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'.-‘II Hf” b.- J Infill; 1m [W 111111111111 W W LIBRARY 1293 00632 7666 Michigan State University This is to certify that the dissertation entitled EXPANDING THE TAXONOMY OF ADULT LEARNER ORIENTATIONS ‘ presented by ‘ Stephen Douglas Lowe has been accepted towards fulfiliment I of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Department of Educatlonal Administration ajor professor Date July 22, 1987 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 12771 MSU RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to LJBRARJES remove this checkout from .—c—. your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. r .XTW JAN 06m )3! 1 ' - ’ 3 .. f») a 3 ‘r‘ A. Q g EXPANDING THE TAXONOMY OF ADULT LEARNER ORIENTATIONS iBy Stephen Douglas Lowe A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Educational Administration 1987 Copyright by STEPHEN D. LOWE 1987 ABSTRACT EXPANDING THE TAXONOMY OF ADULT LEARNER ORIENTATIONS ' By Stephen Douglas Lowe Motivational orientations of adult learners have been identified in previous studies that can be placed within the Houlian trilogy of Goal, Activity, and Learning orientations. In addition, Burgess identified a Religious orientation distinct from these other three producing a total of four parsimonious orientations with various sub-orientations. The present study identified an "Institutional" orientation which describes an adult's sense of commitment, loyalty, obligation, and solidarity to the sponsoring institution. It was found to play a significant role in explaining the participatory behavior of the adults in this study. Whole classes from three different institutions (Red Cross, community college, church) were administered a mm W instrument which was designed to measure the relative influence of the five orientations on participatory behavior in the present learning activity. The results indicated that the Institutional orientation created significant differences (F: 34.34, DF=2) between the three institutions and in fact was an important participatory component for the church-sponsored and Red Cross groups. Significant differences were obtained between the church-sponsored group and the other two groups on reported degree of commitment to the sponsoring institution, and reported frequency of attendance at the educational activity. The church-sponsored group was significantly different from the other two groups regarding reported degree of commitment to the sponsoring institution and reported frequency of attendance (X2=9.32, DF =3; x2: 9.17, DF = 3). The Red Cross group was significantly different from the community college group on reported degree of commitment to the sponsoring institution (X2: 4.92, DF = 3) but was not significantly different on frequency of attendance. The results of this study suggest that the Institutional orientation hypothesized and identified as a significant learning orientation, must be considered seriously as another component of an adult's orientational mosaic. It adds another dimension to our current taxonomy of adult learner orientations distinct from the three-fold Houlian orientations and the Burgess Religious orientation. The church and Red Cross emerge from this study as institutions with deeply committed participants in adult education activities. These participants translate their internal Institutional orientation (loyalty and commitment) into more active involvement in the educational activities sponsored by the institution. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Ruth and my children Doug, Amy, and Sarah. In appreciation of their unwavering support and patient endurance of the long journey on which their husband and father has been for the last several years. It has in reality been a joint-venture and I could not have reached this point without you. We share this moment of fulfillment and achievement together. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study has been fermenting for a long time. Wise and careful hands have helped in producing the finished product. I am indebted to the scholarship and craftsmanship of my chairperson, Ted Ward, who models for me the marks of a gifted teacher. I must also express appreciation to Joe Levine, June Youatt, and George Ferree, my initial committee, and also to Lou Hekhuis who was willing to substitute at the last minute due to the departure of Dr. Ferree. I am grateful also for the pleasant assistance of Geneva Speas who was always willing to provide any needed guidance or put me in contact with just the right person. I must also express my gratitude to those who contributed to a quality learning experience both in the Department of Educational Administration and Family Ecology. I think especially of Howard Hickey and Delores Borland. There were many who provided gracious "unofficial" assistance to me while in Arkansas. In particular, I wish to thank my colleagues Dr. Don Siemens, Dr. Gary Matson, Dr. Sean Courtney, Dr. Rhonda Harvey, Dr. Edwin Furst, Dr. John Niemi, Dr. Leon McKenzie and Dr. Dave Johnson. A special word of thanks to Dr. Paul Burgess, Dr. Sherman Sheffield, and Dr. Cyril Houle for their insightful comments and encouragement. Recognition must also be made to Ms. Beth King and Mrs. Brenda Harp for their invaluable secretarial assistance at John Brown University. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables List of Figures CHAPTER 1 Purpose of the Research Background for the Present Study Need for the Present Study Purpose of the Present Study Research Questions Assumptions of the Present Study Defining Orientations Defining Participation Population Generalizability CHAPTER 2 Precedents in Literature National Surveys Estimating Extent of Participation vii xiv 12 14 15 16 18 19 Sociological Analysis of Participation: Regional Surveys Sociological Analysis of Participation: National Surveys Reasons for Participation: Regional Surveys Reasons for Participation: National Surveys Motivational/Learning Orientations of Participation Theoretical Models of Learning Orientations Decision Models of Participation Life-Cycle Models of Participation Motivational Orientation Models of Participation Summary Voluntary Association Literature Commitment Literature viii 23 27 35 38 40 40 42 47 51 68 70 78 CHAPTER 3 Research Procedure P0pulation Instrumentation Reliability Validity Rationale for Instrument Categories and Items Question Format Pretesting the Instrument Data Collection Procedure CHAPTER 4 Presentation and Analysis of Data Field Test Results Field Test of Reliability Validity Analysis Analysis of Demographic Data Data Analysis for Research Question One Results Discussion ix 88 91 94 95 96 98 101 102 102 104 104 105 107 109 109 111 116 Data Analysis for Research Question Two Results Discussion Data Analysis for Research Question Three Results Discussion Summary CHAPTER 5 Conclusions Methodological Suggestions Suggestions for Further Research Postscript Appendix A Reasons for Participation Instrument Appendix B Item-Category Classification Sheet Appendix C Institutional Orientation Survey Codebook Bibliography 117 118 124 127 127 135 136 139 144 144 145 150 155 159 162 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. National Estimates of Participation in Education by the Native Adult Population of the United States, 1924-1981 21 Table 2. Reasons Given by Older Adults for Participating in Adult Education 24 Table 3. Demographic Profile of Active Learners and Non-Learners 28 Table 4. Participation Rates in Adult Education by Selected Learner Characteristics, 1981 30 Table 5. Estimates of the National Population and Participation in Adult Education According to Age, 1969-81 31 Table 6. Participation Rates of Women and Men in Adult Education by Age (Percentage of Each Population Category) 32 Table 7. Estimates of the National Adult Population and Participation in Adult Education According to Years of Schooling, 1969-1981 34 Table 8. Reasons for Taking Adult Courses 37 Table 9. Summary of Factors Identified in Studies of Learning Orientations 89 Table 10. Inventory Item Sources and Category 100 Table 11. Present Population Compared to 1981 NCES Population Table 12. Means and Standard Deviations for Orientations by Groups Table 13. Goal Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Table 14. Activity Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Table 15. Learning Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Table 16. Religious Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Table 17. Institutional Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Table 18. Goal Orientation by Groups Table 19. Activity Orientation by Groups Table 20. Learning Orientation by Groups Table 21. Religious Orientation by Groups Table 22. Institutional Orientation by Groups Table 23. Scheffe' S Multiple Comparison Test of Orientation Means by Groups Table 24. Feelings of Commitment to Institution by Groups Table 25. Frequency of Attendance by Groups xii 110 112 113 113 114 114 115 119 119 120 120 121 123 128 128 Table 26. Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Instutional between Red Cross and Community College Table 27. Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Institution Between Red Cross and Church-Sponsored Group Table 28. Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Institution Between Community College and Church-Sponsored Groups Table 29. Reported Frequency of Attendance for Red Cross and Community College Table 30. Reported Frequency of Attendance for Red Cross and Church-Sponsored Groups Table. 31. Reported Frequency of Attendance for Community College and Church-Sponosred Groups Table 32. Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within The Red Cross Group Table 33. Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within the Community College Group Table 34. Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within the Church-Sponsored Group xiii 131 131 132 132 133 133 134 134 135 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Interpretation of Cluster Analysis on Education Participation Scale xiv 79 Chapter 1 Purpose of the Research Since the 1920's, adult education has been concerned about the issue of participation in voluntary educational activities. Many observers (Boshier and Pickard, 1979; Boshier, 1985) report that this issue has been the most researched topic in the field of adult education. The desire to analyze the issue may be due to several factors. First, the enterprise of adult education is voluntary not compulsory and ~ therefore must attract and keep students in order to survive. Second, adult education has been plagued by a failure to retain a large percentage of the adults who do attend (Lam and Wong, 1974; Wilson, 1980; Sainty, 1971). Third, since adult education is voluntary, sponsors are interested in assessing student needs, attitudes, and preferences. Cross (1979) reports that within the last ten years, more than 30 large-scale surveys have been made of adult learners in terms of preferences and characteristics. Fourth, adult education participation has overtones of public policy concerns. Such concerns include the offering of educational opportunities to a wider spectrum of the available population (Darkenwald and Merriam, 1982). Cross (1979) has observed from her analysis of the data base on adult participation, that Blacks and other minorities are "underrepresented among adult learners" (p. 87). WW! The earliest examinations of the problem of participation in adult education began with estimates of participation as early as 1924 (Courtney, 1984). In addition, clientele analyses were conducted by the university extension services and the Association of University Evening Colleges (Knox and Videbeck, 1963). Several became increasingly dissatisfied with the clientele analysis method (Verner and Newberry, 1958; Knox and Sjogren, 1962; Knox and Videbeck, 1963). All of these investigators raised questions regarding the focus and of the previous studies. They were concerned that attention was being unduly placed upon individual, psychological factors, while ignoring the influence of the social group. Knox and Videbeck proposed a " patterned participation" framework from which to analyze the problem of participation in adult education. They argued that such a theory "inco crates within a single conceptual scheme not only psycho oglcal orientations ut also social 3 stems and envnronmental factors In such a way that t e can be Jaintly brou ht to bear m the examination 0 variations m partmpa Ion" (p. 105). Verner and Newberry suggested that the problem of participation in adult education be analyzed with concern for the twin concepts of "static" and " dynamic" factors. They described the static factors as socio-economic status, age, sex, family stage, residence, religion, and race. The dynamic factor was described as " the relationship of the individual to the group" (p. 212). It was their belief that the "key" to 3 the problem of participation in adult education lay in this relationship between the individual adult learner and the organization which was providing the educational experience. W Unfortunately the plethora of research studies toward the end of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies ignored the sociological dimensions being suggested by the " Knox group." The predominant perspective of the research from 1970 onward has been associated with the psychological strain of the participation in adult education paradigm. Courtney (1984) concluded from his exhaustive analysis of participation in adult education literature that the current research orientation has been " associated with one major concept, one methodology, and one name" (p. 6). The concept is that of motivational orientations, the methodology is factor analysis, and the name is Roger Boshier. Boshier's work has been an effort to support or refute the three-fold typology of motivational orientations identified by Houle (1961). The research path has been preoccupied with the Houlian typology to the exclusion of any other orientation. In fact, Cross (1979) observed that the entire series of studies on the problem of participation in adult education could be described as " thirty variations on the same study" (p. 134). As has been previously noted, the predominant line of inquiry in adult education has been concerned primarily with the psychological dimensions of the problem (Houle, 1961; Sheffield, 1962; Boshier, 4 1971; Burgess, 1971; Morstain and Smart, 1974; Dickinson and Clark, 1975; Boshier, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980). This line of inquiry has been highly developed and empirically supported. It seems time to explore more fully the sociological dimension (Knox, 1965; Knox & Videbeck, 1963; Verner & Newberry, 1958) to provide a balance in understanding the dynamics of the problem of motivation to participate in adult education. Several in adult religious education (Peterson, 1984; Patterson, 1984; Long, no date) described what could be called an organizational or institutional motivational orientation for participating in religious educational activities. Such an orientation observed in the writings of adult religious educators involves a loyalty and commitment to the group or church that is sponsoring the educational experience. They suggested the primary reason adults attended church-sponsored educational functions was due to their desire for furthering the goals and objectives of the sponsoring church or organization. At first one might be inclined to reject such a notion for several reasons. First, because such a factor in the motivational orientation literature has never been identified. Second, because the observation was made based on intuitive assumptions rather than empirical data. However, the similarities between what the adult religious educators were observing and what the earlier literature of the Knox group suggested seemed significant. Both were identifying a sociological dimension of participation in adult education had not been empirically scrutinized for its validity. 5 Experience in working with adults in religious education settings has provided this researcher many opportunities to observe the commitment phenomenon in practice. Adults who are participating in learning experiences sponsored by religious institutions manifest a distinct attitude toward participation. They seemingly are influenced in their participatory behavior by their feelings of commitment and solidarity to the church as a sponsoring institution. None of the major motivational orientation studies has identified or accounted for an insititutional phenomenon either in adult religious education or in non-religious adult education Another reason this study is needed is because the vast majority of the studies to date which address the problem of participation in adult education have used only one group as their data source. Darkenwald and Merriam (p. 133, 1982) observe that the studies have been limited to public school or community college/university settings. It is a fact that most major studies (J ohnstone and Rivera, 1965; National Center for Educational Statistics, 1975) identify colleges and public schools as the most frequently mentioned location for adult education (30.4% and 25.1 % respectively). Cross (1979) concludes from her analysis of numerous state and local surveys of adult education that " College campuses almost always emerge as highly favored learning locations" (p. 121). The reason this observation about location and sponsorship is so important has to do with the linkages which exist between the adult learner and the sponsoring agency. Does the fact that no formal relationship previously existed between an individual and a particular 6 institution jeopardize or skew the results of the motivation to participate data? Discussing the role of the church in adult education, Peterson (1979) admitted that " the overwhelming fact remains: for hundreds of thousands of people, particularly those in their later years, the church is the single most preferred, most comfortable setting outside the home for almost any organized activity" (p. 47). Could it be that if some of the many hundreds of regional and national surveys of motivational orientation had used other data sources, besides those easily available for the researcher, the results would have been different? The available taxonomy of motivational orientations fails to account for the phenomenon of an adult's commitment to the sponsoring institution. This in spite of the fact that many theories of motivational orientation seemed to indicate that it might play a significant role. All of the studies to date have failed to conduct their research from one of these promising theories and therefore have eliminated what may prove to be a most significant ingredient in the motivational matrix of adults who attend voluntary educational activities. The design of this study is intended to compensate for these past weaknesses by allowing for the sociological dimension in the theoretical framework of the study. The sociological dimension will allow the investigation to probe the degree to which the adult's loyalty and commitment to the sponsoring institution plays a role in affecting participatory behavior. W It was the purpose of this inquiry to determine if an Institutional learning orientation could be identified among a variety of participants in educational experiences sponsored by various institutions. Further, this study sought to determine whether or not an Institutional orientation plays a significant role in adult's motivational orientation toward learning, and how it compares in degree of significance to other learning orientations. The term Institutional orientation is herein defined as the " degree to which the loyalty and commitment of the individual learner to the sponsoring agency, organization or group affects the decision to participate in educational activities provided by the agency, organization or group." An example might help in clarifying the dynamics being identified in this analysis. Not long ago a group of educators met in Chicago representing small private colleges which had teacher education programs. Attendance was poor, the plenary session speaker was delayed in coming, and some "soul-searching" comments began to surface regarding the realistic future of the organization. The moderator suggested participants share why they had come to the meeting. The majority of comments clustered around the participants' commitment and loyalty to the group as a significant organization. It was this bond that prompted them to attend the meeting, even though the organization was not as vital and robust as it once had been. All of the barriers of time, distance, expense, and inconvenience could not 8 overcome this sense of duty, loyalty, and commitment to the organization. As one reflects upon this meeting, it becomes evident that none of the motivational orientations described in the participation literature accounts for the dynamics involved in that meeting. Something else was at work that had to do with the participants' feelings toward, value of, and commitment to the organization. There was an intense desire to see the organization succeed in terms of its stated purposes and objectives. Everyone voiced their view that they did not see the group succeeding at those purposes without their active participation and support. The present study sought to demonstrate that the dynamics at work in this episode and others like it are more common than the motivational orientation research would have us understand. To determine the viability of such a theoretical construct the following research questions were proposed. Wan: The present inquiry was designed to determine if the phenomenon of an Institutional orientation could be identified among a variety of adult participants sponsored by public and private community educational institutions. Such a motivation would be reflected in one's active participation and attendance at educational experiences provided by the institution. The research questions for this inquiry were: 1. Can an Institutional orientation, if it exists, be defined and identified among the participants in this study? 9 2. Are there significant differences reported among the groups regarding the influence of an Institutional orientation and other orientations on the decision to participate? 3. Are there any significant differences between the groups on the reported strength of commitment to the sponsoring institution, frequency of attendance, and membership status? Ammnfinnsntthflltasentflm One of the limitations of the participation in adult education literature has been its lack of a macrolevel perspective on the problem of participation and motivational orientation. In particular, the literature fails to contextualize the educational experience of the adult learner. Nor is there any attempt at demonstrating linkages between the observed educational behavior and other sorts of social behaviors. Previously Miller (1967) offered what he termed a "social forces" framework for understanding the phenomenon of motivation to participate in adult education. He suggested that adult educators develop "strategies for working with people in organizations to which they already have ties . . . " (p. 14-16). His perspective was largely ignored. One assumption of the present study will be that adult education involvement is one of many social behaviors. This assumption views education not only as an internal motivation to improve self-image, status, vocational worth, and so forth, but also as a larger sociological response. One of the positive benefits of the "radical adult education" (Elias and Merriam, 1980; Barrow, 1978) literature has been its sociological orientation. 