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'Continuous meritocracy' was introduced in Singapore to redefine the concepts of talent and ability in Singapore society. This expanded meaning of meritocracy serves as another way to further support the SkillsFuture Singapore movement (Skillsfuture Singapore, 2023b), which was launched in 2016. 'Continuous meritocracy' complements Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programs, which were to provide adult learners opportunities to integrate practical work experiences with academic learning. However, to fully operationalize WIL in the domain of adult learners, this paper points out that it is vital for the Singapore government and the different stakeholders to endorse the different forms of successes by making them more visible in the society. Utilizing Pierre Bourdieu's key theoretical concepts, this paper discusses the relationship between blue-collar adult learners' dispositions and WIL and proposes an ecosystemic approach that is based on work-integrated (adult) learning (WIAL) to transform the Singapore blue-collar workers' habitus with the aim to visualize 'continuous meritocracy' at the ground level.

In Australia, there is no one cohesive program design or curriculum which provides a framework for adult learning in Adult Community Education (ACE) organisations, with the two major states New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria leading the most developed systems. Many adult learners who learn in these education settings return to study to find pathways to employment, or to re-train for a new role after losing their job. In addition, later-life learners may attend because they want to remain healthy, participate in leisure activities, build friendships and remain active and engaged in their later years. Many of the learners are 'second chance learners' who have had prior negative experiences with the neoliberal system which assesses, ranks, and categorises learners according to their academic abilities. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive framework for the delivery of pre-accredited training in Australia, founded on social constructivist theory, learner-centred pedagogy, and course design enhanced by Nussbaum's Capability Framework. We commence the article by delivering a context for adult education policy and social justice education in the development of the ACE system. What we mean by a socially just education is one in which all people access a critical and democratic curriculum with equity and access to resources at its core. In this paper, we argue for the importance of adult learning, which is holistic, flexible, and nimble to cater for diverse learners and learning needs.

Purpose: This study aims to reflect on "good practices" in doctoral research supervision and transfer the author's experience to other academics. The author explains the sources of his approach to doctoral research supervision drawing on traditional practice in adult learning and some reference to phenomenology as a "meeting of minds" between academic and industry mindsets. Design/methodology/approach: This is a reflective paper condensing many years of practical experience advising industry managers doing doctoral research. It is not an empirical study as such but draws on extensive practitioner experience based on many successful PhD completions in the business and management domain. Findings: There are no empirical findings as such, but ample practical experience of doctoral research process and outcomes over 40 years of supervision in both the UK and Australian Universities. Research limitations/implications: Generalisation is limited to the number of doctoral research completions (between 70 and 80). Practical implications: The paper concludes with indicators of what the author regards as "good practices" in doctoral research supervision. Social implications: None is directly applicable, but academe-industry working partnerships might be improved with the author's learner- and customer-centred approach to doctoral research with adults in senior positions in the industry wanting to do research. Originality/value: This paper is based entirely on the author's own working experience as a senior academic in UK and Australian Universities.

This paper presents an enhanced evaluation framework for teacher professional development programmes, which is based on one originally proposed by Huber in 2011. This paper draws on a study on the Professional Up-skilling of English Language Teachers (ProELT) programme in Sabah (Borneo), Malaysia. The study adopted a mixed methods exploratory sequential design using a questionnaire survey, individual interviews and a focus group discussion. Based on the findings from the study, four new components have been added to Huber's original framework, namely (1) selection of participants, (2) incorporation of the Adult Learning principles, (3) follow-up support, and (4) assessment of programme impact. This enhanced framework has significant contributions to make to programme designers and programme providers, in providing them with additional guidelines to consider when designing the pre-, ongoing and post-phases of a teacher professional development programme.

This paper responds to Ippolito et al.'s (2021) "wonder," "What preparation and in-service support do coaches need to become systems thinkers, thought leaders, and change agents within their schools" (p. 182) by describing the obstacles and complexities experienced by two first-year literacy coaches as they transitioned from classroom teacher to coach. They described challenges related to adult learning principles and communication (e.g., questioning) and understanding their role and position when working with teachers. Ultimately, they wanted to feel valuable to teachers but did not know what that looked like. The findings from this paper highlight the need for specific training in negotiating roles within relationships and adult learning principles. Coaches must understand adult-centered communication and receive ongoing professional learning to develop a repertoire of adult communication strategies that will help them work with a broad swath of teachers.

English, as a language, has become a common way of communication across the globe, resulting in a need for many to read and understand the language. As various countries have opened up to foreigners who seek to do business, study, or live in non-English-speaking countries, the need for having a common language has led to the establishment of English across the world. Over the years, non-native English-speaking countries have developed curriculums for their citizens, especially adults to enable them to teach themselves English. However, the courses have been rather expensive to undertake, leaving the underprivileged looking for alternatives. This paper seeks to look into the issue of accessibility by introducing the benefits of technology in learning English as a Second Language (ESL) and discussing how it has revolutionised teaching in non-native speaking countries. More specifically, this paper will look at Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and its importance towards teaching ESL. Additionally, it will highlight the importance of technology towards teaching students ESL through software and websites, as well as shed light towards some of the negative aspects of technology integration in ESL adult learning.

