In recent weeks, eight adult education practitioners in Pennsylvania have been participating in a project related to E.D. Hirsch’s “The New First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy”. The author’s basic premise is that there are severe gaps in children’s’ knowledge base which greatly limit their historical, political, geographical, technological, and cultural perspective. Hirsch selected twenty-one general categories and lists dozens of terms with definitions or explanations within each category. He advocates incorporating lessons into the basic school curricula which will begin to fill these knowledge gaps. Hirsch considers this every bit as important as teaching the various skill sets normally associated with academic course work.

  I believe that this concept applies to all levels of education, but especially to the typical students who are enrolled in adult education classes. I chose the term ‘learning deprivation’ to describe this dynamic. This cohort is borderline culturally illiterate for various reasons including dropping out of high school early, limited learning opportunities in their family surroundings, a narrow vision of the rest of the world, little concern for current  political and social issues, little travel experience, and minimal participation in positive group associations related to such activities as sports, band, drama, theater, social clubs, etc. In other words, many adult education students have been ‘deprived’ of the opportunity to acquire a broader knowledge base. Consequently, in traditional classroom settings it is difficult for them to sense the truly integrated nature of all of the subject material being presented.