10 Those who write from the "radical" perspective have insisted, as Dewey did, that education is both individual and corporate (social). Education has implications and benefits both for the individual and the group. Freire (1970) declared that the process of education "cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity" (p. 73). Courtney (1984) maintains that adult education "must be seen as a multi-institutional phenomenon shaped by social and economic forces which may in turn reflect larger societal demands rather than individual aspirations" (p. 27). Consequently, adult education must not be limited to individual psychologism. If that is the only or primary framework from which one analyzes the phenomenon of participation, then one will be prevented from achieving a comprehensive view of the problem of motivation to ' participate in adult education. A second assumption which the present study makes involves the definition of adult education and the parameters which researchers have heretofore set on it. Simply because churches, parishes, and synagogues instruct members in the tenets of their faith does not disqualify them from consideration as adult education. Knowles (1977) argued that religious instruction sponsored by churches be included under the rubric of adult education because it is "adult educational in purpose and effect" (p. 250). London (1970) questions whether or not adult education sponsored by churches should be included under the rubric of adult education. Although he does not elaborate on his reason, many hold that 11 church-sponsored education partakes more of indoctrination (" sectarian and circumscribed," Peterson, 1979, p. 47) than it does education. Although that might be true for small, fringe groups within a religious community, it simply is not true of the majority of religious groups. Peterson demonstrated from the NCES data that churches offer "multifaceted" educational activities. Adult education sponsored by religious organizations and institutions will be considered legitimate forms of adult education in the present discussion. Another dimension of the definition of adult education problem, has to do with what sorts of educational or learning behaviors will be counted as adult education. Courtney (1984) identified three different ways in which adult education has been defined. The most restrictive definition of adult education is that proposed in the National Center for Education Statistics (N CES). In their view, adult education is any organized instruction provided by recognized "officially-sanctioned" institutions. The least restrictive definition of adult education is that proposed through the writings and research of Allen Tough (1971). Tough defines adult education as any "major learning effort" without consideration of sponsorship or degree of formality. A mediating definition of adult education is offered in the national survey of J ohnstone and Rivera (1965) which took a more behavioral approach to defining adult education. They included education provided by churches and synagogues, business and industry as well as the military, libraries, and various community organizations. The 12 present study assumes a parameter of adult education somewhere between J ohnstone and Rivera, and Tough. D E . Q . l l' Although Boshier prefers the term " motivational orientation" (1976, p. 31), Courtney (1984) has cogently argued its logical inconsistency (pp. 185-186). Houle, Sheffield, and Burgess all used the term orientation to refer to certain motivational proddings, or to certain perspectives which underly the decision to participate in educational activities. Therefore, to call them "motivational orientations" is a tautology. Boshier hesitated calling them "learning orientations" as Sheffield and others had done because he did not wish to beg the question of whether or not learning was taking place "either inside or outside the learning environment" (p. 31). Unfortunately, he failed to recognize that his use of "learning environment" begs the same sort of question. In any case, the term "orientation" refers to "an underlying conviction . . . and value which influences" (Houle, 1983, p. 5) an adult's attitude toward and participation in educational experiences of a wide variety. Sheffield preferred to define orientation in the sense of a "major principle which gives meaning or direction" (1962, p. 2) to the experience of learning. Etzioni (1961) discussed participatory behavior in a variety of settings which is made meaningful by the " orientations of actors" (p. 10). He meant by the term one's attitude or framework within which a participant views his/her behavior toward some activity or 13 involvement. He cites the study of the relationship between prostitutes to transient clients which identified an "intense negative orientation" (p. 10) felt by the prostitute toward the client. The prostitute's "orientation" is her way of viewing, perceiving, or explaining her relationship to the activity in which she is engaged. Etzioni's analysis suggests that the term orientation has to do with an underlying perspective one possesses in order to make sense of and give meaning to participatory behavior of various sorts. Boshier correctly asserts that one may be unaware of having such a perspective but still subconsciously orders behavior in light of it or in response to it. It was Houle's dissatisfaction with the surface reasons for participation, as reported in the regional and national surveys on participation, that led him to seek for a more analytical framework. He did not view these orientations as causes of participation in adult education but as "handles" to describe adults who participate in educational activities. A learning orientation, therefore, is a way of describing how an adult explains or views the significance of his/her participatory behavior in educational activities. The orientation is reflected in certain "reasons for participation" which the adult may identify as being meaningful to him/her for a particular educational experience. Every adult will have one predominant learning orientation (Houle, 1961) but also possesses what might be called an "orientational matrix" which Houle preferred to conceptualize as three concentric circles but which Furst (1985) suggested makes more sense if viewed 14 as an orientational "continuum" (p. 237). The adult moves across the continuum depending upon life-cycle situations (Havighurst, 1964), internal psychological states (Boshier, 1977), or socio-cultural influences (Miller, 1967). At one point in space and time the adult might reflect a "goal orientation" but at another reflect a predom- inantly "learning orientation." To view motivational orientations in this way reminds the researcher not to get overly enamored with the results of his/her "tapping" into this floating orientational matrix. It should also prevent one from falling into the trap of placing lifelong labels on adult learners. A dynamic view of learning orientations is much more in harmony with information integrated from the cumulative evidence of participation in adult education, psychology, adult development, and sociology. D E . E l' . l' The problem with defining participation in adult education is that it can be given a very superficial definition having to do with attendance. However, limiting one's definition of participation to attendance omits a more qualitative dimension which also needs to be included in the conceptualization of the term. Douglah (1970) identified "certain universal properties" of participation which provide one with a clearer understanding of the dynamics involved in the concept. He listed the following properties: 1. The act of participation is both a group and an individual phenomenon 2. There is a quantitative dimension to participation 15 3. There is a qualitative dimension to participation 4. The act of participation is usually a means toward an end (pp. 90-91). Lehtomem and Tuomisto (1974) defined participation as the " . . . taking advantage of adult education facilities whatever the motivation and whatever the objectives of the activity" (p. 13). They identified two types of participation. The first type they described as "study" or participation with a view to attaining certain knowledge or skills. The second type they described as "social" or participation for the purposes of social intercourse or recreational contact. Another analysis by the same researchers (197 6) found serious flaws in the traditional treatment of participation/nonparticipation as dichotomous variables. They insist that there are large numbers in each group that require more precise classification. Therefore, when one discusses participation, the concept cannot be limited to an assessment of attendance (quantitative) but must also include the kind of contribution that is made to the learning environment by the participant (qualitative). Benulatien Participants for the study were self-selected from among adults in three institutions which provide educational opportunities for adults. All were currently active in the educational activity. Each selected participant responded to an inventory designed to solicit information about motivational orientations toward the learning activity in which they were presently active by asking them to identify their reasons for attending. 16 The participants were attending classes sponsored by a Red Cross group, a community college, and a church. The classes were chosen at random with the help of the course coordinators at the Red Cross and community college, and with the help of the Minister of Education at the church. 5 l' 1 TI The present inquiry is grounded in a broad problem common to all forms of adult education. The problem of participation in adult education is also common to all forms of voluntary participation as will be seen later when the voluntary association literature is examined. Since the present inquiry included strikingly diverse voluntary associations which sponsor adult education, the results should be applicable to a wide variety of settings (Morstain & Smart, 1974, p. 96). The three groups were located in the cities of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Fayetville, and Ft. Smith, Arkansas all of which are located within what has traditionally been viewed by sociologists as the "Bible Belt." It is possible that generalizability could be limited somewhat by this geosocial factor. However, one must remember that a significant portion of adult education in the United States takes place in similar geosocial areas. In fact, the NCES data from 1981 indicate that the South has the largest percentage of distribution of participants in adult education of any other region of the country (28.9%), with an 11.2% participation rate among all adult education participants. Therefore, location in the "Bible Belt" is not considered to be a great threat to l7 generalizability. The next chapter will offer a review of selected literature pertinent to the present study. In particular, attention will be given to regional and national surveys of participation, models of participation, motivational orientations, and from the field of sociology, voluntary association and commitment literature. Chapter 2 Precedents in Literature The most commonly researched topic in the field of adult education has been the matter of participation in voluntary educational activities (Boshier and Pickard, 1979; Boshier, 1985). The problem of participation has been analyzed from the perspective of the relationship between demographic variables and participation (the "collar inspection" approach). Others have analyzed the problem from the perspective of the extent of adult education participation within the total United States population (the "nose counting" approach). Still others have analyzed the problem from the perspective of psychological constructs which help explain what motivates an adult to participate (the "head analysis" approach). Simply stated the research to date has been concerned with answering such questions as how many attend adult education activities, who attends, and why? _ Courtney (1984) in his comprehensive analysis of the participation in adult education literature classified the different strains of inquiry as " survey," "sociological," and "psychological." The "survey" approach to the problem has asked the question "How many attend?" The "sociological" approach has asked the question "Who attends?" And the "psychological" approach has asked the question "Why do they attend?" These questions have not necessarily been asked 18 19 independently of each other; sometimes more than one question is combined in the same study (Johnstone & Rivera, 1965). The present analysis of literature will give brief attention to the "survey" and "sociological" contribution to the problem of participation in adult education, but the primary focus will be on the "psychological" strain. Particular attention will be focused on the "motivational orientations" or "learning orientations" literature which was launched as an avenue of inquiry following the publication of 1]]: W115! by Cyril Houle (1961). In addition, related literature from the field of sociology will be included. In particular, attention will be given to the insights gained from an analysis of commitment and voluntary association literature. To ignore or consciously omit this body of information would hamper one's ability to comprehensively conceptualize the phenomenon of participation in adult education activities. x: 11.._ __ "_ 11.. 1' .‘11 '1'1. 11 The first attempt at an estimation of national rates of participation in adult education was made by Morse A. Cartwright, director of the American Association for Adult Education in 1924 (Knowles, 1983, p. 250). He conducted a similar survey in 1934. In 1938 the American Institute of Public Opinion (later known as Gallup) began a series of national surveys (1944, 1950, 1957) estimating participation in adult ‘ education. Another survey was conducted by Paul L. Essert, executive director of the Institute of Adult Education at Teacher's College, Columbia University, in 1950. Malcolm Knowles, while serving as Executive Director of the Adult Education Association, also conducted 20 a national survey in 1955. The results of the survey appeared in his A '. . 1'11. 1._-.111u1‘11‘1_' 1‘ 1‘1. '.(1962’ reprinted by Krieger, 1983). The Federal Government conducted the first governmental survey in 1969 under the auspices of the National Center for Education Statistics (N CES) in Washington, D.C. The NCES Survey has become a triennial event offering "analysis of participation trends over time" (Darkenwald and Merriam, 1982, p. 119). Johnstone and Rivera directed the National Opinion Research Center (N ORC) independent survey of participation in adult education on a nationwide basis. The final report of its findings was published as Wins; WWW Wt: (1965). which has become the most cited publication in the field of adult education (Boshier and Pickard, 1979). A decade later in 1972, Carp, Peterson, and Roelfs conducted a national survey for the Educational Testing Service. The results appear as " Adult Learning Interests and Experiences" in W Erasmus (Cross, 1974). Aslanian and Brickell conducted a national survey in 1980 for the College Entrance Examination Board. It was published as, Am '1I,=_1"11' '1 11.1“»1'1'111 1:1. 1'.1' Courtney (1984) put together, for the first time, a comparison of these and other estimates of participation (see Table 1). London made the observation that "to speak of a participation rate . . . is deceptive; there are many ways of measuring the extent of participation, each of them useful for particular purposes" (p. 185, emphasis his). The 21 Table 1 National Estimates of Participation in Education by the Native Adult Population of the United States, 1924-1981 Total (millions) PAE (millions) PAE % Cartwright 1924 72.0 14.9 18 Cartwright 1934 86.7 22.3 25 Gallup 1938 98.7 6 Gallup 1944 98.7 18 Gallup 1950 120.2 6,16 Essert 1950 120.2 29.2 26 Knowles 1955 120.2 49.5 45 Gallup 1957 105.5 10 NORC 1962/3 114.0 25.0 2,15,8 NCES 1969 130.2 13.0 10 NCES 1972 138.8 15.7 11 Carp et al 1972 104.0 35.0 31 NCES 1975 146.6 17.0 12 Penland 1976 76 NCES 1978 154.5 18.2 12 Aslanian 1980 126.0 60.0 50 NCES 1981 165.8 (Adapted from Courtney, 1984, p. 33) 22 obvious differences in rates of participation are also attributed to differences in how to define adult education (Darkenwald & Merriam, p. 118), how learners are defined (Cross, 1979), what definitions of learning are used (Cross), what institutions are included as sponsors of adult education (Courtney), and what age limits are set for one's definition of adulthood (Cross). For instance, the NCES surveys define adulthood as "persons 17 or older, not enrolled full-time in high school or college," while Aslanian and Brickell drew their sample from men and women over the age of 25. Knowles included religious education sponsored by churches, synagogues, and parishes but NCES omitted them. NCES also excluded self-education while J ohnstone and Rivera, Knowles, and the Educational Testing Service included it. Penland (1976) found a 76% rate of participation, because be included self-education which he (borrowing from Tough) defined as "major learning efforts" or "learning projects." Tough (1978) considered the Penland estimates to be too conservative and estimated participation to be at 90% (counting one "major learning effort" per year, p. 252). Tough likens his conceptualization of adult participation to that of an "iceberg." Attention had previously been focused on the 20% (of learning efforts), while the remaining 80% was ignored and therefore not getting counted in the national surveys. Hence the lower participation rates in the NCES surveys. 23 Tough equates adult education with adult learning. In doing so, he blurs the distinction that should be maintained between the two terms (which represent discreet constructs). Courtney aptly questions Tough when he asks, "When is one not learning" (p. 63, emphasis his)? If one assumes Tough's position, non-participants are not a problem in practice, only in definition. This is a very quick and painless way to solve a problem, but is it rigorous science? Harris (1975) conducted a national survey for the National Council on Aging to determine the reasons why older adults participate in adult education activities (see Table 2). J ohnstone and Rivera found that older adults reported such reasons as "general information, social contacts, and spare-time enjoyment" (pp. 143-162). ,1"11'. :1.."1_'._'1"'ll-.11i"11_ -t‘ The "sociological strain" of the participation in adult education literature is concerned about the relationship between demographic data and rates of participation in adult education. Primary attention has been given to the relationship between age, sex, race, income, educational attainment, and religion with that of participation. Lorimer (1931) in an analysis of adult education in Brooklyn was the first to identify a relationship between extent of formal schooling and participation in adult education. He began the study holding the then common assumption that adult education participation was a way for some to "compensate" for their lack of previous formal education. However, he found that of those with elementary schooling, only 75% had taken no adult education courses; compared to 45% for those who had completed high school; and of those who had graduated from 24 Table 2 Reasons Given by Older Adults for Participating in Adult Education Reasons 55-64 65+ (5%)* (2%) fiexpand your general knowledge about some field or hobby 80% 76% To acquire job skill 24% 6% To make good use of your time 49% 39% To be with other people 44% 28% Other reasons --- 2% * Percentage of the total population in this age cohort who participate in adult education. Percentages in the body of the table do not equal 100% because persons could give as many reasons as they wished. Source: Harris, 1975, p. 108. college the figure was 35%. This led Lorimer to conclude that "the idea that adult education is a compensatory device for the use of persons who failed to get much education in their youth must be discarded" (p. 49). 25 McGrath (1938) sampled 9,369 mostly public evening school and state emergency adult education program participants. He found a significant relationship between previous education and present participation in adult education and concluded that " one determinant of the student's ability to profit by further education is the amount of schooling which he has already completed" (p. 11). He also found that the economic upheaval brought on by the Depression created competition for fewer jobs and that adult education experience sub- stituted for work experience. Kaplan (1943) surveyed the population of Springfield, Massachusetts, to determine the extent of participation in a wide range of available activities (use of libraries, attendance at public meetings, concerts, art exhibits, and educational experiences of various kinds). Kaplan found a significant relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and rate of participation in these previously identified activities. He found the typical participant to be a woman (p. 61); under age 35 (p. 63); who had completed high school (p. 73); rated higher on the SES scale (p. 76); worked in a professional, white-collar position (p. 116); and was usually single, White, and a native-born American. Regarding the relationship between previous education and adult participation, Kaplan concluded that "there would appear to be little doubt that amount of previous education is probably the strongest factor influencing adult participation in educational activities" (p. 90). 26 London (1963, 1970) reported on what Courtney called " the most significant of the regional surveys ever conducted" (p. 89). This was a study of Oakland, California, men which sought to go beyond description to an analysis of the relationship between social class and participation in adult education. One of the primary strengths of the London research was the way in which the problem of educational participation was linked to the wider issue of social participation. London found similar relationships between education and partic- ipation as had been found in Lorimer, McGrath, and Kaplan. He found that those with 12 or more years of education made up 75% of all adult education participants. He concluded from his analysis that "the level of formal education is the best single indicator of participation in adult education" (London, 1970, p. 145). London et al were also the first to detect a "lifestyle" component which had some effect on participation rates. For instance, the greater the frequency of television viewing, the less likely participation in adult education. London (1970) sought to explain some of his findings by insisting that there still existed an inherent racism that tended to exclude Blacks and other minorities from adult education participation. However, Cross (1979) argued that the strong relationships between partic- ipation and "socioeconomic indicators" (low educational attainment, low job status, low income) have more to do with these economic factors than it does with "race per se" (p. 88). London (1970) concluded his study with some important method- ological suggestions for further descriptive research of participation in adult education. Two of those suggestions are pertinent to the 27 present inquiry. First, London insists that distinctions be made "between levels of commitment." One of the ways in which this could be done, London suggested, was to "ask the respondents brief questions about the number of sessions held . . . and the regularity of their attendance" (p. 151). The second suggestion involved the making of "distinctions between types of sponsors" (p. 151) which would make it less necessary to classify subjects studied. Knox and Videbeck (1963) conducted interviews from an area probability sample with 1500 adults. It was a representative cross- section of the total adult population (ages 21-69) of the State of Nebraska. One purpose of the study was to compare participants and nonparticipants in adult education. They found that for the " general adult population, adult education was associated with age and socio-economic status but not community size or sex of respondent" (p. 119). Shipp and McKenzie (1981) used structured interviews of randomly selected adult learners and non-learners in a mid-western city to analyze the relationship between participation and selected demographic variables. As a result, they were able to develop a "demographic profile" of the active learner and non-learner. The results of their findings are illustrated in Table 3. 1"11'::1=._ '1"":I1.11'\=.'11=. .u' An analysis of the major national surveys (NCES, Carp et al, Aslanian and Brickell, Johnstone and Rivera) as found in Cross (1979) indicate a clear relationship between age, education, occupation, race, residency, and participation in adult education. This observation has 28 Table 3 Demographic Profile of Active Learners & Non-Learners Swimmers Learners OCCUPATION 61.9% unskilled/skilled 60% professional EDUCATION 72.4% no college 33.5% college degree AGE Oldest (62+) showed 68% highest % of non-learners ages 18-44 INCOME Most < $15,000 Most >$15,000 Source: Shipp &McKenzie (1981), p. 193. not changed noticeably since the first surveys were conducted in the early 1930's. Cross constructed a "modal profile" from the characteristics of adult learners based on the 1975 NCES data. Her analysis depicts the typical adult learner as: ghsi‘t‘e, female, high school graduate between the ages of Who is employed more than 35 hours er week With an annual family income of $15, 00 to $25,000 Who IS takm courses to advance job status Which are ta en at a two or four- ear colle e And are paid for through family unds (p. 8 ). 92":‘59’5" i" 29 The demographic data can be nicely summarized by means of Table 4 taken from the NCES W W281. The rate of participation among older adults has continued to grow gradually. Darkenwald and Merriam indicate that participation for this older age group has "increased 55 percent between 1969 and 197 " (p. 123). They note that between 1969 and 1978 the number of adults over age 17 increased 19%, but the rate of participation increased 38%. Courtney's analysis of the age demographics found that those over age 55 had a "considerable" rate of increase from four percent in 1969 to sixpercent in 1975 and eight percent in 1981 and tripled among those over 65. Table 5 illustrates these age-related data. The greatest gains in participation were among women (Darkenwald & Merriam, Courtney, Cross). Between 1969 and 1975 women's participation in adult education increased by 45%, compared to only an 18% increase for men (Darkenwald & Merriam, p. 122). Nationally, the rate of participation is about the same for men and women (see Table 6). Cross indicates that the gain for women has been carried on the shoulders of White women who have shown an increase from nine percent in 1969 to 12% in 1975. Black women during the same time period dropped in rate of participation from 8.7% to 7.6%; and in Black women ages 35-54 the rate decrease was even more dramatic from 10.1% to 6.6% (Cross, p. 91). 30 Table 4 Participation Rates in Adult Education by Selected Learner Characteristcs, 1981 CHARACTERISTIC PARTICIPATION RATE IN %* AGE 17-34 15.9 35-54 15.0 55+ 5.4 SEX Male 12.0 Female 13.6 RACE Black 7.8 White 13.8 Hispanic 8.6 SCHOOLIN G Elementary 2.2 High School 8.3 1-3 yrs. College 19.6 4 yrs. College or more 26.1 5 yrs. and over 31.1 FAMILY INCOME Under $10,000 7.2 $10,000-$14,999 11.0 $15,000-19,999 13.1 $20,000-24,999 15.1 $25,000-49,999 18.3 "' Overall participation rate for 1981 was 21.3% Source: NCES, 1981. 31 Table 5 Estimates of the National Population and Participation in Adult Education According to Age, 1969-81 1969 1975 1981 (in percentages) W W W A2: 17-24 19 20 10 20 20 11 20 16 9 25-34 18 33 18 20 36 21 23 36 19 35-44 17 23 13 15 20 15 16 22 17 45-54 17 16 9 16 14 10 13 14 12 55-64 13 6 4 13 7 6 13 8 8 65+ 14 2 1 14 3 2 15 4 3 Total“ 98 100 98 100 100 100 Source: NCES, 1975, 1981 as cited in Courtney, 1984. *Totals do not reach 100 in some cases due to rounding. POP refers to the proportion of the total adult population within a particular age category. PAE refers to the proportion of the total participating population within a particular age category. Rate refers to the proportion of a particular age category participating in adult education, without reference to any other age category. 32 Table 6 Participation Rates of Women and Men in Adult Education by Age (Percentage of Each Population Category) MEN Age 1262 1222 1915. 17-34 12.3 15.0 16.0 35-54 10.4 12.0 12.9 55+ 3.2 3.9 4.3 Total 9.0 10.8 11.6 MEN 17-34 16.8 16.9 16.0 35-54 11.8 13.1 12.5 55+ 2.5 3.0 3.6 Total 11.2 11. 11.7 Note: 1969 and 1972 surveys did not ask persons thirty-five of age and over if they were full-time students. herefore, some ersons in this age grou p were counted as adult education i'lege rticipan although they were ful time students m high school or co Source: NCES data, 1969, 1972, 1975 as cited 1n Cross, 1978, p. 91. 33 An overall trend analysis of the demographic data suggests that the rate of participation among Blacks has declined during the period 1962-1982 (Courtney, p. 96). As Cross observes "Educational attainment is probably a better index to the interests, motivations, and participation of adult learners than any other single characteristic" (p. 93). The earlier national surveys (1930's onward) identified this high correlation between educational attainment and participation in adult education. It has been consistently identified in most subsequent analyses and stands as the single most reliable predictor of participation in adult education (Darkenwald & Merriam, p. 121). Courtney's observations of the national survey data indicate that in 1969 "those with less than four years of high school accounted for . . . 44% of the total adult population, but only 15% of participants in adult education" (p. 100). By way of contrast, those with college degrees or higher "accounted for about 10% of the population but more than one-fourth of all participants" (p.100). However, Cross' analysis of the same NCES data discovered that in spite of high school graduates' poor showing in typical adult education activites, they "constituted 49 percent of those enrolled in corres- pondence study" (p. 96). Darkenwald and Merriam also point out that "persons engaged in self-education" (p. 120) were excluded from the NCES data. Both of these latter observations help put the Courtney observation in somewhat of a balanced perspective. Table 7 summarizes the national data on the relationship between education and participation in adult education. 34 Table 7 Estimates of the National Adult Population and Participation in Adult Education According to Years of Schooling, 1969-1981 1969 1975 1981 (in percentages) POP PAE Rate POP PAE Rate POP PAE Rate Schooling 0-4 yrs. HS. 44 15 3 37 10 3 31 10 4 4 yrs. HS. 34 39 ll 37 37 12 38 33 11 1-3 yrs. Col 12 20 17 14 22 18 16 25 20 4 yrs. Col 10 26 27 13 31 28 15 32 28 Total 100 100 101 100 100 100 Source: Chimene, 1983, p. 55, as cited in Courtney, 1984, p. 99. POP refers to the proportion of the total adult population within a particular educational category. PAE refers to the proportion of the total participating population within a particular education category. Rate refers to the proportion of a particular educational category participating in adult education, irrespective of the surrounding categories. 