I believe the purpose of adult education depends on the adult educator, their purpose, research interests, positionality and lived experiences. The purpose, root or otherwise raison-d’être will also evolve over time along with the adult educator. As a life-long learner, I believe that adult educators are constantly adjusting their scope, practice, tools and available resources. In this process, the purpose of adult education may be expanded or constrained depending on the desired outcomes, outputs and end goals. Our experiences shape our views, allow us to inform our decisions and avoid making the same mistakes. Individually, it’s often measured in maturity, wisdom, and common sense. Collectively, it is often overlooked. I contend that adult education can serve to fill that collective gap.

For me, unsurprisingly I currently approach adult education as education for self-actualization. I work in a very clearly delineated space as a Senior Policy Analyst charged with equity research. My division is named Equity and Engagement we are within the Department of Health and Wellness at the Government of Nova Scotia. From this space, I see ways in which adult education can work towards self-actualization. One of the ways I have translated tacit knowledge acquired in this program is through my work to employ anti-oppression principles through critical reflection. Second to this approach is my innate propensity to utilize adult education for practical problem solving. Outside of my professional life, I regularly volunteer as a bicycle mechanic. As a volunteer mechanic you are not there to fix the patrons bicycles but instead are tasked with empowering them to fix it themselves using the shop tools, your guidance and skills as both a mechanic and an educator. The result of this application is generally slow at first, daunting to say the least but often results in pragmatic knowledge gained, increased autonomy and interest in better understanding their bicycles.

Through these lenses, I believe that humans are intrinsically curious, products of their environment and lived experiences. As an adult educator, I value these lived experiences and approach my practice through an intersectional lens. I find myself influenced by Freire’s work. In Freire’s (2009) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he references the perspective of other and the privileged few, the maintenance of the status quo which perpetuates the gap in education between the two. I see a parallel in the way the health system supports and encourages a portion of the population to thrive while others are suffering and unable to live their full health potential. In my role with the government, I am regularly presented inequities in our health system policies, projects, initiatives, and protocols. This daily reminder of the gaps in usable data and barriers that exist are places I find myself reflecting on how I can leverage adult education.

I’m also regularly looking for ways to decolonize my practice, whether it’s through adapting language, approach, or broadening world views. I prefer a decolonized approach to a reconciled one as I believe reconciliation to be a product of colonial negotiations with First Nations. Where in reconciliation we’re looking to return to a state of being in partnership between nations rooted in a colonial acceptance of First Nations. I believe that reconciling in this way does not preclude further discrimination or oppression. Reconciliation in my view does not address the former nor does it acknowledge the systems of oppression that continue to perpetuate harm. In a decolonized approach, value is placed on alternative worldviews and recognition that colonial practices are harmful and do not value nation to nation partnerships in the same way First Nations do.

If we consider Patel (2017) and their work in decolonizing educational research, I draw on the proposed language shift from an education gap to an education debt. I see a parallel in equitable access to health services – gap vs debt, in that the current health system inequitably favors some and equity groups are indebted by the health system as they are not provided equitable health services. This to me is a great example of how I approach my work and consider the choice of words I use in policy, programming and initiatives development.

Drawing on Zinn (1990), my actions and the way I choose to live are informed by my philosophy. I believe the propensity to prefer teaching practical life skills to adults is a professional deformation from my lived experiences. As a child, I was regularly challenged by my parents to “figure it out”, if my bicycle had a flat tire, I had to take the tire off, get to the tube and patch it. Learning to do these things were broken down into steps guided by my dad or neighbors. As a first generation Canadian from immigrant parents, we were taught the value of the dollar, through having to “pay” for things through actions, behaviors or tasks. Combined with having busy parents who both worked full-time, you were inclined to develop autonomy at a young age. Reflecting on the occasions I had to fix something, for myself or my sisters. I see now that at a young age it allowed me to breakdown complex problems into more manageable pieces. As a geologist, you rely on interpretation, inference and models. These are usually informed from limited field mapping exercises, samples and lab results. As a retired geologist and field scientist; I feel I’ve brought a unique skillset that can easily turn tacit knowledge into tangible applications to my current practice. Further to this, I am comfortable in the development of complex projects regardless of how little is predetermined. This has served me immensely as a Senior Policy Analyst for a new division (2 years old) working on Equity and Engagement with the Department of Health and Wellness. We often describe our work as building a ship as we’re sailing. Meaning, we’ve already committed to equitable changes in the health system, we don’t know exactly what they are today but as we’re determining these changes, we’re also implementing them. This iterative process is not always efficient, it also takes an agile approach and strong work ethic. I am grateful to see the connection to adult education and my personal philosophy presenting opportunities to apply my learnings on a daily basis.