African Americans and Self-Help Education: The Missing Link in Adult Education. ERIC Digest No. 222.

Self-help education and self-help literature is important in the lives of African American adults, but the basic models of learning, development, and program planning in adult education have often been developed with little concern for the unique needs of African Americans. In addition, current theories of adult learning often lack understanding of culture and the role that race, economics, and gender play in the learning transaction. For example, some critics argue that three of the main theories of adult education--andragogy, self-directed learning, and perspective transformation--focus heavily on the individual and do not recognize the value of groups, as an Africentric perspective would. An Africentric perspective should be considered in developing models for learning and development. Africentric books present sensitive issues and point out those hidden barriers that only other African Americans who have experienced them first hand would know. The emphasis on self-actualization or student-centered learning has been the mainstay of the African American community; from the days of slavery, African Americans have had to develop coping skills just to stay alive. Self-help and adult education are models exemplified by such men as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois. Given the need for self-help education in the lives of African Americans, adult educators can conduct research to discover the applicability of the mainstream models of self-help for African Americans and learn to use new Africentric models. (Contains 15 references.) (KC)