35 Cross (1978) notes that more than 30 large-scale surveys had been conducted between 1968-1978. The majority of those surveys were regional or state needs assessments. The regional surveys of reasons adults participate in adult education may be limited in generaliza- bility, but provide additional insight into the adult learner, which if omitted would not give a complete or accurate picture. Burgess (1971) reports the findings of many obscure regional inventories, most of which are not available in this country. In 1936, for instance, Williams and Heath identified reasons working class adults attended classes in England, Scotland, and Wales. They classified the reasons in terms of the following: 1. The Escape Motive 2. Restoring the Balance 3. The Respite from Economic Ends 4. The Discovery of Fellowship (p. 5 in Burgess). Joseph Hoy in 1933 surveyed 372 adults attending evening institutes in a city in England and grouped their reasons for participating into the following categories: 1. Desire for knowledge 2. For examination purposes 3. Interest in some particular branch of study 4. Hobby interest 5. For recreation 6. Social reasons (p. 5 in Burgess). 36 The other studies cited by Burgess report similar reasons and use similar classification categories. Lorimer's (1931) study also inquired as to reasons for participating in educational activities. He found that vocational motives accounted for the vast majority of reasons (two-thirds). Courtney has summarized the results of Lorimer's study and they are presented in Table 8. Cross (1979) synthesized the learning motivations from the 30 surveys which she analyzed and developed a "typology" of learning motivations. She lists the following reasons adults participate in educational activites: 1. Desire to achieve practical goals - to get a new job or advance in a current one or to improve income. 2. Desire to achieve personal satisfaction and other inner- directed personal goals such as personal development and family well-being. 3. Desire to gain new knowledge, including the desire to learn for its own sake. 4. Desire to achieve formal educational goals, including degrees or certification. 5. Desire to socialize with others or escape from everyday routine. 6. Desire to achieve societal goals (pp. 113-116). Most important aim mtive 1. 7. for new occupation entered later or expected to enter for new occupation never entered . increase efficiency in present occupation . for school/college credit "general education" or "culture" . special needs of self outside job special subject or hobby influence or demand employer, family, friends . desire for social contact, school privileges 10. other Source: Lorimer, 1931, p. 52 as cited in Courtney, 1984, p. 105. Total 37 Table 8 Reasons for Taking Adult Courses MEN ' a 384 134 425 145 198 27 63 12 T398 322 27 30 10 14 TM WOMEN H 190 68 141 58 197 S8 80 23 18 24 10 H 38 B fiRl"|"NI' IS The national surveys alluded to earlier not only provided useful demographic data regarding the population of adults who participate in educational activities and how many are involved, they also included in their survey instrument some questions about motives. The descriptive data obtained from these surveys indicated that adults attend educational activities primarily for job or family- related reasons (Darkenwald & Merriam, p. 130; J ohnstone, 1964, pp. 97-99). Cross found that anywhere from "over a third" to "about half'" of the surveys she analyzed gave vocational or professional reasons for participating in adult education (p. 114). NCES data for 1981 indicate that 60% of the courses taken in adult education in the United States, were taken for job-related reasons (p. 11). That percentage jumps to 75.3% for just men. These surveys confirm the observations of Darkenwald and Merriam, and Cross about the importance of vocationally related motivations for participating in adult education. Nicholson (1955) solicted reasons for participation from 5,211 students in day colleges, business and trade schools, and part-time evening classes. The population was drawn from different parts of the country and given a checklist of reasons for participating in adult education. He used a "yes" or "no" response scale and subsequently grouped the responses into three clusters of reasons which be labeled: economic-occupational, intellectual-cultural, and personal-social. He found that students had one or more dominant motives for partic- ipating and few were attending for a single reason. 39 Courtney identifies this study as the "natural predecessor" of the motivational orientation research of Boshier (p. 109). J ohnstone (1964) reported the reasons participants engaged in educational activites as follows: 1. To become a better informed person (37%); 2. To prepare for a new job or occupation (36%); 3. To prepare for a job I held at that time (32%); 4. To spend my spare time more enjoyably (20%); 5. To meet new and interesting people (15%); 6. To help in carrying out everyday tasks and duties (13%); 7. To get away from the daily routine (10%). The many national and regional surveys of participation in adult education provided a vast array of descriptive data. Further, they indicated a linkage between participation in adult education and job-related aspirations, as well as a linkage between participation in adult education and certain demographic variables such as educational attainment, race, and age. However, in spite of all of the significant findings and insights gained, one was still left confused over many of the findings. As noted earlier, it proved to be rather inconclusive to draw inferences about motive from the content of the course in which the adult was enrolled. Houle (1974, as cited in Courtney, 1984, p. 124) questioned the NORC findings and asked "Why do 13% of those taking salesmanship do so in order to perform home-centered tasks, 12% of those studying office machines hope to escape the daily routine, and 21% of those learning to be practical nurses wish to meet new people?" (p. 16). The 40 need for further exploration of the survey data to examine the "orientation" or the inner perspective of the individual adult learner has prompted a further refinement of the survey research. The psychological perspective of this line of inquiry has been variously labeled "motivational orientations" (Boshier, 1971), "learning orientations" (Sheffield,1962; Dickinson and Clark, 1975), "educational orientations" (Houle, 1983), and "participational orientations" (Courtney, 1984). The motivational orientation focus will occupy the next analysis of the literature. Since participation in adult education has been the most thoroughly researched of any component of adult education, it makes the task of classifying the various theoretical models somewhat challenging. This is especially true regarding the motivational orientations literature which has spawned a plethora of studies and dissertations. II l'lMllEI . 0.”. Darkenwald (1980) suggested the following models of participation: The Economic Model (Dhanidina and Griffith, 1975), The Force Field Model (Miller, 1967), The Congruence Model (Boshier, 1973), and The Expectancy-Valence Model (Rubenson, ‘ 1977). He noted that all of the models share a common assumption which is that "participation . . . is the result of complex interactions involving both social and psychological factors" (p. 7). Elias (1982) suggested that the motivational studies could be classified by the various authors and their labels. He lists the most prominent as Miller's (1967) social class theory , Rubenson's (1978) 41 expectancy-valence paradigm , Boshier's (1973) congruence model, Tough's (1971) anticipated benefits theory, and Cross' (1981) Chain-of-Response Model (pp. 98-99). Long (1983) offered six models of adult participation which included Aslanian and Brickell's Transitions and Triggers Model, Miller's Force-Field Model, Boshier's Congruence Model, McClusky's Margin Model, Rubenson's Expectancy-Valance Model, and Cross's Chain-of-Response (COR) Model (p. 122). Cross (1981) cited several models of "adult motivation for learning" among them were Force Field Analysis: Harry L. Miller, Expectancy-Valence Paradigm: Kjell Rubenson, A Congruence Model: Roger Boshier, Anticipated Benefits: Allen Tough. After deciding to eliminate Tough's "anticipated benefits" model because it "is much more fragmentary and incomplete than the others at this time . . . " (p. 122), she observed the following "common elements" in the former three theories: 1. All three are interactionists in that they understand the act of participation as an interaction between an individual and his/her environment, 2. All use some form of field-force analysis which views the motivation to participate as the result of the individual's perception of positive and negative forces in the situation, 3. All might be termed "cognitivists" in that they believe that the individual has some control over his/her destiny, 4. Rubenson and Boshier are convinced that certain personality types will be difficult to attract to adult education because of their low self-esteem, 42 5. All make some use of reference group theory with Miller and Rubenson recommending that marginal groups be reached through membership groups, 6. All make some use of the concepts of incongruence and dissonance, 7. There is strong use of Maslow's needs hierarchy, 8. All assume that the individual's expectation of reward is an important variable in the motivation for adult learning (pp. 123-124). The analysis for this study will follow the categorization suggested by Courtney (Decision Models, Life-Cycle Models, and Motivational Orientation Models) for these various models of participation. More attention will be given to the Decision and Motivational Orientation Models, since they relate more directly to the present study. 12 .. M II [B I" I' The desire to probe the mind of adult participants for reasons and motives associated with participation in voluntary educational activities probably had its origin with Robert Love's work at New York City College. Many adults were enrolling in college as the result of the G.I. Bill, and Love was interested in probing these students' "underlying attitudes towards education which might motivate (them) to overcome obstacles in order to obtain adult education at the college level" (1953, p. 211). He opted for the depth interview, a technique borrowed from Freudian psychoanalytic procedures, as his way of ascertaining these underlying attitudes. His interviews revealed a process through which students move before they decide to enroll ("sequence of enrollment"). If participation is to take place, a 43 prospective student must go through the following sequence: 1. have a current problem for which he/she seeks a solution 2. be aware of a specific course or field of study 3. inquire about several specific schools or programs 4. actually enroll (pp. 212-213). Love's "decision-making" process anticipates the work of Niemi and Niemi (1978), Cross (1982), and Miller (1967). Such an approach attempts to analyze the thinking process of the student as he/she prepares to participate in adult education. Miller (1967) developed a "social forces" theory of participation in adult education which Darkenwald and Merriam refer to as "a major contribution to the literature on participation" (p. 146). His theory of participation which was based on Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" and Lewin's "Field-Force Analysis" viewed the act of participation as reflecting the existence of some personal need that had to be met. These needs do not operate alone but are shaped within a social structure. He seems dependent upon Havighurst's " developmental tasks" theory which posited an interplay between the individual and the larger cultural environment (1953, p. 2ft). His study of lower-lower class adults led him to conclude that "negative forces" in the environment (action-excitement orientation of male culture, government intervention, hostility to education, etc.) far outweighed the influence of the "positive forces" (survival needs, changing technology, safety needs of female culture, etc.). This resulted in lower rates of participation in adult education. Although Miller's work has profound insights for many aspects of adult 44 education, it is his concept of a "social forces" strategy with which this study is concerned. Miller argued from his data that the hard-to-reach, lower-lower classes (in terms of adult education availability) could be better reached through the use of existing community institutions. His strategy called for "working with people in organizations to which they already have ties . . . " (PP. 14-16). Such interventions, which were designed to reduce the influence of the negative forces, could reverse the trend of nonparticipation. His assumption was that such adults (marginal lower classes) have feelings of commitment and loyalty already in place. Therefore, it would be easier to motivate them to participate if the sponsoring agency was a"community- based organization" with which the prospective adult learner had formal "social linkages." Subsequent analyses of Miller's work has tended to focus on the problem of obtaining a larger share of participation from the more marginal socio-economic groups in our culture (Darkenwald & Merriam, Courtney). However, these analyses have failed to appreciate the other implications of his "social forces" theory. Miller assumes a strategic relationship between the individual adult learner and the community institution which he thinks should sponsor the educational experience. He fails to explore this dimension, but acknowledges it in his theoretical formulation. His theory raises the question of just how significant the relationship is between the individual learner and the sponsoring institution in determining participation in adult education? How does 45 the sense of commitment and loyalty, which the marginal adult may have toward the community-based organization, affect his/her motivational orientation to participate? Miller's work provided much of the "theoretical muscle" for Boshier's later studies of motivational orientations only without the balance of Miller's original work. Rubenson (1978) proposed his "expectancy-valence" theory of participation basing it upon the work of Kurt Lewin and his "field force" theory. Participation was the result of an interaction between "expectancy" and "valence." Rubenson defined expectancy as a person's belief (expectation) that an action (participation in education) will bring some particular outcome (success). Valence was his way of describing the person's sense of value ("positive or negative affective attitude," Darkenwald, 1980, p. 8) placed upon educational experiences. Participation results when an individual concludes that there is a reasonable chance that participation will help him/her achieve his/her intended purpose(s). Long (1983) argues that the expectancy-valance theory should be viewed as a "life situation" or what Courtney calls a "life-cycle" model. He affirms this because "the needs that a person experiences determine the valence of a given course or program" (p. 131). Niemi and Niemi (1978) devised a "Personal-Situational" Model of Decision-Making based on Getzels and Thelen's (1968) theory of the structure of social systems. Accepting Havighurst's assumption that developmental tasks arise from the interaction between individuals and institutions, they have posited two "conceptually different, yet phenomenally interactive" (p. 239) categories. The interaction 46 between "personal" and "situational" variables create the dynamic environment in which a decision can be made. These variables may be inhibiting or facilitating depending upon the situation of the individual adult. They suggested, at the conclusion of their article, that one of the implications for this, theory of decision-making might be related to the problem of "participation in adult education programs" (p. 246). Cross (1981) advocates a "chain-of-response" (COR) theory to explain participatory behavior. She views participation not as a single act but as the result of a series of related responses or decisions. Participation fits onto a "continuum" of habituated actions. Furthermore, participation is the result not only of this "chain-of- responses" but also of the "evaluation of the position of the individual in his/her environment" (p. 125). The " chain-of-response" model moves from (a) self-evaluation or self-concept, to (b) attitudes toward education from personal experience or from the accepted reports of significant others, to (c) the perceived importance of goals and expectations that partic- ipation will meet these goals, to (d) attention to life transitions and periods of change, to (e) taking advantage of opportunities and overcoming barriers, to (f) availability and awareness of information about existing programs, to (g) actual participation in programs of adult education. Cross has purposely "over-emphasized the linearity of decision making" (p. 129). She admits doing so for purposes of illustration to make her point about the cumulative nature of the forces that work for and against participation. There are 47 obvious political overtones to Cross' model, especially as they relate to educational opportunities for women (p. 129ff). Courtney described Cross's work as a "first . . . in the literature of adult education" (p. 204). Much in the life-cycle theories is dependent upon the pioneering work of Robert Havighurst (1953; 1963; Havighurst and Neugarten, 1957) and his concept of "developmental tasks." These he defined as "a task which arises at or about a certain period in the life of the individual, successful achievement of which leads to his happiness and to success with later tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness in the individual, disapproval by the society, and difficulty with later tasks" (1953, p. 2). The desire and ability to perform these various tasks arises as the result of the "interaction of organic and environmental forces." These forces include the following: 1. the forces of biological development 2. the forces of social demands and expectations 3. the force of personal ambition and aspiration (p. 19). Havighurst submitted that the concept of developmental tasks was something of a compromise between educational theorists who advocated unrestrained freedom, on the one hand, and constraint imposed by society, on the other. He admitted that his developmental tasks "partake of the nature of both" individual need and societal demand ( 1953, p. 332). In a monograph for the Chicago Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults, Havighurst (1964) proposed four categories of 48 reasons adults participate in adult education: 1. education is necessary for competence in work, 2. education is a means of maintaining engagement with society, 3. education affects socio-economic status, and 4. education is a means of expression (pp. 22-24). Elaborating on reason number two, Havighurst considered that "The person who does not keep up with society or keep in with society through continual education is in danger of becoming alienated from society today" (p. 23, his). Also, in this often overlooked article, Havighurst propounded his "dominant concerns" scheme. He saw these dominant concerns as issues which " govern the behavior of a person during a certain stage of his life" (p. 25). His analysis identified eight dominant concerns that are characteristic of particular age periods: Decade 0-10 1. Coming into independent existence 10-20 2. Becoming a person in one's life 20-30 3. Focussing one's life 30-40 4. Collecting one's energies 40-50 5. Exerting and asserting oneself 50-60 6. Maintaining position and changing roles 60-70 7. Deciding whether to disengage and how 70-80 8. Making the most of disengagement (p. 25). Havighurst suggested that these dominant concerns could be used by adult educators as a way of sequencing "major topics or centers of emphasis for a program of adult education" (p. 24). Knox and Videbeck (1963) constructed a "more general theory of participation" than had been submitted in the'literature previous to their work. Their theory of "patterned participation" (p. 105) 49 explains the "result of the interaction between an individual and his environment" (p. 104). An adult displays patterned participatory behavior when such behavior is recognizable as a coherent unit, and systematically recurrent. The dependence upon Havighurst is obvious and admitted in their discussion. Boshier (1979) has admitted his dependence upon Knox and Videbeck in constructing his theory of participation, which will be examined later. Their theory of patterned participation also allowed for "critical changes in life circumstances" (p. 105) such as marriage, retirement, or divorce. This part of their theory anticipates the work of Aslanian and Brickell (" triggers" and " transitions"). The greatest strength of the Knox and Videbeck model is its inter-disciplinary orientation and its conception of participation in adult education as another form of general social participation. Courtney expresses dismay at the fact that what appeared to be an "extremely promising theory" has been largely ignored even by its principal author (Knox, 1977). Aslanian and Brickell (1980) reported a study conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) which involved 1,519 adults 25 years of age or older. Forty-nine percent of this group were identified as "learners" and the rest as "nonlearners." Eighty-three percent of all types of learners cited some past, current, or future experience which was the reason for their participation in the present course of study. The specific reasons were labeled as "triggers," and the following five were identified: 50 1. Career (56%) 2. Family (36%) 3. Health (4%) 4. Religion (2%) 5. Citizenship (1 %). Other reasons for participation were associated with "transitions" which were identified as those events and experiences which "pose challenges, create stress, and offer opportunities for growth" (p. 27). The similarity to or dependency on Levinson, Vaillant, Neugarten, Gould, Weathersby, Chickering, Erickson, and other adult developmentalists in Aslanian and Brickell is to be noted and as such provides a solid theoretical base for their model of participation in adult education. The Aslanian and Brickell study also observed that many adults learn in institutions for which education is not the primary function (the workplace, churches, prisons, libraries, etc.). They concluded that such noneducational institutions might be better places for adults to learn and that educational institutions might want to incorporate some of their approaches. Darkenwald and Merriam (1982) proposed what they called a "Psychosocial Interaction Model" for understanding the dynamics of participation. They offer the explanation that a model might best be thought of "as a rough version of a theory" (p. 141). The model's usefulness is more in its explanatory powers rather than theoretical precision. In any case, they depict the participatory scenario as a combination of psychological and socioeconomic forces which create a 51 "learning press." They define learning press as "the extent to which one's total current environment requires or encourages further learning" (p. 142). In other words, the learning press creates a predisposition toward the learning experience either positively or negatively. They suggested that learning press "was determined by general social participation (civic, cultural, religious and recreational " (p. 142). In addition, they identify the role of certain serendipitous "trigger events" (borrowed from Aslanian and Brickell) such as divorce or the death of a family member. Darkenwald and Merriam refer to these "trigger events" as "participation stimuli" (p. 144-145). The participation stimuli seem to allow for some dimension of individuality in their schema, since they wished to emphasize the fact later in their study that "social forces should not be construed as negating the importance of individual differences" (p. 145). MI' I' 10.“. Ml! [Elm l' The motivational orientation line of inquiry ascertaining reasons adults participate in educational activities was stimulated by the analytical research of Cyril Houle with the publication of his little volume, 1‘11_"'I1'UI1.': 1.1 1‘:1 111 111 «:1 Learn (1961). Using the case study approach with interviews of 22 active learners from the Chicago area, he sought for "hypotheses" (p.14) which might explain why they engaged in continued learning. He was dissatisfied with the previous survey approaches with their focus on the relationship between demographic variables and 52 participation. He wanted to shift the focus away from the concept of "participation to the participant" (p. 9). As a result of analyzing his taped interviews, Houle identified three subgroups within the active learner group. Although each group was distinct, he admitted the "differences were matters of emphasis" (p. 29). He suggested that the three groups could be represented pictorially "by three circles which overlap at their edges" (p. 16). Houle described the three groups as follows: . . . the goal-oriented, . . . who use education as a means of accomplishing fairly clear-cut objectives . . . the activity-oriented, . . . who take part because they find in the circumstances of the learning a meaning which has no necessary connection, and often no connection at all, with the content or the announced purpose of the activity . . . the learning-oriented, who seek knowledge for its own sake (pp. 15- 16). One dynamic, important for this study, which has been ignored or overlooked in previous analyses of Houle's work, is the relationship between the individual adult learner and the institution or group which provides the activity. Houle elaborated on this relationship at length by observing that The adult educational institution, like the church, is an open and socially accepted place for meeting pe0ple and making friends. It has, as it were, a kind of preventive psychiatric role. In a mass society many individuals feel lost. They have little or no intimate fellowship and they miss the sense of belonging to a small natural group in which they are important and respected. Therefore they go in search of a social milieu . . . " (pp. 50ft). 