answers I received. I got
mostly the same replies. The added information I got was that they were happy to attend the class because they
could make long-term friends through the class. Several people said that they did some talking in English with
their Japanese classmates before and/or after the class as well as during the class which could not have beenpossible if they were not classmates on friendly terms. They said that it helped them to keep up their English
because except for that they had very little chance of speaking in English in Japan.
About changes to improve the lessons, one asked for clarifications on grammar and another wanted to havetheir pronunciation ‘corrected’. What most of them did not like was doing the tongue-twisters as their ‘tongues
did not move’. The reason two of them gave was while practicing them they were awfully worried that theirfalse teeth might fall out.

Discussion
The purpose of this study was to determine the learners’ opinions about the class. The results show the learners
were motivated and practiced English outside the class (once a month or more) and were supportive of thecontent of the class. Most felt there was no need to change the materials used or the way of using them. They
thought the skills they were developing were speaking and some listening. Most of them thought getting thechance of ‘keeping in touch’ with English was very useful for them. They did not dislike much of the practicesof the class except for doing tongue-twisters for some special reason. All of them liked the environment of theclass that supported their language practices (see Table 1).
The findings of the interviews reinforced the results of the questionnaire survey. I tried to identify and interpretthe common and recurrent themes and analyze prominent patterns in the themes. The reasons why they wereSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201526

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
studying English became clear. Many of them described it as useful for communicating with foreigners, inJapan and abroad. Moreover, all strongly felt it was an effective way of giving some exercise to the brain to
keep it active, so it was helpful to their actual life.
Table 1.
Response Analysis
Learners practice English outside the class
Learners like the materials used in the class
GeneralLearners like the environment of the class
Learners develop speaking & listening skills through the class
Learners think that English is useful for communication with foreigners in and out of Japan
Specific
Learners think that learning English is specifically important for them for keeping their brains active

This study tried to find out the perception of the learners of their class regarding its activities and materials,
which directly connects to the teacher. It is difficult to feel confident to be the teacher of a group where
everyone has a good level of education along with immense life experience. I discovered some things that I was
not expecting and I feel that I have obtained a greater insight into these learners' motivations for attending theclass as well as some insight into how I as a teacher need to adapt to their learning styles.
Bohonos (2013) says that understanding the life experiences of adult learners is particularly important. I learned
many things from the group, especially, regarding social skills and communication strategies to be used while
dealing with older people. For example, when I suggested that we talk about our weekends, they reminded mepolitely that, they did not have any weekends anymore. As retired people they could not differentiate between
their weekdays and weekends. On another occasion, when they were talking about having special discounts forthe movies, I bluntly commented on that as a great opportunity. They grimly told me that they would rather
have their youth than having discounted movie tickets. Having discounted tickets was not a happy thing forthem as that comes with aging. Again I was reminded to be careful when talking with the elderly.
From this study it is hard to tell if the class and the materials used have any major impact on the learners’
English communication skills, but it might have became clear that more than their linguistic performance thisSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201527

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
group of learners put emphasis on spending quality time in a nice environment and in good company, and thatthey are more concerned about keeping their minds lively and are eager to remain active members of thecommunity. I hope that the story of my journey to this greater appreciation of the needs of a social education
class might be of some potential interest to other teachers.

References
Bohonos, J. (2013). Appreciating the experiences and expertise of adult students. Journal of College
Orientation and Transition 20, 133.
Brookfield, S. D. (1986). Understanding and facilitating adult learning. A comprehensive analysis of principles
and effective practices. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Courtney, S. (1989), Defining adult and continuing education, in S. B. Merriam and P. M. Cunningham (eds.)
Handbook of adult and continuing education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Darkenwald, G. G. and Merriam, S. B. (1982). Adult education. Foundations of practice. New York: Harperand Row.
DeMunck,V. C. & Sobo, E. J.(Eds) (1998). Using methods in the field: A practical introduction and casebook.
Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Jarvis, P. (1987). Adult learning in the social context. Beckenham: Croom Helm.
European Union Law. Communication from the commission-Adult learning: It is never too late to learn.
Retrieved from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/%20ALL/?uri=CELEX:52006DC0614
Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. N.Y.:
Cambridge Books
Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lindeman, E. C. (1926). The meaning of adult education. Norman: University of Oklahoma.
Lovett, T. (Ed.) (1988). Radical approaches to adult education: a reader. Beckenham: Croom Helm.

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201528

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.
McCullough, K. O. (1980). ‘Analyzing the evolving structure of adult education’ in J. Peters (Ed.) Building aneffective adult education enterprise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Merriam, S. B. & Brockett, R. G. (2007). The profession and practice of adult education: An introduction.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan, Trends and Developmentin Education, Science and Technology Policies Summary. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/hakusho/html/hpab201101/detail/1330512.htm
Paterson, R. W. K. (1979). Values, education and the adult. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
UNESCO. Komonkan-CLC International Conference: Community Based Human Development for Sustainable
Society. Retrieved from http://en.unesco.org/events/kominkan-clc-international-conferencecommunity-based-human-development-sustainable-society

Special Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201529

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

Appendix
Questionnaire
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Do you study English outside the class? If yes, what and how do you do?
Does this class help you to acquire English or any kind of knowledge?
Do you think the class materials are appropriate for you?
Does this class help you to develop the skills you want to develop?
Was there anything ever that made you feel uneasy during the class?
Is there anything you particularly like about the class? If yes, what is it?
Is there anything you think needs to be changed to improve this lesson?

Questionnaire Response Analysis

English classes among the 158 Language Classes
held at Saitama City Kominkan

1. Ways English is Studied Outside the Class

English Classes for kids among the 91 English Classes
mentioned above
Courtesy: shogaigakushu center, Saitama City, Saitama

2. If and How the Class Helped in Learning
EnglishSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201530

LD20 Exploring Learning Development: Practices, Pedagogies, Puzzles and Research.

3. If the Class Material were Appropriate

4. If the Class Helped in Developing any Skills

5 If the Class caused any Uncomfortable
Moments

6. If and What they Liked about the Class

7. If and What to Change to Make the Lesson
BetterSpecial Issue of Learning Learning, Volume 22, Issue 2 October 201531