Ideologies Across Time and Space: Tracing Neoliberalism's Hold Through the Adult Education Archive of California

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Historical and Theoretical Trends for Marginalized Learners in Adult Education (Table 8)

Abstract

During the 1970s, neoliberalism reshaped adult education: learning goals were driven by welfare-to-work legislation and immigration reform. These reform efforts helped shape ESL citizenship classrooms that teach English and prepare students for their naturalization interview to become U.S. citizens. Drawing from the Adult Education Archive of California this paper traces how neoliberal reforms shape adult education, specifically ESL citizenship classrooms. Findings show that welfare and immigration reform shaped adult education by (1) informing CBDE curriculum, (2) reducing literacy to notions of functionality, and (3) shrinking possibilities of critical thinking all to socialize immigrants into ethics of exploitative work.

Authors

• Karen Villegas, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Natalie Fierro, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Selina Pacheco, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author

• Emely Martinez Ramirez, University of California - Berkeley
  Presenting Author