53 He goes on to describe the need for creating "enclaves" where adults can learn in an environment which provides a " strong spirit of positive morale" (p. 51). He reported the remarks of several interviewees who had warm feelings toward the institution, and one in particular exclaimed, "God bless this place, it means more to me than anything else" (p. 51). He notes with approval such institutions as the YMCA, YWCA, churches, and religious groups who have attempted to "turn the whole institution into [an] enclave" (p. 50). What Houle observed was not just a social orientation or a desire to meet people and make friends. It was a deeper sense of wanting to belong to a group with which the learner could identify and which he/she could support in terms of stated objectives. There seems to be reflected in the comments both of Houle and those whom he interviewed, a sense of loyalty and commitment to the group or institution which provides the learner an opportunity to grow and develop as persons in a warm and accepting climate. Houle's simple study has made a profound influence upon the direction of research. His description of "orientations" which the adult brings to the learning experience has generated a vast amount of research as well as debate. Courtney discovered 23 subsequent studies on motivational orientations which attempted to support or refute the three-fold Houlian typology (pp. 136- 143). He concluded the following from his analysis: 1. With few exceptions, most of the discovered factors appear to conform to the structure of Houle's original typology 54 2. Every researcher since Houle has discovered more than three factors, and 3. Which factors get discovered and how they are named depends on which scale was used (CLOI, EPS, REP) and whose theory was being followed (p. 135). Sheffield (1964), using Houle's taped interview data, compiled a list of 58 reasons adults participate in adult education. This list was used to create a survey instrument which was given to a group of 453 adults whose responses were factor analyzed. The statistical analysis of the data yielded the following five basic orientations to learning: 1. learning orientation: seeking knowledge for its own sake 2. desire-activity orientation: taking part because in the circumstances of the learning an interpersonal or social meaning is found which may have no necessary connection, and often no connection at all, with the content or announced purposes of the activity 3. personal-goal orientation: participation in education to accomplish fairly clear-cut personal objectives 4. societal-goal orientation: participating in education to accomplish clear-cut social or community centered objectives, and 5. need-activity orientation: taking part because in the circumstances of Ieaming an introspective or intra- personal meaning is found which may have no necessary connections, and often no connection at all, with the content or announced purpose of the activity (as cited in Boshier, 1971, p. 6). 55 Sheffield concluded that his findings supported Houle's threefold classification arguing that his five orientations all fit within the Houlian classification proposed in Wag Ming. Burgess (1971), following Sheffield and Houle in a search for a more complete picture of the motivational orientations of adult learners, constructed a survey instrument (Ream Edamtianal Batticinatign) with 70 possible reasons. The reasons for participation had been gleaned from a list of 5,773 discovered in the literature, from adult educators, and from adult students. The responses were submitted to unrestricted maximum likelihood factor analysis (UMLFA) and produced seven factors with a factor loading of .40 or more. The seven factors were labeled as follows: 1. desire to know - to gain knowledge for the sake of knowing desire to reach a personal goal desire to reach a societal goal - in order to improve society desire to reach a religious goal - in order to meet obligations to a church, faith, or missionary effort desire to take part in social activity - in order to enjoy the activity for its own sake desire to escape - in order to get away from something or someone unpleasant , desire to comply with formal requirements - in order to earn credit required by an employer or conditions of membership in groups (pp. 18-26). Burgess concluded that his study supported both Houle and Sheffield (p. 27). The differences with Sheffield due to the identification of his "desire to comply with formal requirements" and a "desire to reach a 39‘2“??? 56 religious goal" are because of differences in the data collecting instrument, so Burgess argues. Burgess analyzed the significance of his " religious goal" factor, by concluding that the "factor is recognized and included as a new, separate, and distinct cluster or group of reasons which moves some people to participate in educational activities" (p. 22). Boshier (1976; Boshier &Collins, 1985) has seriously questioned this conclusion, but his discussion will be presented more fully later. While Burgess was conducting his study in the United States, Boshier (1971) was doing similar work in New Zealand. He too was responding to Houle's seminal work by testing "Houle's typology of 'motivational orientation' in a New Zealand context" (p. 3). Although Boshier puts quotation marks around the term "motivational orientation" as if quoting Houle, Courtney demonstrates the fact that Houle never used the term but had it applied to him by Boshier (1971). Boshier has been the most prolific of all those conducting motivational orientation research (1971; 1973; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; 1985). Courtney has identified nineteen separate journal or conference papers written since 1970 (see his bibliography). His methodological approach to the problem has also been the most robust. Given the plethora of material generated by Boshier, his work will be summarized, and the reader referred to the work of Courtney, Long (1983), and Cross (1981) if further analysis is desired. Cross, Long, and Courtney (as well as Boshier himself) all refer to his theory of participation as a "congruence" model. The term is taken from Boshier's (1973) work with dropouts in adult education classes 57 in New Zealand. He found that the students who dropped out of classes or did not participate had higher rates of "incongruence" (using the Personality and Educational Environment Scales, PEES ) than those who persisted. Boshier defined congruence as "a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment" (p. 260) and he likens the concept to Roger's (1961) "fully functioning person" and Maslow's (1954) "growth motivated person." Incongruence or "dissonance" can be created through dissatisfactions with self, others, and institutions. "Deficiency motivate " adults seek homeostasis (balance) to resolve the dissonance (some deficiency or imbalance), whereas "growth motivated" adults seek heterostasis (desire to disturb a steady state). Boshier (1973) states that "deficiency motivated" adults are more likely to drop out because the "incongruencies" have a "cumulative" (his) effect that begin within the individual but are "projected" (p. 274) to others, and institutions. Therefore, agencies which sponsor adult education have the "onus" (p. 279) placed on them to create environments which decrease the possibility of "incongruence" for the "deficiency motivated" adults who do decide to enroll. The sponsor must also reduce dissonance, so that nonparticipants will overcome whatever barriers they deem significant, and participate. Boshier (1973) was the first, and possibly only one, to propound a theoretical model which explains both participatory and dropout behavior as originating "from an interaction (his) of internal psychological and external environmental variables" (p. 256). He argues that dropout behavior is "an extension" of non- participation. 58 Adult participants are either "growth" or "deficiency" motivated and seek either "homeostasis" or "heterostasis." Boshier (1976) conducted an analysis of the major motivational orientation (motivational orientation) studies (14 in all) that had been conducted after the publication of W (1961). He found that researchers had "subjectively" assembled the different factor solutions they identified under the Houlian typology, but had no "empirical foundation" for doing so. His analysis was very critical of Burgess (1971) and his lack of sophistication in factor analysis. Boshier argues that the "religious orientation" identified by Burgess was the result of including "religious items into [his] matrix" (1985, p. 117; 1971). That is, Burgess should not have been surprised to find a religious orientation when religious items were included in the instrument. In a personal conversation (1986), Burgess expressed surprise that Boshier would make such a remark given the fact that one would not have any orientations if no items were included. He dismissed Boshier's concerns as having no basis in fact and re- affirmed his confidence in the validity of the Religious orientation. Burgess may have had a stronger case, if he had hypothesized the existence of the religious orientation at the beginning of his study. This also would have provided a much more substantial rationale for including those items in his survey instrument. If the "religious goal factor" was not anticipated why was it included? He admits that the three items of a religious nature "were among the thirty extra items not prejudged to represent a factor" (p. 23). 59 Boshier, in his analysis of motivational orientations, does not want to say that Houle was wrong. But neither does he or can he say that the Houlian typology reflects reality in any complete sense. He concluded from his analysis of motivational orientation research that "now could be the time to shift emphasis toward an exploration of the psychological concomitants and antecedents of motivation" (p. 44). He apparently shifted his research emphasis as a result of the publication of his next (1977) article for W He began by observing that the plethora of motivational orientation studies since 1961 had failed to explore the "psychological foundations" of motivational orientations. He proposed that the Houlian three-fold typology merely represented "psychological states" and were not in themselves descriptive of what really motivated adults to participate. What really prompts adults to participate are either "congruence" or "incongruence" states that get "triggered" by other mediating variables. 80, orientations are not causes (motives) of participation but are caused by these "underlying psychological states." Boshier continues to exert a powerful influence upon the direction of motivational orientation related research on participation in adult education. Boshier and Collins (1985) conducted a study designed to examine the extent to which Houle's "tripartite typology" could be identified among 13,442 learners who had been administered the E.P.S. instrument. The data from the previous uses of the E.P.S. were combined and subjected to cluster analysis. The results indicated a "three-cluster solution loosely isomorphic with Houle's typology" (p. 60 125). The "activity orientation" cluster however was composed of "components whose clarity is obscured when forced together" (p. 127). Boshier and Collins concluded that the "activity orientation" was more complex than Houle had intuited and was in reality a "forced aggregate of Social Stimulation, Social Contact, External Expectations, and Community Service items" (p. 128). They concluded from their analysis that "the phenomenological reality" of Houle's typology had been "established" even though it was "more complicated" (p. 129) than Houle envisaged when be analyzed his interviews in 1960. Furst (1986) analyzed the cluster analysis of Boshier and Collins and presented "an explanation of the structure among the several clusters" (p. 235) in light of Houle's typology. He postulated that the six clusters of Boshier and Collins could be best understood as two triads along a continuum (see Figure 1) rather than forcing the data into Houle's typology. The upper triad describes motivation to participate based on "intrinsic" stimuli with the content of the learning being "more or less utilitarian" (p. 235). The lower triad described motivation based on "extrinsic" stimuli prompted by desire for conformity and the meeting of cultural expectations. As one moves along the continuum, from Cognitive Interest to Professional Advancement, the motivation becomes more vigorous and pronounced due to the combination of internal plus external stimuli being placed upon the adult learner. Furst notes the role that institutions play in participation in adult education by providing "stronger pressures" to participate. He further observes that the 61 Figure 1 Interpretation of Cluster Analysis on Education Participation Scale Influence on Motivation Cluster of Special to General to Continuum of Reasons Cluster the Triad Learning Content Cognitive Interest Learningibr its Intrinsic to Nonutilitarian, own sake, activity: ends more or less intellectual inhere in stimulation participation Social Stimulation Stimulation from Reinforcement change in immediate: environment and consequences in activity the situation Social Contact Social stimulation: congeniality, friendships, etc. External Expectations Influence or Extrinsic: , pressure directly primarily for reasons from significant outside the activity others Community Service Obligations of Element of conformity: citizenship, church influences mediated by membership, etc. cultural norms, expectations (socialization) Professional Advancement External incentives: Reinforcement partly credits, degrees; remote: consequences job competence, beyond the L advancement; status participation Utilitarian, more or less Source: Furst, 1986, p. 236. 62 "community service" cluster of reasons for participation "go beyond the merely circumstantial to embody commitment to definite goals" (p. 237). Rockhill (1982) disagrees with Boshier's methodological strategy as well as his view of the adult learner as "neurotic" (Boshier, 1977, p. 98). She notes the fact that Maslow contended that every person has both (Maslow's emphasis) growth and deficiency motivations. Rockhill goes on to stress the importance of having a high view of the adult learner. She proposes that the "starting point of inquiry is in the experiences of the conscious human being who acts in a 'life-world' which makes sense to him" (p. 14). Further, this adult learner is characterized by a "capacity for self-reflection" (p. 14) and therefore is a viable subject for inquiry with responses that are scientifically valid (pp.11-l3). Her view would seem to have philos0phical affinity to that of Friere (1970a; 1970b; 1973) who elaborates on the difference between man and animal in terms of man's ability to "treat not only his actions but his very self as the object of his reflection . . . " (1970a, p.87). Morstain and Smart (1974) conducted a replication of Boshier's New Zealand study. The EPS developed by Boshier, was administered to 648 adults enrolled at Glassboro State College. Six factors were retained after principal axis factor analysis applying Cattell's "Scree Test" was used. The six factors were as follows: 1. Social Relationships 2. External Expectations 3. Social Welfare '63 4. Professional Advancement 5. Escape/Stimulation, and 6. Cognitive Interest (pp. 86-88). The participants were grouped into six age-sex groups, and further analyses were performed to determine extent of relationship between the various factors. A general conclusion from the study indicated that "no single cluster of reasons appeared to have overriding importance for the entire group or any particular group of respondents" (p. 91). However, younger adults scored "relatively higher" on the "Social Relationships" scale; men were "somewhat more" motivated by "External Expectations" than women; but women "scored relatively higher" than men on the "Cognitive Interest" scale; and men had "relatively similar scores" at each level on the "Social Welfare" scale whereas women "tended to decline with increasing age" (p. 96). Further, Morstain and Smart concluded that Boshier's EPS instrument does have cross-cultural validity, since "similar factor patterns" were yielded from both studies. Ordos (1980) critiqued the three instruments constructed by Sheffield, Burgess, and Boshier to measure motivational orientations. He found that all three instruments were "handicapped" by a lack of definitions of motives or motivation, by the lack of direct tests of later instruments against earlier ones, by a lack of motivational theory to guide the construction of the instrument, and the fact that all factors generated were accepted as representative of the true structure in the data "without the outside corroboration of theory." 64 Ordos decided to combine the items from the three instruments into a single one in order to test for common structure and variance in the data. The items were then classified into various categories with the help of "a motivational model" drawn from various definitions of motivation. Restricted maximum likelihood factor analysis by J oreskog was used, and the results indicated that "the motivational framework explained comparable amounts of variance with fewer factors," that the three instruments (Sheffield, Burgess, Boshier) had the same basic structure, and that Houle's threefold typology "best accounts for the variation in the data." Hawes (1981) conducted a study to determine whether "patterns of motivational profile group membership" among adult continuing education students differed according to the type of institution and course in which they were enrolled. His sample was drawn from 541 adults enrolled in four different types of institutions who were administered Boshier's EPS instrument. The responses were factor analyzed and also submitted to cluster analysis which produced "four independent profiles consisting of five groups each for the four participating institutions." Hawes concluded from his study that although there were some similarities among the institutions, each of the four had "essentially a different pattern of motivational profile groups." He found no relationship between profile group and type of course in which members enrolled. Summarizing his findings, Hawes offered the following observations: 65 1. Each institution has its own pattern of motivational profile group 2. Each institution had a large percentage of students whose motivational orientation could be classified as non-directed 3. Each institution had groups of adult students whose motivational orientations were distinctly different from other groups of adult students at the same institution and 4. Course enrollment pattern could not be predicted from motivational profile group patterns. Tough (1971;1978; 1979; 1982) has proposed a less than fully developed theory ("anticipated benefits") explaining why adults undertake self-planned and self-directed learning projects. He and his students have used the interview technique to ascertain reasons for participation. Tough and his associates make an assumption "about learners that is not made by all psychologists, namely, that behavior is understood and can be articulated by the subjects of the research" (Cross, 1981, p. 121). Such an assumption is not made by Boshier (1976), who observes without much elaboration that "researchers measuring motive for participation are often frustrated by an inability of adult learners to specify clearly their motive in a written or oral statement" (p. 25). Burgess (1971) agrees with Boshier when he argues "that an individual probably cannot, on short notice and without assistance, think of all the influential reasons for engaging in education activities" (p. 6). 66 Cross (1981) characterizes Tough's "anticipated benefits model" as consisting of five stages at which benefits might be anticipated: 1. engaging in a learning activity 2. retaining the knowledge or skill 3. applying the knowledge 4. gaining a material reward, as in a promotion 5. gaining a symbolic reward, as in credits and degrees (p.121). The highly individualized nature of self-initiated learning is evident from Penland (1979) who found that "the group is tolerated and employed as a learning resource only when unavoidable" (p. 178). He found four major methods of planning self-learning which were: 1. Self-planner (25.3%) - who retains the major responsibility for day-to-day decision-making about needs and criteria for selecting and using informative data . . . 2. Non-Human Planner (22.7%) - such as series of tele- vision programs, programmed instructional materials, a workbook or other printed matter . . . 3. Human Planner (29.0%) - or 'significant other' who helps the learner in a one-to-one situation to fill the gap necessary to access appropriate resources . . . 4. Group Planner (14.6%) - such as workshop or a class is accepted in whole or in part by the learner as the source of direction regarding what to learn to do in each episode . . . (p. 177). Spear and Mocker (1984), following the work of Tough, con- cluded that the "problem of motivation" was not a problem for self-directed learners. The question was not 1111! adults participate, 67 but hm do they participate in self-planned learning episodes? They used 158 adults who were currently engaged in a self-directed learning project, and conducted open-ended format interviews. They found that, contrary to Tough (1971), their subjects did not engage in "pre-planning" of their learning project. Instead they found their subjects "selecting a course from limited alternatives which occurr[ed] fortuitously within their environment, and which structures their learning projects" (p. 4). Further, they observed that "The Organizing Circumstance" was usually prompted by "some change in the life circumstances" of the adult learner (affinity to Aslanian and Brickell's "triggers" is to be noted). Brookfield's (1984) critical analysis of self-directed learning research submitted four criticisms of the current state of the research and some suggestions for shifts in the line of inquiry. He criticized the following: 1. the emphasis on middle class adults as the sampling frame, 2. the almost exclusive use of quantitative or quasi- quantitative measures in assessing the extent of learning and the concomitant lack of attention to its quality, 3. the emphasis on the individual dimensions of such learning to the exclusion of any consideration of the social context in which it occurs, and 4. the absence of any extended discussion of the considerable implications raised by these studies for questions of social and political change (p. 60). 68 This last criticism, is really at the heart of Brookfield's concerns about self-directed learning research. He submits that critical social and political questions such as "Why do adults voluntarily continue learning and do so with great satisfaction?" "Do we really need professional educators when so many people are learning effectively on their own?" " Why do adults who engage in self-planned learning, depreciate what they do as not 'proper' because it does not take place in a formal educational setting?" need to be asked. Summer! Various theories have been offered to explain participation in adult education. The majority of the studies examined herein have focused attention upon the individual and his/her psychological perceptions with a pelite nod toward the sociological dimensions. Decision theorists have analyzed the mental process through which the adult learner passes before the final decision to participate, not participate, or drop out. Life-cycle theorists have highlighted the significance of life events which propel adults in the direction of education in order to sort out their options. Motivational orientation theorists have been the most dependent upon psychological paradigms for explaining participation in adult education. Beginning with the work of Houle and continuing through the work of Boshier, the motivational orientation researchers have been enamored with psychological explanations for participatory behavior. Promising theories from Miller as well as Knox and Videbeck have been mentioned, but their more interdisciplinary approach to the problem of participation in adult education has been ignored. This in 69 spite of the fact that Boshier (1980) himself has questioned the power of the psychological approach for explaining what causes participation in adult education. In the same manner, Anderson and Darkenwald (1979) could not explain the low levels of variance between demo- graphic variables and participation in adult education. Demographic variables did not cause participation in adult education but simply "mediated" it. Therefore, some other cause was at work, as yet unknown. Boshier (1980) concluded that the cause "probably resides in variables relating to the 'press' of environmental circumstances . . . and person/environment interactions which influence participation behavior" (p. 39, as cited in Courtney). The environmental cause had been hinted at in his 1973 article in mm but had apparently been abandoned for what he thought was a more fruitful line of inquiry in the psychological arena. Boshier fails to identify the specifics of the environmental circumstances except some cursory observations about "reception given students" and "arrangements for dining and study" (p. 279). Beal (1956) criticized the general field of participation research and found most studies ignoring the institution which sponsored the activity while concentrating on the demographic variables of sex, age, occupation, etc. Courtney observes that "The institutional dimension is missing from all motivational orientation research, and is theorized inadequately in decision models" (p. 234). His exceptions to this observation are Rubenson's model and the life-cycle theorists. Nevertheless, there is "an enormous gap," Courtney argues, "in 70 current theories of participation and it is a gap occasioned by the 'decision' to banish sociological concerns from the analysis of participation in adult education" (p. 235). The present summary of adult education literature relative to the problem of participation in adult education leads into a brief look at pertinent work from the field of sociology and in particular, voluntary association and commitment to an institution literature. 3! l | E . I' 1 il I The greatest strength of the earlier studies (1955-1967) of participation in adult education was the researcher's willingness to have the issue of participation informed by the disciplines of sociology and pyschology. In contrast, the greatest weakness of the current research is the unwillingness of the researchers to be informed by the discipline of sociology and not just psychology. Both voluntary association and commitment to an institution studies provide the adult education researcher with theoretical paradigms with which to classify, explain, and understand the phenomenon of voluntary participation in adult education experiences. These two lines of inquiry, from the discipline of sociology, will be examined to further explore the notion proposed by Miller, Knox and Videbeck, Courtney, and Hawes that participation in adult education may be better understood if explored from this perspective. In particular, this study was interested in the nature of the relationship between the individual adult learner and the institution, organization, or group which sponsors the educational activity in which the adult participates. 