DescriptionThis ethnographic study examined how one adult education center engaged out-of school males (16-25 years old) in learning. Drawing from a learner-centered paradigm, the author reflected on her journey to the problem through her own school experience as well as her years with out-of-school youth in community settings. The literature review covers four areas – scope of the high school dropout problem, engagement, emergent adulthood, and programs currently attempting to engage this population. Research was conducted at The Downtown Learning Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The four findings of this study centered on components of the “web”, or adult education center that engaged the young men in learning. Affective relationship, interior
and exterior space, and learning activities promoting engagement are the “threads” that re-engaged the young men in learning. In addition to these threads, the study reveals continued threats to this re-engagement. These findings have potential implications for teacher professional development and program design for adult education centers and schools attempting to re-engage this population in learning.