71 Is it possible that an understanding of the complexities of learner orientations would be enhanced by examining the problem of participation from this vantage point? Voluntary association has been defined by Sills (1968) as "an organized group of persons (1) that is formed in order to further some common interest of its members, (2) in which membership is voluntary in the sense that it is neither mandatory or aquired through birth, and (3) that exists independently of the State" (pp. 362-363). Diverse groups such as churches, business firms, labor unions, foundations, private schools, cooperative political parties, The Red Cross, the YMCA, and many others would be included by Sills in such a definition. As Sills admits, there can be quite a few exceptions cited to such a definition that should still be included under the rubric of voluntary association. He offers the 4-H Clubs as an example of a voluntary association sponsored by the Extension Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. It violates the third criteria in his definition, but he still views it as a voluntary association. It is assumed in this study that most if not all forms of adult education can be classified as voluntary associations of an educational nature with primarily educational objectives. At the very least, one must agree that the dynamics involved in the experience of partic- ipating in a voluntary association are similar to those experienced in adult education. Both Knowles (1983) and Darkenwald and Merriam (1982) in their discussions of the parameters of the field of adult education included 72 voluntary associations. Knowles elaborates on the close association between adult education and voluntary associations and then notes that the informal relationship was formally sanctioned in 1952. This was done through the establishment of the Council of National Organizations by the Adult Education Association (see pp. 151- 154 in Knowles for an extended discussion). Darkenwald and Merriam also include "voluntary membership organizations" (p. 166ff) within their definition of what constitutes "learning activities of adults." Viewing participation in adult education as a form of voluntary association behavior, or vice versa, helps the adult educator better understand the significance of the participation. The benefit of the voluntary association perspective is that it broadens one's awareness of participation in adult education as a form of social participation in a democratic society (see Banton, 1968 for a fuller discussion). Elsey (1974) concluded his analysis of voluntary associations and informal adult education by observing that "the contribution of voluntary organisations towards adult education and the social and cultural life of communities warrants wider recognition" (p. 396). Voluntary association research has been interested in assessing determinants of membership activity. The consensus among voluntary association researchers is that full or complete participation is "impossible" (Sills) and should not be expected. The dynamics of social relationships are so complex, the demands on time so great, and the obstacles to participation so numerous, that it is surprising that any participate. 73 The voluntary associations which have existed for a long time and seem to be meeting the objectives for which they were created have some common features. Sills (1957) analyzed four voluntary associations (Women's Christian Temperance Union, The Townsend Organization, The Young Men's Christian Association, and The American Red Cross) and found that the two " successful" organi- zations (YMCA and The Red Cross) made needed adaptations and changes in light of social reality and were able to continue to exist as voluntary associations. The other two failed to engage in the process of "succession of goals" which Blau (1955) defined as the process of "adopting new goals as . . . old ones are realized" (p. 243). If participants feel that the objectives for which the group was created are not being met or have been met but have no new challenges, they will decrease participation and eventually sever formal ties. Axelrod's (1955) study of Detroit area formal group associations found "that a large proportion (63%) of the population were members of at least one formal organization" (p. 16). He found increases in participation (involvement) with increases in income, social status, and education. The high correlation between involvement in an organized group and the extraneous variables of income, status, and education have been supported by similar studies (Scott, 1957). Wright and Hyman (1958) conducted a secondary analysis of data to determine the extent of voluntary association membership in the United States. They concluded the following from their analysis: 1. voluntary. association membership is not characteristic of the ma jor1ty of Amencans, 7 4 2. A relatively small percentage of Americans belong to two or more voluntary assoc1at1ons, 3. Membershi is more characteristic of the White than Negro popu ation, 4. Membership is more characteristic of Jewish than Protestant, and Protestants more than Cathohcs, and 5. Membership is directly related to socio-economic status (p. 294). In a later replication of their earlier study, Hyman & Wright (1971) discovered "a small but noteworthy increase in voluntary association memberships between the mid-1950's and the early 1960's" (p. 205). The increase was not limited to the more well-to-do groups but occurred "all along the line and especially among those of poorer economic means" (p. 205). Gordon and Babchuk (1959) expressed dissatisfaction with the typical demarcation of voluntary associations into "expressive" or "instrumental," depending upon the purpose of the organization. They felt that some organizations fit somewhere in the middle between these two dichotomous types of voluntary associations. Therefore, they proposed a threefold typology of voluntary association. The third type is a hybrid "instrumental-expressive." "Expressive" type voluntary associations "provide the framework for immediate and continuing gratification to the individual . . . through activities confined and self-contained within the organization itself" (p. 27). "Instrumental" organizations sponsor "activities which take place outside the organization . . . and seek to bring about change which transcends its immediate membership" (p. 28). Whereas 75 "instrumental-expressive" type organizations "incorporate both functions self-consciously" (p. 28). Etzioni (1961) preferred to classify organizations on the basis of the type of power displayed to gain compliance to institutional goals. He identified coercive, remunerative, and normative types of organizations. He placed voluntary associations, churches, and educational institutions under the rubric of normative organizations (p. 40ff). Spinrad (1960) in an analysis of trade union participation found the "personal orientation" of the workers which resulted in personal contact with work colleagues to be the most significant variable relative to participation in union activities. Spinrod went on to explain that an often overlooked dimension to union participation is those members who feel part of a "movement" and speak of "we" and "who enjoy playing the union game" and need a "social orientation" which results in a union that takes on a "communal" character. He concluded from his study that "union activity increases" in proportion to "the extent to which the work group . . . is regarded as a significant reference group" (p. 243). Lenski (1963) in his landmark study on the sociology of religion found support for his hypothesis that the more involved an adult is in a Protestant church, the more highly involved he/she would be in secondary groups such as voluntary organizations, and the less involved in primary groups such as family, friends, and neighbors. He defended his hypothesis by arguing that Protestantism created substitutes for secular social relationships, including the family, and 76 that these losses were compensated for through participation in voluntary associations. McIntosh and Alston (1982) replicated Lenski's study and found the "effects of commitment operate in the aamatasiflan (theirs) for both Protestants and Catholics" (p. 877). Religious commitment provides some kind of "linkage" to other sorts of social participation in other voluntary organizations. They concluded that "religion . . . serves as a bridge between various institutional involvements . . . " (p. 876). McIntosh and Alston observed what they felt was a direct relationship between "saliency" of religious beliefs and "greater involvements" (p. 877) with primary and secondary organizations. Cheal (1987) replicated McIntosh and Alston's study with Canadian subjects (1984 Winnipeg Area Study) and concluded that this study failed to support their "conclusions" but did support their "findings" (p. 210). Cheal found instead religious involvements having little if any influence upon interpersonal interactions. He concluded that adults function with a "general separation of secular and religious commitments" (p. 221). Smith (1966) in a cross-cultural study of voluntary associa- tion participation in Chile, found that "people who are willing to become high participators in a formal voluntary organization" (p. 261) have two primary motivations. They seek "psychic rewards" which Smith identified as "good fellowship" and "the reward of personal participation in the achievement of some valued goal . . . " (p. 262). Smith admits that the results of the study are "not generalizable in a strict statistical sense" (p. 264). However, the study 77 was conducted to test hypotheses and that these have "explanatory relevance in other cultures and for other formal voluntary organizations" (p. 264). Rogers' (1971) study of membership involvement in three farm organizations in Wisconsin, was conducted to determine "the relative effects of selected factors on involvement" (p. 341). He was especially interested in determining the extent of "behavioral involvement" (willingness to enter into organizational roles) and "affective involvement" (cathectic-evaluative orientation to a particular association). Affective involvement was determined through the administration of a ten-item scale which included statements such as "I feel I am an important part of this organization," "I take pleasure in associating with the things this organization does," and "I don't feel I belong to this organization." His review of the literature of involvement in voluntary associations found that participation was strongly related to " . . . dynamic factors such as . . . satisfaction with the group" (p. 342). In addition, those variables most strongly related to loyalty to a voluntary association were "evaluation of the group's performance, perceived influence, and a sense of ownership . . . " (p. 342). Further, Rogers' study found that participation and involvement were related to "the receiving of or ancticipation of some type of benefit from the organization" such as "fellowship or education" which represented payments to the members in return for their costs incurred in participation (p. 355). 78 Smith (1983) raised an important conceptual issue in his critique of voluntary association literature. He complained, as principal organizer of the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars (AVAS) and founder and first Editor of the WW Research, that churches were being intentionally omitted from voluntary association research. Smith further argued that religious participation in church- related activities is part of a larger pattern of social participation ("General Activity Pattern"). This "pattern" involves the "positive correlation or covariation of association participation with . . . other kinds of valued societal participation" (p. 301). In an earlier analysis of voluntary association participation, Smith (1975), found that a series of studies indicated that "a significant proportion of the variance in voluntary association participation is associated with other forms of voluntary association" (p. 260). Some of the "other forms" included mass media consumption, recreation, adult education, church participation, political participation, and social protest. C .I l 1"I I Another rich source for theory building to explain participation in adult education behavior can be found in sociological studies concerned about commitment to various kinds of social institutions (marriage, family, church, political parties, etc.). Commitment is usually divided into "personal" versus "social" (Anderson & Guernsey, 1985). The focus of this brief review will be upon the social dimensions of commitment as it relates to various institutions. 79 Turner and Killian (1957) discussed " participation orientations" and found the membership typing by personality approach to be deficient on several counts (pp. 441-442). They preferred instead an "esprit de corps" explanation for participation in social movements (defined broadly). They described such an orientation as a sense of "enthusiasm for the 'fellowship' or 'comradeship' of the movement" (p. 442). They quote Blumer (1953) favorably when he describes this phenomenon (esprit de corps) as "a sense which people have of being identified with one another in a common undertaking" (p. 208). Becker (1960) analyzed the use of the concept of commitment in sociological studies and found the term used "without explanation or examination of its character or credentials." In addition, he discovered that there had been "little formal analysis of the concept of commitment and little attempt to integrate it explicitly with current sociological theory" (p. 32). He preferred to use the term to refer to a person who engaged in "consistent lines of activity," (p. 33) because they held to a particular "system of values" and had placed a "side bet." He meant by the use of the term "side bet" that the person who participated in a line of activity was "betting" that it would be "rewarding" and profitable. In order to be sure one reached the anticipated "reward," the line of action was maintained. Changes in action became more and more difficult, because "commitment and investment" had already been made. Johnson (1973) considered the famous Milgram (1965) obedience studies to be a demonstration of Becker's concept of "side bet." He 80 suggested that once the subjects had committed themselves to participate in the experiment, they felt obligated or "compelled" to go through with it so as to preserve their investment and "save face." Kanter (1968) defined commitment as "the willingness of social actors to give their energy and loyalty to social systems . . . " (p. 499). The variable of "member loyalty" has been identified in several studies (Beal, 1956; Tannenbaum et al., 1968; Copp, 1964) as having the most significant positive relationship to member participation and control than any other variable (Warner & Rogers, 1971, p. 259). Etzioni (1961) prefers to view commitment in terms of a "positive involvement" at one end of the continuum with alientation as "negative involvement" at the other (p. 9). He described commitment as a "positive orientation" of the individual participant to the organization. He observed two kinds of commitment. One was labeled "moral commitment" such as exist between student and teacher, priest and parishioners, and leaders and followers. The other was labeled "social commitment" and described those feelings present in primary groups such as the family. Etzioni argued that such a classification of commitment and involvement could be "applied to the orientations of actors in all social units" (p. 11). Etzioni makes a significant observation about participation in normative organizations. He notes that extent or rate of participation, since participation is voluntary, is determined through a "consensus . . . in agreement about the frequency of participation" (p. 129). Following the logic of Etzioni's theory, the greater the degree of commitment among the participants to the particular institution, the 81 greater will be the likelihood that consensus will be reached involving a higher rate of participation. Kanter agreed with Becker's assessment concerning the lack of attention to empirical analysis of the concept of commitment. In addition, she observed that there had been " little attempt to utilize it in organizational research . . . " (p. 499). It was this latter situation which she hoped to remedy as the result of her study. She proposed distinguishing three "analytically distinct" components of commitment. These she suggested should be continuance, cohesion, and control. She went on to describe cohesion commitment as the "commitment of actors to group solidarity, to a set of social relationships" which results in their "positive cathetic (hers) orientations" (p. 500) to the group. Institutional situations in which such dynamics exist means that "solidarity is high . . . while infighting and jealousy low." These feelings of commitment to the social group (whatever its form) produce a cohesive system that can withstand threats to its existence. She postulates that organizations "which promote commitment of all three types" (p. 502) will more successfully maintain participation of recruited members. She tested her hypotheses by examining the historical records of 91 utopian communities founded between 1780 and 1860. She found that the "successful" (in existence 25 years or longer) communities displayed the commitment components to a much greater degree than the "unsuccessful" communities. In particular, she found that the use of social arrangements involving "communion" distinguished "rather 82 strongly" between successful and unsuccessful communities. "Communion" was defined as the process of "becoming part of a whole, the mingling of self with the group . . . " and a willingness to "identify with all members of the collective whole" (p. 509). Kanter concluded that her analysis of the dynamics of commitment in social systems is "applicable . . . to many diverse kinds" (p. 516) of organizations, associations, and groups. Smith (1975) identified several studies in voluntary association research which had identified the existence of "personal influence" variables that affect voluntary association participation. Smith also urged that voluntary association research must not remain the "exclusive province of sociologists" (p. 265) if understanding all of its (voluntary association participation) modes and ramifications is to be achieved. He applauded the formation of the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars as "one means for facilitation of such interdisciplinary activity" (p. 265). Abrahamson and Anderson (1984) studied " interconnections among people's commitment to various institutions" (p. 372). To determine the extent of the interconnections, they conducted phone interviews with the same sample over a two-year period. The results of the study indicated that "peeple's commitment to economic, educational, and political institutions are interconnected" but commit- ment to familial and religious institutions "are compartmentalized" and do not seem to affect participation or commitments to other institutions (pp. 378-379). 83 They based their institutional classification system upon Blau's (1964) analysis of "primary institutional functions" which he identified as 1. integrative - perpetuating values and maintaining socnal sol1dar1ty: most notable are fanuly-kinship and rellg1on 2. preserving arrangements for production and distribution: most unportant are econonuc and educational 1nst1tut1ons 3. resource mobilization and coordination: the prototype 1s polmcal (pp. 278-279). Abrahamson and Anderson admitted that the ultimate purpose of their work was intended to deal with the implications their study had for a "general theory of institutional commitments" (p. 380). In the same vein, Thomas and Henry (1985) argued that there is some degree of interconnectedness among social institutions, especially so between family and religious institutions. They call for further research in "the neglected social-psychological area of commitment to institutions" (p. 375) as a fruitful line of inquiry. They felt assured that such study could provide needed theoretical frameworks for understanding the dynamic relationship between peOple and various institutions in the society. Kuhn and Geis (1984) argue that there is something to be learned from "understanding the fidelity of church members" which will "improve the loyalty of factory workers." They contend that the "firm bond" or commitment is "the link between personal meaning and organizational mission." Commitment will be the highest when 84 individual meaning is balanced with the achieving of institutional goals. It has been argued in previously cited studies (Gordon and Babchuck, Kanter, Etzioni) that degree of participation is linked in some way to the degree of individual commitment to the institution which sponsors the activity. Kuhn and Geis are suggesting that the institution of the church might provide some insights into how member commitment is gained and maintained. These insights when applied to business would help create the kinds of environments in which the employee feels fulfilled and the organization achieves its goals. Stack (1985) observed that many researchers had demonstrated the relationship between institutions such as the family and religion in terms of "their shared emphasis on collectivistic values" and their shared valuing of "self-sacrifice, sense of duty, obligation, and caring for their members" (p. 431). He found religious and family integration to be associated with lower suicide rates. Most of the studies cited by Stack and the one he conducted were dependent upon Durkheim's (1966) theory that religious integration (collectivism predominating over individualism) depends upon the subordination of individual interests to those of the group. Durkheim argued that personal happiness and well-being were directly proportional to the individual's willingness to subordinate to the collective life of the group (see pp. 209-210). Mount (1981) reviewed the recent attacks made on the American concept of individualism. One such criticism by Berger and Neuhaus 85 (1977) advocated the promotion of "mediating structures" (families, neighborhoods, churches, and voluntary associations) to retard the growth of atomistic individualism. These mediating structures are "the people-sized institutions" needed in society to generate and maintain the values essential to a democratic way of life. Mount considers such structures as churches and voluntary associations some of the best ways to promote "solidarity with the whole human community" (p. 373). Hauerwas (1977) concurs with Mount when he suggests that what is needed is "not more rhetoric but more experiences of community" (p. 240). Botkin et al. (1979) identify the need for "innovative learning" in a world with rapid social and technological changes. They see participation as the "hinge" upon which innovative learning depends. But they feel that "participation today is in crisis," because people have not felt "an obligation to accept the responsibilities it entails" (p. 31). One of the benefits of innovative learning, which requires effective participation, is that it "can increase the capacity to enter into wider human relationships, to cooperate for common purposes, to make linkages with others, to understand larger systems, and to see the whole of which one is part. . . taken together these qualities underlie global solidarity" (pp. 36-37). Scott (1981) noted the "contemporary quest for community" suggesting that it springs from "some deep human need for bonding, continuity and purpose" (p. 146). Other observers such as Bellah et al (1985) have identified the need for "personal/communal" dimensions of life which have been created by the "progressive separation of the 86 individual from our collective public world" (Scott, p. 146). Douglah (1970) preferred to describe this "progressive separation" in terms of "the alienation or separation of people from' the larger society" (p. 89). He saw the problem of participation in adult education as indicative of a larger problem in the society. Concerns about "bridging the gap" between the individual and the larger social structure has brought the problem of participation in adult education to the "focal point of discussion" (p. 89). Cookson (1986) formulated a theoretical framework "directed at understanding aspects of the human condition which influence an individual's involvement in purposive learning activities" (p. 130). Based on the work of Smith (1980) and his interdisciplinary, sequential-specificity, time-allocation, life-span (ISSTAL) model, Cookson proposed a more holistic perspective for understanding participation in adult education. He expressed dissatisfaction with what he called the "psychological reductionist tendency in much of the adult education research literature" (p. 132). His model proposes viewing participation in adult education as part of a "broader behavior pattern of social participation" (p. 132). As a result of using his model, Cookson believes that researchers will be able to identify "concomitant and parallel forms of social participation" (p. 139) which will illuminate current understanding of participation in adult education. The review of voluntary association and commitment literature has demonstrated that a significant variable may have been overlooked or undervalued for its impact on participation in adult education and 87 voluntary association participation. Numerous studies have depicted a sense of loyalty, commitment, obligation, solidarity, maybe even a sense of duty which individual participants share toward the group, organization, or institution of which they are an active part. This study has been designed to determe whether or not what has herein been operationally defined as an Institutional orientation actually exists as a significant part of the motivational orientation mosaic. Further, if it can be identified, how does it compare in degree of significance to previously identified orientations, in particular Goal, Activity, Learning, and Religious? And lastly, is there any significant relationship among the groups involved in the study between the reported degree of commitment, frequency of attendance, and membership status? The research designed to help answer these specific research questions will be discussed in the next chapter. Chapter 3 Research Procedure The problem of participation in adult education has generated a great. deal of research. Procedures all the way from descriptive analyses of clientele to factor analytic techniques for determining motivational orientation, have been used in an attempt to better understand learner motives for participation in education. As noted previously, the literature clearly supports the original intuitive proposal of Houle (1961) regarding certain orientations to learning which each adult learner possesses. All of the factors identified in the previous studies can be legitimately placed into one of the three categories suggested by Houle with the possible exception of the "religious" orientation identified by Burgess (Courtney, Dickinson and Clark, 1975). In addition, this inquiry submits the possibility that another previously unidentified Institutional orientaiton exists. Table 9 illustrates from Dickinson and Clark, how the various factors 88 89 Table 9 SUMMARY OF FACTORS IDENTIFIED IN STUDIES OF LEARNING ORIENTATIONS STUDY HOULE TYPOLOGY Goal Orientation Activity Orientation Learning Orientation A. Continuing Learning Orientation Index (C.L.O.I.) 1. Sheffield Personal-goal Need fulfillment Learning Societal-goal Sociability 2. Sovie Personal-goal Need fulfillment Learning Occupational-goal Personal-sociability Professional-goal Professional-sociability Societal-goal B. Education Participation Scale (E.P.S.) 3. Boshier Other-directed Social contact Educational advancement Self vs. other- preparation centeredness 4. Morstain and Smart External Social relationships Cognitive expectations interests Professional advancement Social Welfare Escape/stimulation D. Reasons for Educational Participation (R.E.P.) 90 Table 9 (continued) 5. Burgess Personal-goal Social activity Desire to know social-goal Escape Religious-goal Meet formal requirements 6. Grabowski Personal-goal Social activity Desire to know social-goal Escape Intellectual Study alone security Source: Dickinson and Clark, 1975, p. 7. can be subsumed under Houle's threefold typology. It was the purpose of this study to determine if an Institutional orientation could be identified among adult education participants in various educational activities with different sponsoring institutions. Further, if the Institutional orientation exists, how it compared in significance to the other previously identified learning orientations. In addition, how predominant the Institutional orientation was in comparison to the reported degree of commitment as measured by specific items in the survey instrument. In order to determine if the previously unidentified orientation actually did exist, as a contributing factor in the orientational matrix of adult learners, a survey instrument was constructed. The instrument was administered to several adult education classes, sponsored by three different types of institutions, in three different locations in the Midwest. 91 Emulation Participants were derived from active and on-going adult education classes sponsored by the three institutions. All participants were currently enrolled and attending the particular learning activity. Since the sizes of the community education programs or the church- related educational activities were small, random sampling of classes was generally not feasable. No attempt was made to self-select participants. It seemed more appropriate to accept whatever ratios of male to female, older to younger, college educated to high school educated, etc., we would get from using whole classes. Such a procedure would probably give a more accurate sample of the larger population of adult learners than trying to match a particular class to a population. A total of 90 adults participated in the study. They represented adult students who were enrolled in various types of classes sponsored by the three institutions. The classes used in the study included a class on hypnotism, nutrition, first aid, photography, religion, and sign language. The classes from the church-sponsored group represented the adult level Sunday School as well as those who participated in a lay Bible Institute sponsored by the church. Total number of particpants could not be controlled since only certain classes were available during the summer when the research was being conducted. In addition, access to classes was limited by the permission of the instructor which was not always given. It was felt that the sample size was adequate for the purposes of the present study. 92 The three groups that were chosen for the study were sponsored by different types of institutions. They were selected using Blau's (1964) typology of "primary institutional functions" as a guide (see p. 108 of this study) His "integrative" institution was represented by University Baptist Church, Fayetville, Arkansas. His "preserving arrangements" institution was represented by Westark Community College, Fort Smith, Arkansas. And lastly, his "resource mobilization and coordination" institution was represented by The American Red Cross Chapter of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Red Cross in Tulsa offers a wide variety of adult education experiences ranging from the typical water safety instruction to nutritional classes for Senior Citizens. In addition, they also offer training programs for their volunteer leaders. The Course Coordinator worked closely with me in selecting classes and gaining the approval of each class instructor. Westark Community College is a regional community college serving the needs of several counties in Arkansas. Westark offers a wide variety of adult education courses in their summer evening school program. Again assistance was received from the Course Coordinator who made suggestions for which classes and instructors might be the most feasible. University Baptist Church is a large metropolitan church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The church offers quite diverse educational experiences for its members. Along with traditional Sunday School classes it operates a fully accredited Arkansas Institute 93 of Theology which is a lay training school. The educational opportunities are not limited to Biblical or theological subjects but also include many family-related skill classes as well as practical life-related subjects such as financial management. Assistance was provided by the Minister of Education who permitted access to their classes. The different sponsoring institutions were chosen for several reasons. First, because limiting the inquiry to one group of learners with formal linkages to one sponsoring agency, cannot determine if the Institutional orientation appears in other adult learning situations. It is important to know if the Institutional orientation appears, does it appear in all types of settings or does it appear in one or none. Second, because comparisons can be made between groups as to the relative strength of the orientation if it does appear. Is it more predominant among church-related groups than it is among community college or Red Cross groups? The wide diversity of the three groups should strengthen generalizability by sampling adult learners from "dissimilar institutions or geographical areas" (Morstain & Smart, 1974, p. 96). The content of the classes, although having some relationship to learning orientation, is not assumed to be determinative, since most adults participate for a yarjety of reasons (LeVine & Dole, 1963; Boshier,197l,l985; Burgess, 1971; Hawes, 1981). Burgess concluded that "people could take a course for a variety of reasons not predictable by its content" (p. 5). Therefore, it is not assumed that 94 what is being taught, discussed, shared, or explained will auto- matically result in one particular learning or motivational orientation. It is to be admitted, however, that one learning orientation may pre- dominate for a given course or institution (Hawes, 1981). Winner Three instruments for measuring learning orientations have been devised (Sheffield, 1964; Boshier, 1971; Burgess, 1971). Sheffield developed a 58 item inventory on a five-point scale, Boshier a 48 item inventory on a nine-point scale, and Burgess a 70 item inventory on a seven-point scale. Since the present study was designed to determine if another learning orientation (institutional) exists along with those previously identified, the most powerful items (in terms of factor scores) from the surveys of Boshier, and Sheffield, which Courtney demonstrated fit the Houlian threefold typology (pp.134-180), were included in the instrument devised for this study. In addition, the Religious items from Burgess were included. Verbal permission was granted from Dr. Paul Burgess and Dr. Sherman Sheffield to use the items from their instruments during personal conversations. Written permission was obtained from Learningpress Limited which holds the copyright on Boshier's instrument. A royalty fee was paid for the privilege of using the items from Boshier's E.P.S. instrument. The result was a composite instrument (see Appendix A) from the most powerful items in Boshier, and Sheffield, as well as the Religious orientation items of Burgess, and the new items addressing the isme of 95 an Institutional orientation. Since only two items from Burgess' instrument were deemed appropriate for this study, several more questions were constructed to be included with the Burgess items. The items included from the previously constructed instruments, were all identified by Courtney in his exhaustive analysis of the participation survey instruments as being the most powerful in terms of loading using the Factor Analysis procedure. Items included in the composite instrument from the previously devised instruments were items which have been shown to cluster within the Houlian trilogy. The religious items were included because one of the groups was church-sponsored and would likely report religiously motivated reasons for participating in educational activities. The institutional items were included because the theoretical framework from a sociological perspective (as detailed in Chapter Two) intimated that such sentiments might exist and therefore affect adult participation in educational activities sponsored by the institution. A Likert five-point scale ("Very Important," 1 to "Not Important," 5) was used to scale responses to the items. li ili The internal consistency of the survey instrument was determined through the application of a split-half coefficient on the test items. This technique was used instead of test-retest due to constraints on time, since the instruments were being administered by the researcher involving some distance. It was determined that use of the split-half 96 technique would not be affected by the presence of the five different orientations. Gay (1981) argues that "regardless of how the test is organized" (p. 120) an odd-even split still will provide an indication of the internal consistency reliability of the instrument. The Spearman rank-difference correlation coefficient (Spearman Rho) was used because the pilot sample was small (n :9). It is often suggested that when the n is less than 30, the Spearman rho method is preferred (Guilford 1965, p. 305; Gay, 1981). It is easier to compute and "results in a coefficient very close to the one which would have been obtained had a Pearson r been computed" (Gay, p. 191; Guilford, p. 307). In addition, the Spearman-Brown Prophecy Formula was computed after the results of the split-half coefficient were determined (Guilford, Gay, 1981; Siegel, 1956). I! 1' fl Content validity was determined through the agreement of judges (Sax, 1968, pp. 232-233; Courteny, p. 166; Sheffield, 1963) that items were classified correctly according to learning orientation. Selected professors of adult education were given a sheet (see Appendix B) listing the categories and the inventory items for each. The panel represented adult education faculty from Northern Illinois University, The University of Arkansas, National College of Education, and Indiana University. The judges were asked to react to the item and category arrangement. They were also asked to pay special attention 97 to the new orientation (Institutional) to be sure it in fact was a distinct orientation from the others. In addition, content validity of the borrowed items in the survey instrument had been supported through the literature on participation in adult education and especially the analysis of Courtney (1984) and Dickinson and Clark (1975). Confidence in the content validity was strenghtened by means of the pilot study item analysis which identified items that did not score well. Construct validity was an important issue in this particular survey instrument since it purports to be able to identify an Institutional orientation. How can one be sure that the instrument is in fact measuring an Institutional orientation (as previously described) and not some other entity or construct? Oppenheim (1966) argues that it is extremely difficult to validate measures of attitude such as a learning orientation. Most such instruments with high validity were the result of a direct validation against a criterion. He goes on to suggest that attitudinal measures which are constructed for descriptive purposes and not predictive purposes "do an adequate job" (p. 152) and do not need to be as precise as predictive measures. In other words, the purpose of the instrument determines the standard for determining construct validity. Oppenheim identified two usual methods for determining construct validity. One method is indicated in the "manifest content of the items" (p. 152). Another method, is to use the expertise of a panel of judges "for ascertaining what the items measure" (p. 152). The panel 98 of judges technique was employed to determine content validity of the items. It was also used in determining the construct validity of the items in the Institutional orientation cluster as well as the new Religious orientation items. The construct validity of the other items has been demonstrated from previous studies and need not be reaffirmed again. The panel of judges provided an objective measure of the "manifest content" criteria mentioned earlier. Boshier (1976) discussed the issue of construct validity and reliability and found the E.P.S.; R.E.P.; and the C.L.O.I. instruments wanting in this regard. All of these instruments asked the respondent to consider all educational activties of the previous year. Boshier thinks that future "research projects are better served by the measurement of precise and immediate motives pertaining to the most recent (or present) activity." It is his opinion that much more reliable and valid responses will be obtained if respondents are asked to focus their reflections upon the present learning activity. The instrument designed for this inquiry, strengthened reliability and validity by incorporating Boshier's suggestions into the instrument format. Respondents were asked to respond to the survey items in light of "the learning experience in which you are now enrolled." WWW Each item in the instrument can be placed into a specific learning orientations category. The categories that have been included represent the consensus of the studies since Houle's seminal work in 99 1961. They are derived from Houle and from the factor analysis procedures which have been performed on the previously adminstered survey instruments. Most studies have identified between five and 14 distinct factors with 6 factors being the mode (Courtney, p. 145). The present instrument assumed five distinct factors which represent learning orientations (Learning, Goal, Activity, Religious, and Institutional). Although the present instrument uses the Houle labels, the individual items themselves are taken directly from the survey instruments for measuring learning orientations of Boshier (1971), Burgess (1971), and Sheffield (1964). Based upon Courtney's as well as Dickinson and Clark's (1975) analysis, these survey items have been incorporated into the Houlian threefold typology of learning orientations (Goal, Activity, and Learning) with the addition of the Religious and Institutional for reasons already stated. (Table 10 illustrates the breakdown of each item into its own discreet category, and the survey from which it was derived, if applicable). Although Boshier (1976) questions the validity of placing uncorrelated factors into the three-fold typology of Houle, nevertheless, for purposes of brevity and parsimony, this will be done. It is assumed that the analysis of Courtney as well as Dickinson and Clark is valid and that it is possible to reduce all of the previously identified factors into the Houlian trinitarian scheme without undue harm to the analysis. 100 Table 10 Inventory Item Sources and Category H.1"'1'0‘1o_11 1 ' Goal Boshier Burgess Activity Boshier Institution Lowe Activity Boshier Institution Lowe Learning Burgess Activity Boshier Goal Boshier Burgess Institution Lowe Activity Burgess Religious Burgess Institution Lowe Activity Boshier Activity Boshier Religious Lowe Goal Boshier Institution Lowe Activity Boshier Learning Burgess Institution Lowe Learning Boshier Goal Sheffield Goal Sheffield Goal Sheffield Learning Burgess Religious Lowe Institution Lowe Goal Boshier Burgess Religious Burgess Institution Lowe Institution Lowe 101 The Social Contact, Social Stimulation and Community Service factors from Boshier and others are subsumed under Houle's "activity orientation" because of the parsimony of the Houlian typology. Those items represent an expressed need for making new friends, having social contacts, and performing service to others or one's community. The distinction between these social factors and the Institutional orientation involves differences between the "utility" (Furst, 1986) of the learning content. The commitment of the adult learner to the institution, organization, or even the learning group itself, is qualitatively different from a desire to make friends or serve others. The Institutional orientation expresses a desire to identify with the objectives of an organization as well as the people of the organization. It also highlights the role of commitment, obligation, and duty that one feels toward significant institutions in the society (Copp, 1964). The items in the present instrument were arranged randomly to minimize response bias (Sax, 1968, p. 225). Questianjlormat The present study used a closed-ended question format, with the exception of one section of the instrument, where respondents were allowed to suggest other possible learning orientations not addressed in the instrument items. The closed-end format was used because the parameters of the information being solicted (Kahn and Cannell, 1957, p. 158) were well documented by the literature on participation in adult education. In 102 addition, the information being solicited was not considered controversial or embarrassing so could be obtained in a rather straightforward manner without need for further probing through open-ended questions. Further, the closed-end format was used because of its ease of scoring, coding, and data analysis. mm A pre-test was conducted on the instrument (Kahn and Cannell, p. 163) using nine adults who were currently participating in learning activities similar to those that would be included in the actual survey administration. The nine were not all enrolled in the same educational activity but were picked at random from two different groups. The individuals represented an adult Sunday School class of Harvard Avenue Baptist Church in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and a class on physical fitness at the American Red Cross in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Each of the nine adults were adminstered the survey separately and asked questions about each item. The interview questions were asked to detect problems in interpretation, understanding, and clarity (Sax, 1968, p. 228-229). An item analysis was calculated on the pre-test instrument and those items not scoring well were considered for elimination from the instrument (Thorndike and Hagen, 1969, p. 414). The survey instrument underwent a computer word search in order to eliminate "problem words" identified by Payne (1951, pp. 151-157). 103 l i Pr Respondents were adults who were currently enrolled in various learning activities sponsored by the respective organizations previously identified. Verbal permission was granted to administer the instrument from all of the organizations and institutions who participated in the study. Participants were asked to respond to each of 31 items on a five-point "very imporant" to "not important" Likert scale in terms of the extent to which the statement identified a reason for participating in the present learning activity (5: very important reason, 1: not an important reason). Inventories were administered collectively during regular class sessions. This method of data collection was preferred over mail or teacher distributed in order to insure proper administration of the inventory and also to insure a higher rate of return. No attempt was made to collect data from those adults who were absent from the class when the instrument was administered. All instruments were administered following identical procedures for each group. First, the reason for the exercise was given to the class. The explanation was left rather vague, informing them that this was being done to further the institution's understanding of why adults attend their educational activities. Second, the instrument itself was explained regarding how it was to be filled out. Third, they were told to take as much time as they needed within the constraints of the class hour itself. Chapter 4 Presentation and Analysis of Data The purpose of the present study was to determine if an Institutional orientation could be identified among adult participants in various educational settings sponsored by different social institutions. In addition, the study was conducted to identify any significant differences between the three groups on the Institutional orientation and the other learning orientations. Further, whether any significant differences existed between the groups on the reported degree of committment to the sponsoring institution, frequency of attendance, and membership status. In order to achieve these research goals, a written instrument was constructed. The instrument was a composite of items taken from previous surveys of participation in adult education and new items constructed for this study to identify an Institutional orientation. Wallis The constructed instrument was field tested on nine subjects resembling the population from which the actual inventory administration was taken. The participants were all enrolled and attending the educational activities when the instrument was administered. 104 105 The instrument was individually administered to each of the field test subjects. Each was asked to be sure the questions were clear and that they understood the meaning of words and concepts. Every item in the inventory was examined in this way with each subject and notations were made about problems with clarity or style. Some minor changes were made as a result of the field test interviews. First, the age figures on page four of the instrument were changed to read "66 or older" in order to have discreet age categories. Second, question 37 had a "less than one year" option added after several reported membership lengths of several months duration. Question 41 regarding present income level, had the phrase "total family" added when subjects reported thinking only in terms of their own individual salary and not that of a working spouse as well. Question 33 was recoded so that "very strong" was given a value of one instead of five in order to maintain consistency with the other "degree of commitment" items. All pilot study subjects reported on the ease of responding to the instrument and its clarity in item construction. As a result of cursory item analysis two items were deleted from the survey because of inadequate responses. On the pilot study instrument these were items 13 ("to study for its own sake") and 32 ("to give me a higher job status or position"). E' ”I I [B 11 l'!'| The instrument data obtained from the field test were submitted to the split-half coefficient (Corrected by the Spearman-Brown Prophecy 106 Formula) method of determining internal consistency and reliability. The Spearman Rho formula was used due to the small n (Guilford, 1956, p. 305). The split-half coeffficient obtained an r = .485. This was corrected forties to r = .475. The split-half estimate of .47 was corrected with the Spearman-Brown formula to an estimate of 'n = .64. The corrected estimate of reliability is significant at the .05 level (Guilford, p. 593) for a one-tailed test with an n less than 30. Borg and Gall (1971) point out that constructs more difficult to measure "such as personality" and one might add, motivational orientations, usually have reliability coefficients ranging from .60 to .80. They go on to suggest, that "such measures . . . are accurate enough . . . and can be very useful in research studies where analysis is concerned with groups rather than individuals" (p. 360). Thorndike and Hagen (1969) express similar views when they argue that there are no "general answers" to the question of whether an instrument is reliable. They too conclude that "relatively low reliability will permit us to make useful studies of and draw accurate conclusions about groups . . ." (p. 195). It is to be admitted that validity could have been enhanced by the lengthening of the survey instrument. However, due to the time constraints in the data collecting situation it was not feasible. The researcher was given a limited amount of time in each classroom situation and was under pressure from the instructors of those classes to adminster the inventory as quickly as possible so that their time in 107 the the class would not be unduly shortened. With the instrument at its present length, instructors were promised that the instrument would be administered in less than ten minutes. It was determined that a corrected .64 reliability score was the best that could be obtained given the constraints placed upon the researcher by the host institutions. It is further assumed that the instrument, for the purposes of this study, is a reliable measure of motivational orientations among the adults participating in the study. This assumption seems appropriate in light of the fact that the Spearman-Brown formula is quite conservative and "tends to be an underestimate" (Guilford, 1965, p. 458) of reliability. In order to determine the content valdity of the survey instrument, it was submitted to a panel of judges (Sax, 1968; Gay, 1981), all currently professors of adult education. Judges were given c0pies of the instrument (see Appendix A) and an Item-Category Summary sheet (see Appendix B). They were asked to evaluate the item-category summary sheet for inconsistencies and overlap of items and to examine the instrument for face validity (Gay, p. 111; Borg & Gall, p. 136). The judges were also asked to pay particular attention to the hypothesized Institutional orientation to see if it in fact was a discreet orientation and not related to the other orientations (Goal, Learning, Activity, and Religious). Such a procedure for determining content 108 validity is appropriate "with expressed or inventoried responses" (Sax, p. 233). The results of the judges' analysis revealed that some items overlapped. However, they stated this could not be helped and would not pose any threat to the validity of the instrument. The panel of judges agreed that the existence of the Institutional orientation was a distinct and separate orientation from the other four orientations. All judges concurred on the face validity of the instrument. Construct validity of the instrument for the Goal, Activity, Learning, and Religious orientations was demonstrated from the previous precedents in literature section, especially from the work of Courtney as well as Dickinson and Clark. It is assumed from the literature that a construct described as a "learning" or "motivational" orientation actually exists and can be measured and identified. The fact that an Institutional orientation was identified by the respondents indicates its validity, at least with these groups, as a recognizable construct. In addition, the analyses of the Institutional orientation by the expert panel of judges supported the existence of such a construct. It is assumed that the analysis of Dickinson and Clark (1975) is valid and that it is possible to reduce all of the previously identified factors into the Houlian trinitarian scheme without undue harm to the analysis. 109 n i r hi D The demographic data obtained in the survey instrument was tabulated and compared to a national data set (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1981) to determine the extent to which the sample in the study is similar to or different from those in the national surveys (see Table 11). The demographic comparisons on age indicate comparability to the NCES sample in all age brackets except that of the 26-35 range. The present sample has twice as many in that age range as that of the national sample. The educational attainment data are comparable at all levels except for the graduate school level where the national sample has almost one-third more than the present population. Income levels are somewhat different where the national sample reports more participants in the under $20,000 category the present sample reports more in the $21,000 to $50,000 level than the national sample. Occupational data show considerably more diversity than any other category. The present sample is underrepresented in blue collar participants but overrepresented in the professional ranks. Homemakers make up more of the national sample's participants whereas retired persons make up more of the present sample's participants. Male and female data from both samples form a chiastic (X) contrast. W The first research question was posed in order to determine if an Institutional orientation, as operationally defined by this study, could 110 Table 11 Present Population Compared to 1981 N CES Population (in percent of participation") Pannlatian NCES less than 25 9.9 11.9 26-35 42.9 19.9 36-50 30.8 30.1 51-65 12.1 7.8 66+ 2.2 3.1 Education High School 23.1 16.7 Trade School 7.7 Community College 22.0 19.6" College 26.4 26.1 Graduate School + 18.7 31.1 brains less than $20,000 27.5 38.5 $21-50,000 47.3 33.4 $51,000+ 13.2 18.8 Not reported 12.1 7.5 Blue Collar 6.6 29.6 Clerk 7.7 19.0 Professional 42.9 24.4 Homemaker 12.1 20.0 Educator 9.9 8.5 Student 3.3 2.7 Retired 7.7 3.0 Male 39.6 51.0 Female 57.1 39.0 * Percentages may not total 100 due to differences in categories between the two sets of data. "Trade School and Community College percentages are combined in the NCES data. Source: NCES, 1981. 111 be defined and identified among the three groups of adult learners. In order to draw statistical inferences related to this question the means and standard deviations were computed on the raw data. The results were then submitted to one-way analysis of variance. A Scheffe' t -test was computed on the Institutional orientation means in order to determine if it was a significant source of difference between the groups. In addition, the results of the expert panel of judges on the issue of the existence of an Institutional orientation were examined. Results The panel of judges unanimously agreed that the category items labeled as an Institutional orientation formed a discreet unit. It was the consensus of the judges that such an orientation exhibited prima facie evidence for its existence. The means and standard deviations for each orientation between each group of adult learners is represented in Table 12. The means of the orientations must be viewed with the number of items in each orientation kept in mind and cannot be compared parametrically because of this difference. The item means and standard deviations are displayed in Tables 13-17. The Institutional orientation received an overall item mean score within all groups of 3.1 ("somewhat important"). The lowest overall mean score within groups was produced by the Learning orientation (2.5) whereas the highest overall mean score was produced by the 112 Table 12 Means and Standard Deviations for Orientations by Groups Orientation Red Cross College Church Totals (n=32) (n=23) (11:35) Learning (4)* Mean 10.63 8.78 11.68 10.57 (2.6) (2.1) (2.9) (2.5)" SD 3.24 3.63 3.06 3.43 Activity (7)* Mean 31.39 26.77 25.02 27.78 (4.4) (3.8) (3.5) (3.9)" SD 3.88 5.35 4.18 5.19 Goal (7)* Mean 19.93 24.60 21.00 21.54 (2.8) (3.5) (3.0) (3.1)" SD 5.11 5.10 4.00 5.01 Religious (4)"I Mean 18.27 16.50 7.08 13.56 (4.5) (4.0) (1.7) (3.4 ** SD 2.62 3.86 2.28 5.89 Institution (9)* Mean 30.48 35.60 19.88 27.70 (3.3) (3.9) (2.2) (3.1)" ' SD 8.27 9.16 5.06 9.85 *Number of items in each orientation category "Item means reflecting Likert Scale Italicized scores reflect the highest score in relation to the Likert Scale. 113 Table 13 Goal Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Variable Item # Item Mean Item SD To become a more effective as a citizen of this city 1 2.3 1.25 To prepare for service to my community 8 2.4 1.36 To improve my ability to serve mankind 16 2.0 1.22 To engage in the discussion of ideas 22 3.1 1.29 To learn how to get along better with other people 23 3.4 1.32 To retrain for vocational changes 24 4.0 1.40 To secure professional advancement 28 4.1 1.40 Table 14 Activity Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Variable Item # Item Mean Item SD To escape an unhappy relationship 2 4.6 .89 To make new friends 4 3.0 1.41 To escape television 7 4.6 .92 To get away from the routines of daily living 10 4.1 1.21 To give me a sense of belonging to a group 13 3.6 1.36 To get relief from boredom 14 4.4 1.03 To share a common interest with others (spouse or friend) 18 3.0 1.35 114 Table 15 Learning Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Variable Item # Item Mean Wm SD To become a better informed person 6 1.5 .94 To satisfy a desire to learn something new 19 3.8 1.28 To seek knowledge for its own sake 21 2.7 1.41 To satisfy a desire to know 25 2.4 1.34 Table 16 Religious Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Variable Item # Item Mean Ire—m SD To improve my spiritual well- being 11 2.8 1.79 In order to learn more about religion 15 3.6 1.70 To provide a means of Religious expression for me 26 3.8 1.46 To be better able to serve my church 29 3.2 1.70 115 Table 17 Institutional Orientation Item Means and Standard Deviations Variable Item # Item Mean Item SD To maintain the existence of this group or organization 3 2.8 1.47 Because of my loyalty to this group or organization 5 3.0 1.52 Because of the obvious value of this group or organization 9 2.1 1.35 To develop skills in order to better serve this group or organization 12 2.6 1.48 To provide moral support for this group or organization 17 3.1 1.38 Because I feel obligated to this group or organization 20 3.8 1.27 To help this group or organization achieve its goals 27 3.2 1.41 In order to provide leadership for this group or organization 30 3.4 1.41 Because I have a sense of acceptance and trust with other members of this group or organization 31 3.2 1.46 Activity orientation (3.9). A t -test was computed on the overall mean scores between orientations and the only significant difference was between the Learning orientation and the Activity orientation (t = 3.8, p<.05, df=4). 116 In order to further determine whether the Institutional orientation can be identified as a discreet motivational orientation, by virtue of its ability to separate the groups, a one-way analysis of variance was computed between the groups on the Institutional orientation. The Institutional orientation produced the greatest amount of between and within group variance of any of the other orientations which resulted in a significant F-Ratio (F = 34.34). The results of the post-hoc Scheffe' t -test indicated that the Institutional orientation generated the greatest number of significant differences between group means than any of the other orientations (see Table 23, p. 159). mm The means and standard deviations for the Institutional orientation indicate from a visual inspection that there is quite a bit of variability between the groups. The means and standard deviations for the Institutional orientation would suggest that the church-sponsored group is characterized more by that orientation than the other two groups. The high mean scores on the Institutional orientation for the Red Cross and community college groups indicates that this orientation is not predominant but comparatively important The cumulative data from the analysis of Research Question One indicates that there is evidence for the existence of what has been operationally defined as an Institutional orientation which plays a significant role in explaining participation in adult education among the participants of this study. 117 The Institutional orientation produced a significant F-ratio which indicates its ability to differentiate between the groups. Therefore, we can safely say that from the ANOVA results the Institutional orientation was an important reason for participation in learning activities for one or more groups. The Scheffe' test computed on the results of the ANOVA indicated that the Institutional orientation created significant differences between all of the groups. The church-sponsored group differs significantly from the other two groups on the Institutional orientation while the Red Cross group differs significantly from the community college group on the same orientation. It is evident that the church-sponsored group of adult learners is characterized by an Institutional orientation to a higher degree than the other two groups of adult learners. The reason for the greater importance of the Institutional orientation among the church-sponsored group has something to do with participant's feelings of commitment to the church as a significant institution for them. As the evidence from Chapter Two about commitment to an institution indicated, the more significant or highly valued the institution, the greater the sense of commitment to it. W The second research question was posed to determine if any significant differences could be found between the three groups regarding the relative influence of the Institutional orientation and 118 any of the other orientations on the decision to participate? To answer the question about the differences between the groups relative to the various orientations, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was computed followed by the computation of a a posteriori t -test (Scheffe' S ) for multiple means. Email: The results of the means and standard deviation computations indicated that the group means of the church-sponsored group deviated from the other two groups especially on the Religious and Institutional orientations. The item mean scores (see previousTables 13-17) indicate that the Red Cross and community college groups produced item means of 4.5 and 4.0 respectively on the Religious orientation items. The church- sponsored group produced an item mean of 1.7 on the same items. In terms of the survey instrument Likert scale, the two former groups reported the Institutional orientation items to be "somewhat" to "slightly" important whereas the church-sponsored group reported those items to be "very" important. The results of the ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences between the three groups on all of the orientations (Tables 18-22). The Institutional orientation, followed by the Religious orientation accounted for the greatest amount of variance between the groups. On the other hand, the Learning and Goal orientations accounted for the least amount of variance between the groups. The Religious orientation accounted for the least amount of within group 119 Table 18 Goal Orientation by Groups D.F. Sum of Mean of F-Ratio Squares Squares Between groups 2 308.9690 154.4845 6.97* Within groups 87 19273533 22.1535 Total variation 89 22363222 *p<.01 Table 19 Activity Orientation by Groups D.F. Sum of Mean of F-Ratio Squares Squares Between Groups 2 718.2750 359.1375 18.59"I Within Groups 87 1680.7139 19.3186 Total variation 89 2398.9889 *p<.01 120 Table 20 Learning Orientation by Groups D.F. Sum of Mean of F-Ratio Squares Squares Between groups 2 117.1935 58.5967 5.44"I Within groups 88 947.0923 10.7624 Total variation 90 1064.2857 *p<.01 Table 21 Religious Orientation by Groups D.F. Sum of Mean of F-Ratio Squares Squares Between groups 2 2347.1294 1173.5647 142.79“ Within groups 86 706.7807 8.2184 Total variation 88 3053.910] *p<.01 121 Table 22 Institutional Orientation by Groups D.F. Sum of Mean of F-Ratio Squares Squares Between groups 2 3831.7255 1915.8627 34.34* Within groups 88 4909.2635 55.7871 Total variation 90 8740.9890 *p<.01 variance than any of the other orientations followed by the Learning orientation. The significant Fs generated by the AN OVA demanded further analysis of the data in order to specify which orientation means were creating the differences between the groups at a significant level (.05). To identify "which of the parametric functions" (Scheffe', p. 55) in the one-way analysis of variance differed from zero and how much, a multiple comparison technique (Scheffe' S Method) was calculated. The Scheffe' test was used because it makes allowances for the differences in the number of items per orientation (unequal sample size, Koppel, p. 354) and takes into consideration all 15 cells of the study's 3x5 matrix in a linear fashion. Another reason for using this special form of the t- test is that it adjusts for the fact that many t s are 122 being executed thus reducing the experimentwise error rate of spuriously significant t values on comparisons (Keppel, 1973; Cohen & Cohen, 1975). Of all of the possible multiple comparison tests the Scheffe' is the most sensitive to per comparison error rate. Scheffe's sensitivity to Type I errors leads to the "smallest number of significant differences" (W iner, 1962, p. 89) in comparison to the other post-hoc multiple comparison tests. In addition, the Scheffe' test makes possible "any and all possible comparisons involving a set of means" (Gay, p. 322; Cohen & Cohen, p. 158) and is therefore more exploratory. Further, the post-hoe comparison provided by the Scheffe' is most logical in exploratory studies where one is interested in extracting the "maximum amount of information" (Keppel, p. 133). Scheffe' (1959) offers his procedure as a "tool well adapted to 'data sn00ping'" (p. 80). The results of the test are reported in Table 23. The Scheffe' S test computes the limits of a set of simultaneous confidence intervals (I) for any possible comparisons between means (Cohen & Holliday, 1982; Winer, p. 88). When the confidence interval for a given level of significance is smaller than the difference between two means, then the means are significantly different at that level. In Table 23 the confidence interval is given to the left of each set of significantly different means (.05) for each orientation. The orientations are listed in the order of greatest source of difference between means to the least source of difference. 123 Table 23 Scheffe' S Multiple Comparison Test on Orientation Means of Groups Which are Significantly Different‘ Orientation Confidence Group Means Interval Institutional 5.28 Church-sponsored 19.88 *1 Red Cross 30.48 *1 Church-sponsored 19.88 *1 Community College 35.60 *1 Red Cross 30.48 *1 Community College 35.60 *1 Goal 3.32 Red Cross 19.93 *1 Community College 24.60 *1 Church-sponsored 21.00 *1 Community College 24.60 *1 Activity 3.10 Church-sponsored 25.02 *1 Red Cross 31.39 *1 Community College 26.77 *1 Red Cross 31.39 *1 Religious 2.02 Church-sponsored 7.08 *1 Red Cross 18.27 *1 Church-sponsored 7.08 *1 Community College 16.50 *1 Learning 2.31 Community College 8.78 *1 Church-sponsored 11.68 *1 *p<.05 124 The Institutional orientation garnered the greatest number of significantly different means between the groups. The orientation creating the fewest number of significant differences between the group means was the Learning orientation, followed by the Religious and Activity orientations. Further analysis of the Scheffe' test indicates that on the Goal orientation the community college group mean differed significantly from both the Red Cross and the church-sponsored group means of adult learners. On the Activity orientation the Red Cross group differed significantly from both the church-sponsored and community college group means. Significant differences were indicated on the Learning orientation between the church-sponsored and community college group means only. The Religious orientation produced significant differences between the church-sponsored and the other two group means. The Institutional orientation produced significant differences between the church-sponsored group means and the other two group means. In addition, the Red Cross group mean differed significantly from the community college group mean on the Institutional orientation. Discussian The results of the AN OVA indicate that the three groups included in the study differ significantly on all of the orientations. The magnitude of the F-values would suggest that the Religious and Institutional orientations were the sources of the greatest differences between the groups (Popham, p. 172). The church- sponsored group 125 differs significantly from the other two groups for both of those orientations. It might be argued that there is a significant positive relationship between strong religious feelings and strong feelings of commitment to religious institutions. There appears to be a relationship shown by the ANOVA that indicates religious institution participants have a greater sense of commitment to the sponsoring agency in educational settings than do the other groups. The church-sponsored group on the Institutional and Religious orientations, creates the most significant amount of variance than any other group/orientation combination. It seems clear from the AN OVA that the church-sponsored group is significantly different from the other two groups on the Institutional and Religious orientations. The Scheffe' test specified the Institutional orientation as the source of the greatest and most significant differences between the three groups. The Learning orientation produced only one significantly different pair of group means which involved the community college and church-sponsored groups. The other three orientations all produced the same number of significantly different pairs of means. The Learning orientation seems to best represent all three groups in terms of an overall orientation, allowing for the stronger showing among the church-sponsored group on the Religious orientation. This is consistent with the results of the ANOVA which indicated that the Learning orientation was creating the least amount of variance 126 between the groups. The Institutional orientation seems to separate the groups more than the other orientations. The discriminating ability of this particular orientation may be more affected by the type of sponsoring institution than the other orientations, especially the Learning orientation which seems to be an important one across all of the institutions. The strong showing of the Religious orientation among the church-sponsored group did not come as a surprise and in fact was expected. The Religious orientation did not prove to be a significant determinant of participation in adult education for the Red Cross and community college groups. It does have some minor influence on participation in learning activities among these two groups and must be included as part of one's total picture of a typical adult learner's motivational matrix. In spite of Boshier (1971), many researchers (Burgess, Knowles, Courtney) still insist that religious sentiments and beliefs influence the decision to participate (especially in particularly religious activites) and the concomitant motivational framework with which the adult learner explains his/her participatory behavior. In comparison to primarily religiously motivated adult learners the non-religiously motivated adult learner does appear not to be prompted to participate for any religious reasons. But when compared to other typical adult learners (Red Cross to community college) the relative influence becomes more evident and subsequently more significant. 127 l i r R 1 Research Question Three was posed to ascertain if any significant differences existed among the groups in regard to strength of commitment to the sponsoring institution, frequency of attendance,and membership status. This question was answered by comparing the percentage figures between groups for each of the questions using a chi square analysis and by computing t tests on the means for the strength of commitment to frequency of attendance within each group. Results After the data were collected and the results tabulated it was decided to omit the items which asked respondents about formal membership in the organization. This was done because formal membership and being officially enrolled in a course were not measuring the same thing and was creating confusion in coding of the responses. Since the length of membership question was related to membership status it too was deleted. Therefore, only two items were used (Q33,Q36) to measure the Degree of Commitment variable. Based on previous studies which measured degree of commitment to an institution this was deemed to be a sufficient number of items (Chapman & Pascarella, 1983; Abrahamson and Anderson, 1984). Tables 24-25 report the results of the analysis of these questions based on percentage of responses for each scale per item. 128 Table 24 Feelings of Commitment to Institution by Groups How would you Red Cross Community College Church rate your feelings of commitment? n: 32 n: 23 n: 35 Very Weak 3.0% 8.7 % 2.6% Somewhat weak 2.6 8.7 5.7 Neither weak or strong 30.3 39.1 8.6 Somewhat Strong 42.4 26.1 28.6 Very Strong 18.2 13.0 57.1 Table 25 Frequency of Attendance by Groups How often do you Red Cross Community Church attend this activity? College 11: 32 n: 23 n: 35 Very Rarely 33.3% 21.7% 8.6% Rarely 21.2 17.4 2.9 Frequently 27.3 26.1 22.9 Very Frequently 6.1 21.7 62.9 129 An analysis of this percentage data indicates some obvious differences between the groups relative to degree of commitment to the sponsoring institution. In order to determine if these visual differences are in fact significant differences further analysis was required. It is possible to compute the differences between percentages. However, since the data for this analysis involved more than two columns and two rows this procedure was not used (Cohen & Holliday, 1982; Pine, 1977). Instead the data were submitted to a chi square analysis by reducing the percentages back to frequencies per response category per group (Blalock, 1960). This procedure would indicate if there were any significant differences between the commitment variables within and between groups (Popham, p. 282; Siegel, p. 104). During preliminary calculation it was determined that the data in its raw survey form would have to be collapsed in order to meet the requirements for calculating the chi square (Popham, p. 296). The raw data violated the 20% limitation with cells having an expected frequency less than five with 60% of the cells reporting an expected frequency smaller than five (Siegel, 1956). Question 33 was reduced to four response categories (very strong, somewhat strong, somewhat weak, very weak) and question 36 was reduced to two response categories (frequently, rarely). Since what was of interest was whether or not their feelings of commitment were strong or weak, the "neither" response category data were omitted from the chi square analysis. Although data would be lost from the 130 analysis, it was decided that the minimal loss of this less frequently used and neutral category would be offset by the ability to use the chi square on the percentage data (See Tables 26-31). The results of the chi square tests for question 33 as to reported strength of commitment indicates a significant difference between the Red Cross and community college groups, a significant difference between the Red Cross and church-sponsored groups, and between the community college and church-sponsored groups. Question 36 asked respondents to report their frequency of attendance at the educational activity and the results of the chi square analysis indicate no significant differences between the Red Cross and the community college groups. Significant differences are indicated, however, between the church-sponsored group and the other two groups. The chi square procedure was used to test for significant differences between reported strength of commitment (Q 33) and reported attendance frequency (Q 36) within each of the groups (Tables 32-34). The Red Cross group produced a significant chi square between the two variables. The community college and church-sponsored groups did not produce significant chi squares indicative of no differences within the respective groups on those two variables. Discussion The results of the chi square analysis indicate that significant differences exist between the groups relative to reported strength of 131 Table 26 Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Institution Between Red Cross and Community College Red Cross Community College Commitment n= 31 n: 22 N % N % Very Weak 1 3.0 % 2 8.7% Somewhat weak 1 3.0 2 8.7 Somewhat strong 14 42.4 6 26.1 Very strong 6 18.2 3 13.0 x2 = 4.92 p<.05 (DF=3) Table 27 Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Institution Between Red Cross and Church-Sponsored Group Red Cross Church-Sponsored Commitment N % N % Very weak 1 3.0 1 2.6 Somewhat weak 1 3.0 2 5.7 Somewhat strong 14 42.4 10 28.6 Very strong 6 18.2 20 57.1 x2 = 9.32 p<.05 (DF =3) 132 Table 28 Reported Commitment to Sponsoring Institution Between Community College and Church-Sponsored Groups Community Church-Sponsored Commitment College N % N % Very weak 2 8.7 1 2.6 Somewhat weak 2 8.7 2 5.7 Somewhat strong 6 26.1 10 28.6 Very strong 3 13.0 20 57.1 x2 = 9.17 p<.05 (011:3) Table 29 Reported Frequency of Attendance for Red Cross and Community College Frequency of Red Cross Community Attendance College N % N % Rarely 18 54.5 9 39.1 Frequently 11 33.4 11 47.8 x2 = 1.39 ms. 133 Table 30 Reported Frequency of Attendance for Red Cross and Church-Sponsored Group Frequency of Red Cross Church-Sponsored Attendance N % N % Rarely 18 54.5 4 11.5 Frequently 11 33.4 30 85.8 xz : 17.42 p<.001 (DF=1) Table 31 Reported Frequency of Attendance for Community College and Church-Sponsored Groups Frequency of Community Church-Sponsored Attendance College N % N % Rarely 9 39.1 4 11.5 Frequently 11 47.8 30 85.8 x2:7.61 p<.01 (017:1) 134 Table 32 Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within the Red Cross Group Very weak 1 Very rarely 11 Somewhat weak 1 Rarely 7 Somewhat strong 14 Frequently 9 Very strong 6 Very frequently 2 xz : 15.24 p<.01 (DF : 3) Table 33 Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within the Community College Group Very weak 2 Very rarely 5 Somewhat weak 2 Rarely 4 Somewhat strong 6 Frequently 6 Very strong 3 Very frequently 5 xz : 1.01 n.s. (DF : 3) 135 Table 34 Difference Between Reported Degree of Commitment and Frequency of Attendance Within the Church-Sponsored Group Very weak 1 Very rarely 3 Somewhat weak 2 Rarely 1 Somewhat strong 10 Frequently 8 Very strong 20 Very frequently 22 x2 : 1.63 n.s. (DF : 3) commitment to the sponsoring institution. The Red Cross group reports a stronger sense of commitment than does the community college group. However, they are not significantly different when it comes to reported frequency of attendance. The church-sponsored group is significantly different from both groups relative to degree of commitment and frequency of attendance. The percentage differences as reported in Tables 24-25 are in fact significantly different and they indicate that the church-sponsored group has a greater sense of commitment to the sponsoring institution.The church-sponsored group also seems to be willing to translate their reported commitment into external behavior through greater frequency of attendance. Although a question could be raised regarding the validity of self-reports of attendance, the objection would not be well-founded in 136 this case. For one reason, the results indicate that a greater number report lower rates of attendance than report higher rates which one would not expect if they were being erroneously reported. Hagburg (1968) conducted a study designed to assess the validity of the "accuracy of responses dealing with attendance in an adult education program" (p. 237). His results indicated that "91 per cent of the respondents either answered correctly or were in error by one or two class periods" (p. 238) when self-reports were compared to actual class records. Samara The general picture that emerges from the results of this study seem to indicate that the church-sponsored and Red Cross groups are significantly different from the community college group relative to the Institutional orientation and to the strength of commitment to the sponsoring institution. Further, the church-sponsored group stands out as significantly different from both groups on Institutional orientation, strength of commitment, and attendance frequency. In sum, distinct in every way from the other two groups who both report, relatively speaking, a lesser role to the importance of an Institutional orientation on participation in adult education. Aside from the peculiar strength of the Religious orientation, it is the Institutional orientation which demarcates the groups to a significant degree. The Religious orientation is primarily an artifact of the church-sponsored group but does show up among the other two groups 137 although to a lesser degree. The Learning orientation is an important orientation among all of the groups. The impression one receives from the data is that it does not matter what the subject matter is for those who are interested in learning for the sake of learning. Content is not the determining factor, but instead whether or not one is learning. Goal and Activity orientations have less of an impact overall than any of the other orientations. The Goal orientation does seem to be more important among the Red Cross group while the Activity orientation was more important among the church-sponsored group. But nevertheless, these two orientations did not have much of an influence on the subjects in this study. The religious institution which sponsored the adult education activities in this study has participants who apparently are more committed to it than the participants in the educational or social services institutions. The sense of commitment to the sponsoring institution seemingly has an impact on participatory behavior. The attendance rates were significantly higher among the church- sponsored group than the other two groups. It could be that part of the reason for this greater degree of participation is due to the sense of religious obligation incumbant upon a church member to attend Sunday School and other church services. It would be important to know how the church-sponsored group would compare to other similar groups on these same variables. 138 It seems fair to conclude that what has been hypothesized as an Institutional orientation has in fact emerged as a significant part of the participant's motivational orientation matrix. This is especially true for the church-sponsored and Red Cross groups and to a lesser extent for the community college group. It must also be admitted, it seems, that the Institutional orientation not only plays a role in an adult's orientational framework but subsequent attendance patterns as well. One could conclude from the results of the study that the more prominent the Institutional orientation in determining participation in adult education, the greater the reported degree of commitment to the sponsoring institution. Further, the greater the reported sense of commitment to the sponsoring institution, the greater the frequency of attendance. Therefore, Etzioni's theory of moral commitment (as discussed in Chapter Two) which would have an impact on frequency of participation has been supported by the results of this study. Chapter 5 Conclusions Analysis of the research on motivation/learning orientation has demonstrated the need for considering the inclusion of an Institutional orientation into the discussion of orientations with which adults explain participation in adult education. The orientation hypothesized in this inquiry had heretofore not been identfied as a distinct learning orientation. The present study was an attempt to follow the early leads given in the professional literature on the problem of motivation to participate, and the intuitive assumptions of professional adult religious educators. Such early leads suggested that the problem be viewed from an inter-disciplinary perspective. Beginning with the work of Cartwright (1924) and continuing through to Boshier (1985) researchers have sought to allow participants in adult education to explain why they actively pursue continuing learning experiences. Responses have varied from group to group but an overall pattern seemed to emerge that could, with some minor reservations (Boshier), be placed within the Houlian tripartite typology of Goal, Activity, and Learning orientations. This study has not attempted to test Houle's typology, that has been done in numerous previous studies, most notably by Boshier. The parsimony and empirical rigor of the typology has been assumed to be 139 140 valid for the purposes of this study. This conclusion has not been reached blindly, but based on solid empirical evidence from the plethora of studies which Houle's little volume has generated over the years. Although Houle (1961) acknowledged the existence of a religious motivation (p. 39) among some of his interviewees, nevertheless, it was left to Burgess to empirically demonstrate the importance such an orientation has for some adults. Boshier's objections to Burgess' identification of the Religious orientation factor should be viewed with some suspicion. Courtney (1984) observes that the question of which items to include and omit "has very little to do with factor scoring which occurs 'after the event' . . . but depends on a theory and nothing else" (p. 184). If one were to take Boshier's objections seriously, it would be impossible to identify any orientation, never mind a religious one. Boshier's methodological concerns with Burgess' research do not seem to have much credibility since his own work is seriously flawed methodologically (Courtney, 1984, p. 179ff). In spite of previous theoretical models proposed in the literature, later researchers did not seem interested in pursuing a line of inquiry more sociological in nature. There seemed to be clear evidence from the fields of religious education, sociology, and adult education for the existence of another orientational component to help further explain the participatory behavior of adults in voluntary educational activities. The present inquiry preferred to label this element as an Institutional orientation which described a sense of commitment, 141 loyalty, solidarity, obligation, or even a sense of duty which an adult participant may feel toward the institution or group which sponsors an educational activity. The Institutional orientation focused on the sociological dimension to participation in adult education which had been theorized to be a significant explainer or possibly even determiner of participation but which had never been empirically tested. The results of the present study suggest that this Institutional orientation must be considered seriously as one more way to explain participation in adult education. It is not a significant orientation in all groups of adult learners, but is in those settings where the sponsoring institution is viewed as extraordinarily important and worthwhile. The more highly esteemed the sponsoring institution, it seems, the greater the role of the Institutional orientation in explaining participation in adult education. The Church and Red Cross emerged from this study as institutions with deeply committed participants who translate their internal Institutional orientation into more active involvement in the educational activities sponsored by the institution. At a practical level, Miller's (1967) "social forces" as well as Knox and Videbeck's (1963) "patterned participation" theories should be given more serious consideration. These have suggested that adult education could enlarge its impact on American society by using groups, organizations, and institutions with which prospective participants already have some kind of linkage. Implied in the idea of 142 linkage is a sense of truSt, loyalty, and valuing of that institution or group. Houle (1961) recognized this (pp. 50-51) and suggested that those who understood the significance of this element were "perceptive" adult educators. People apparently hold a hierarchy of values when it comes to social-cultural institutions. Some are more important than others and probably the best evidence of this can be seen in the different amounts of money contributed to such institutions every year. Institutions like the Church and the Red Cross receive a large share of this yearly contribution. The 1984 Winnipeg Area Study (Cheal, 1987) found that "religious organizations were the major beneficiaries of contributions from persons who gave more than $10 to a community organization in 1983" (p. 215). Health and medical institutions and agencies were a close second (28.9%). It seems reasonable to insist that adult education needs to be sponsored by those institutions which will insure its greatest success. It is too important an enterprise not to be given the best opportunity to have its desired impact on the adult populace. The evidence from this study might lead one to suppose that the best place to create such a positive response would be in those institutions that are viewed as important and significant by adults. The direction of this discussion would inevitably lead to some reconsideration among religious educators and course coordinators at institutions like the Red Cross, YMCA, YWCA and churches, of the role these institutions would play in adult education. It would involve, 143 among other things, a willingness to enlarge the accepted realm of course content. This would probably present more of a problem to the church-sponsored religious educators than for the other institutions. Bergevin (1967) sees the problem of "fragmentation" (p. 42) to be indicative of many social institutions in the country and a detriment to the intended outcomes of adult education regarding the promoting of holistic development of persons. He argues that "every public or private institution in which an adult is involved must carry its share of this task" (p. 41). When such institutions do not offer a broad range of instructional opportunities these institutions are "failing society . . . because the learner rarely, if ever, has an opportunity to see the whole" (p. 42). The religious educator would want to reconsider the traditional distinction that has been made between "sacred" and "secular" subjects. If one accepts such a dichotomy as legitimate, then it may be impossible to incorporate "secular" subject areas into the current course offerings. McKenzie (1982) agrees that the church often has a myopic view of allowable educational content. He observes that many churches are "fixated on theological content and explicitly religious content to the exclusion of all other adult concerns" (p. 57). If adult religious educators could be convinced of the fallacy in such a dichotomy, then there might be the possibility of recreating a Chautauqua-like experience in adult religious education in the United States. The strength and beauty of Vincent's program can be found in his philosophy of religious education. He refused to accept the 144 validity of a dichotomy between sacred and secular. Vincent argued that "all knowledge, religious or secular, is sacred to him who reverently surrenders himself to God" (p. 72 as cited in Grattan, 1959) These sorts of issues will have to be addressed if the Church and other institutions are going to capitalize on the obvious influence they exert on the participatory behavior of adult learners. h l ' l The problem encountered in this study with measuring membership status between diverse types of voluntary organizations needs to be examined further. Is it an important enough variable to invest time and effort in, and if so, how can compatible measures be made between two organizations with different modes of identifying official members? The response categories for the strength of commitment item (Q 33) should probably delete the "neither" category. First, because it creates problems in coding and data analysis because it does not logically fit into one of the other two categories. And secondly, as a result the data may be lost from the data analysis. Thirdly, offering a "neither" response fails to give an accurate reading of how the respondent feels about the sponsoring institution. One is really interested in how strong or how weak those feelings of commitment are and so that interest should be reflected in the response options. W The present study has indicated the possibility of a new line of inquiry into issues related to participation in adult education. Within 145 a sociological framework, and focusing on the role of an Institutional orientation, and the concomitant issues of commitment to an institution, one may probe at length for a clearer understanding of relevant components that impinge upon participation in adult education. Future research should address the following areas: 1. The predictive ability of the Institutional orientation on the reported degree of commitment, attendance frequency, and membership status. 2. Further analysis of each type of institution used in this study and others, to see if the patterns identified in this study can be found among similar institutions in other locations. 3. The relationship between religion/religious feelings and commitment. 4. The degree to which nonparticipants differ from participants on the Institutional orientation and strength of commitment variables. 5. The relationship between reported influence of the Institutional orientation and frequency of attendance as well as membership status. Realism Assuming the validity of the results of this present study, one's satisfaction with the current taxonomy of motivational/learning orientations has been greatly reduced. The results clearly indicate that an adult's sense of commitment and loyalty to a sponsoring institution as well as the sense of community and ownership which this creates, plays a significant role in determining participatory behavior. The available taxonomy has been expanded from this study to include 146 an Institutional orientation that among some groups is just as, if not more dominant, than previously identified orientations that often reflect vocatiOnal concerns. The results seem to indicate the need to reconceptualize the problem of motivational/learning orientations as well as the whole issue of participation in voluntary associations of various sorts. The previous explanations were limited by an imbalanced focus on the individual psychological states of the adult participant to the exclusion of sociological dimensions of the issue. This study begins a process started by the earlier theorists (Knox, Videbeck, Rockhill) and lately crystalized by Courtney to bring the research back to a more balanced perspective. It must be made clear what this study does not demonstrate. A distinction must be made between an adult's commitment to an institution and to the pe0ple who participate in the activities sponsored by the institution. The latter reflects more of a social orientation or a need to get to know others. The focus of this study was only on the adult's perceived commitment to the institution as an institution. Such a commitment to the sponsoring institution was evident not just among the church-sponsored group but also among the Red Cross group to a significant degree and in the community college group although not statistically significant. One might conclude that the Institutional orientation is not an artifact of religion per se but is common to many groups. 147 Bergevin (1967) has observed that such an "institutional approach" (p. 45) includes many diverse organizations within the larger social community such as "the church, the family, industry, shcool, agricultural organizations, government, hospitals, libraries, service clubs, and unions" (p. 44). Bergevin's comments are relevant to the current discussion and will be quoted at length: The institutional approach can be a practical and effective way to solve many problems of adult education. It has striking advantages. We all belong to something; we gather together in these already established institutions. We have enough common interests to form a core for the operation of a . program of adult education. Getting a group together in a particular institution is not only easier physically than trying to get a cross-sectional social group together, but it seems more natural to the participants . . . frequently people have a degree of loyalty toward an institution that makes it easier to get groups of potential learners together (italics mine, p. 45, 165). If we are confronted with a commitment issue then we must face some tough questions. Can we create instant loyalty to an institution if it does not already exist? Can we create an institution that has the loyalty and commitment of participants? We must consider how adult education can be promoted within those institutions that are perceived by adults as significant and valuable and already have their commitment and loyalty. If loyalty and commitment can be created toward an institution, then the dynamics of that process need to be more fully explored and identified. Kuhn and Geis consequently argued, that the Church has something to teach other institutions and 148 organizations about how to create and maintain member commitment and loyalty. It may be that excluding religious education of adults from most of the research on the subject of motivation to participate in adult education, has proved to be detrimental to a complete understanding of the relevant dynamics involved. It is possible that we are seeing reflected in this study a significant shift in the thinking of the average American adult. A movement from an overly individualistic perspective that "obscures . . . the moral reality that links person and society" to a "shared commitment to the good" (Bellah, et al 1985). Bellah et al observed a growing concern for the forming of "communities of memory" where individuals are bound to one another through "practices of commitment" rather than being solely concerned for one's personal welfare (radical individualism). Illich (197 0) proposed something similar through "deschooling" institiutions and making them more "convivial" in the sense of creating "enclaves" where individuals could create their own community of "learning webs." It could be that what is being reflected in the results of this study (and otherslike Bellah et al) is what Mezirow (1978) prefers to call a "perspective transformation." If this is so, we may be on the verge of unlocking a new era in adult education. It remains to be seen whether or not we will listen to our adults and decide how best to incorporate this sense of commitment to valued social institutions into viable educational opportunities sponsored by such insititutions. We may find that the problem of participation in adult education is part of a 149 larger social problem of attempting to mitigate the negative influences of radical individualism that are over-balanced in our American culture. It seems clear from this study that the direction of the research needs to be re-focused. It is now time to investigate more fully the other variables that are operating to influence an adult's participation in educational activities. We have already probed the depths of the adult psyche, now we must probe with equal vigor and rigor the forces at work which influence the relationship between the adult and the institution sponsoring educational activities. It appears that the relationship is significant for the adult. It now remains for others to explore the various facets of this dynamic relationship to find out how it develops, how it is maintained, and what must be done to keep it an active and positive influence. APPENDICES Appendix A Reasons for Participation in Learning Activities The learning activity you are presently attending is and the sponsoring agency is . In reference to this present learning experience, how would you rate the following statements identifying reasons why you attend THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN WHICH YOU ARE NOW ENROLLED? 1: 0s 01%,: 1': Cult :{\|\ : III Rate your responses based upon the following scale Very Fairly Somewhat Slightly Not Important Important Important Important Important (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) C' I II I II I l I l' 1. To become more effective as a citizen of this city 1 2 3 4 5 2. To escape an unhappy relationship 1 2 3 4 5 3. To maintain the existence of this organization or group 1 2 3 4 5 4. To make new friends 1 2 3 4 5 5. Because of my loyalty to this organization or group 1 2 3 4 5 150 151 Very Important = 1 Fairly Important = 2 Somewhat Important = 3 Slightly Important = 4 Not Important = 5 6. To become a better informed person 7. To escape television 8. To prepare for service to my community 9. Because of the obvious value of this group or organization 10. To get away from the routines of daily living 11. To improve my spiritual well-being 12. To develop skills in order to better help this group or organization 13. To give me a sense of belonging to a group 14. To get relief from boredom 15. In order to learn more about religion 16. To improve my ability to serve mankind 17. To provide moral support for this group or organization 18. To share a common interest with others (spouse or friend) 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 152 Very Important = 1 Fairly Important = 2 Somewhat Important = 3 Slightly Important = 4 Not Important = 5 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. To satisfy a desire to learn something new Because I feel obligated to this group or organization To seek knowledge for its own sake To engage in the discussion of ideas To learn how to get along better with other people To retrain for vocational changes To satisfy a desire to know To provide a means of religious expression for me To help this group or organization achieve its goals To secure professional advancement To be better able to serve my church In order to provide leadership for this group or organization Because I have a sense of acceptance and trust with other members of the group or organization 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 12345 153 32. You may have some other reasons for participating in this learning activity, which were not listed in this questionnaire. Please feel free to list the reasons in the space provided below. 1. 12345 2. 12345 3. 12345 33. How would you rate your feeling of commitment or loyalty to this group or organization providing the learning activity? Circle One. Very Somewhat Neither Weak Somewhat Very Strong Strong or Strong Weak . Weak (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 34. Are you presently a formal member of this group or organization? Yes__ No— 35. How long a member? Less than 1 year_ 1-3 Years_ 4-6 Years_ 7-9 Years_ 10 or more years_ 36. You attend the present educational activity: Very Frequently Frequently Rarely Very Rarely 1 2 3 4 37. Your present age is: Below 25__ 26-35_ 36-50__ 51-65__ 66 or older— 154 38. Your present level of education is: High School_ Trade School_ Junior College_ College_ Graduate School_ Post-graduate— 39. Your present yearly income level (total family) is: Below $20,000_ $21,000 to $30,000_ $31,000 to $40,000— $41,000 to $50,000_ Above $51,000_ 40. Your present occupation is: Blue collar laborer_ Clerk__ Professional__ Retired__ Homemaker__ Educator___ Student_ Other 41. Sex: Male_ Female___ The questionnaire is complete at this point. Be sure you have responded to all of the items you intended to. Thank you for your help! Appendix B Eton-(Category Classification Sheet Directions: Please analyze the the appropriateness of including each questionnaire item in its present category of learning orientation. Check yes if it should remain, no if it should be deleted, change if it should be placed in another category. GOAL ORIENTATION 1. To become a more effective as a citizen of this city 8. To prepare for service to my community 16. To improve my ability to serve mankind 22. To engage in the discussion of ideas 23. To learn how to get along better with other people 24. To retrain for vocational changes 28. To secure professional advancement 155 m 1111 9112112219 1 5 6 ACTIVITY ORIENTATION 2. To escape an unhappy relationship 4. To make new friends 7. To escape television 10. To get away from the routines of daily living 13. To give me a sense of belonging to a group 14. To get relief from boredom 18. To share a common interest with others (spouse or friend) LEARNING ORIENTATION 6. To become a better informed person 19. To satisfy a desire to learn something new 21. To seek knowledge for its own sake 25. To satisfy a desire to know RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION 11. To improve my spiritual well-being 15. In order to learn more about religion 157 26. To provide a means of religious expression for me 29. To be better able to serve my church INSTITUTIONAL ORIENTATION 3. To maintain the existence of this organization or group 5. Because of my loyalty to this organization or group 9. Because of the obvious value of this group or organizatibn 12. To develop skills in order to better serve this group or organization 17. To provide moral support for this group or organization 20. Because I feel obligated to this group or organization 27. To help this group or organization achieve its goals 30. In order to provide leadership for this group or organization 31. Because I have a sense of acceptance and trust with other members of this group or organization _ __ Please feel free to make any additional comments you think might be helpful regarding items and categories, as well as the survey instrument itself. 158 Dr. Sean Courtney National College of Education 1000 Executive Parkway Creve Coeur, MO 63141-6325 May 25, 1986 Dear Sean: I am interested in determining if a previously unidentified learning/motivational orientation can be identified among adults currently participating in various forms of adult education. I have labeled this an "institutional" orientation. It describes a sense of commitment, loyalty, obligation, and solidarity that the adult learner has toward the group or institution which sponsors the educational experience. I am wondering if you might be able to assist me. In order to determine the content and construct validity of my survey items, I am asking selected professors of adult education to respond to an item analysis. I am especially concerned that the "institutional" category be distinct and different from the other previously identified motivational orientations. I am also enclosing a copy of the survey instrument from which the items are derived. I would welcome any suggestions you might have concerning it as well, if time permits. I have included a self-addressed, stamped envelope for your convenience. If you cannot find the time, just drop me a note in the envelope. Thank you for your help. It is deeply appreciated. Warmly, Stephen D. Lowe, Head Department of Religious Education Appendix C INSTITUTIONAL ORIENTATION SURVEY CODEBOOK OLUMN LABEL VALUE LABEL WIDTH # ID 1 R's ID# 1 1 1:1 2 3 4 9 MD ID 2 Spon Agen 1 Red Cross 1 1:2 2 JuCo 3 UBC 9 MD Q1 Effcitcomty 1 V. Impt 1 1:3 2 F. Impt 3 Some Impt 4 SliteImpt 5 Not Impt 9 MD Q 2 Escunhaprel same same 1 1:4 Q3 Maintainorg " " 1 1:5 Q4 Newfriends " " 1 1:6 Q5 Loyaltyorg " " 1 1:7 Q6 Betterinform " " 1 8 Q7 EscapeTV " " 1 9 Q8 Servcommty " " 1 10 Q9 Valueorg " " 1 11 Q10 Escroutine " " 1 12 159 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Imprspirit Skilhelporg Belonggroup Reliefbore Learnrelg Serveman Moralsuport Shareinterst Satfydesire Obligateorg Knowsake Discusideas Getalongpeop Retrain job Satifyknow Relgexpress Helpgoalorg Profadvance Servechurch Leadorg Trustmemorg " ReasonsPart Ratefeelorg FormMemb LengMemb Frqutt MNH‘OMAMNHWQNHWUI-BWNH 160 open V.Strong SomeStrong Neither SomWeak V.Weak MD Yes No NA MD Less lyr 1-3yrs 4-6yrs 7-9yrs 104-yrs MD V.Freq Freq Rare HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Q37 Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 R'sAge R'sEduc R'sIncome R'sOccup R'sSex ©NH¥D®~I€KM800NFH¥O®UIAUNHVQONUI15MNHWUIAUNt-iwh- 161 V.Rare MD Belo25 26-35 36-50 51-65 66+ MD High School TradeSch J uCo College Grad Postgrad MD Be1020,000 21-30,000 31-40,000 41-50,000 51,000+ NA MD Bluecolloar Clerk Professional Retired Homemaker Educator Student Other MD Male Female MD 39 40 41 42 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Abrahamson, Mark and Anderson, William P. 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