The predicted growth of the aged care sector in Australia, driven by the ageing population, is expected to create an increasing need for workplaces to support the development for all kinds and classifications of workers to undertake their work within multicultural settings. This paper describes and elaborates the necessary and increasing requirement for workplaces to support adult learning in multicultural circumstances. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data from workers undertaking the role of carer in residential aged care facilities across the east coast of Australia. Arising from the collection and analysis of these data are contributions to knowledge including a conceptual model for understanding learning in multicultural settings. This research emphasizes a notion that cultural diversity has a fundamental influence on workplace learning in aged care and identifies practices to support cross-cultural communication, coworking and learning. Further, inter-worker learning is reinforced as a key enabler of performance in aged care work. Such contributions help to understand what influences workplace learning in multicultural settings and how it may be better supported.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the determinants of student loyalty, i.e. service quality, e-service quality and university image in open and distance learning (ODL) based on the theory of reasoned action, in more systematic approach. This study also examines university's image role as a mediator on the relationship between service quality and e-service quality towards student loyalty. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops an integrative conceptual framework along with propositions by integrating comprehensive literature, in the field of service quality, e-service quality, university image and student loyalty. Through the review of detail literature and based theory of reasoned action (TRA), it is proposed that service quality, e-service quality and university image would be meaningful attributes towards student loyalty. In addition, it is also contended that university image would mediate the relationship between service quality and e-service quality towards students' loyalty. Findings: This paper provides an integrative conceptual framework on service quality, e-service quality, university image and students loyalty in open and distance learning (ODL) context. Originality/value: None of the models presented in the literature explore the mediation of university image on the relationship between service quality and e-service quality towards student loyalty as the most recent research on the subject envisages.

This paper probes whether a formal college education is linked to the quality of policing. Citizens desire a higher level of professionalism with ever-increasing demands placed on their police departments. Annual on-the-job training for police is common with proposed reform initiatives, however, the difference between police training and requiring a college degree is in debate. Other professions require higher education, however, those who work in policing often do not agree there should be a requirement of a higher education degree for employment. Can police obtain all the necessary skills from the police academy and in-house training? Or in the pursuit of professionalizing the profession should police agencies require college degrees? Further, would a college degree enhance the quality of interactions between the police and the community? This inquiry adds some pieces to the puzzle of examining the value of requiring a college education for police officers and the relationship of experimental learning in training police academies within a college curriculum. Over a three-year period, criminal justice students (N=75) enrolled in an online bachelor's program were asked "do you think police departments should require a bachelor's degree?" The respondents included traditional and non-traditional male and female adult learners many current law enforcement officers. The assumption was since they were currently enrolled in a criminal justice degree program, they would see the value in a degree and indicate a college degree should be mandated.

In the era of digital transformation, the intersection of adult learning, digital competence, global progress, and sustainable development emerges as a pivotal focus. This article dives into the complex interaction of these factors centering on the pivotal role of digital competence in advancing sustainable development goals through adult education. By exploring the dynamic landscape of technology and education, the paper investigates how enhancing digital competence among adult learners facilitates global understanding and fosters sustainable behaviors. The accessibility afforded by digital education empowers individuals at any life stage or circumstance to actively participate in lifelong learning, upskilling, and reskilling. The research systematically examines literature to capture the essence of the study, emphasizing the vital importance of digital competency for global understanding and sustainable development. It elucidates key concepts, unraveling the intricate relationship between digital transition, adult education, and the overarching pursuit of sustainability. This study posits hypotheses that underscore the critical role of digital competence in sparking global knowledge and catalyzing sustainable development within the dynamic realm of digital change. It contends that digital technologies, through personalized education, contribute significantly to the achievement of global sustainability goals. The findings accentuate how the digital revolution in adult education transcends conventional boundaries, leveraging technology to democratize knowledge and foster global collaboration. Empowered as change agents, learners equipped with both global awareness and sustainable skills have the potential to propel society towards a more interconnected and sustainable future. The study concludes with insights underscoring the profound link between digital competency, global awareness, adult education, and sustainable development, offering valuable guidance for educators, policymakers, and academics.

Understanding what constitutes learning across working life and how negotiating worklife transitions can be best supported has never been more important for working age adults, their workplaces and communities. The kinds and frequencies of changes in occupational and workplace requirements have consequences for personal goals, workplace viability and communities' economic and social wellbeing. Hence, for both individual and societal purposes we need to elaborate the goals for and processes of that learning and what constitutes educative worklife experiences. Drawing on a three-phase investigation of adults' worklife learning the kinds and qualities of the educative experiences directly or indirectly guiding, supporting and extending individuals' learning and development are elaborated. This includes pathways of experiences across working life: personal curriculums. The paper reports and discusses the data from: (i) worklife narratives and follow-up interviews, and (ii) 18-month monitoring of work and learning of a cohort of workers. It furthers the case for viewing lifelong learning and lifelong education as being distinct and sperate phenomena, the interdependence among the contributions of adults, their educational experiences and those provided by their communities, leading to the explanatory concepts of personal curriculum and educative experiences to illuminate and elaborate learning and development across working life.

To what extent does educational gaming add value to more traditional instructional models in learning core concepts of national security and warfighting? This paper presents the results from a quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal study of students taking two standardized courses in the Joint Military Operations department at the US Naval War College. Split into wargaming and non-wargaming sections by instructor preference, subject learning is measured through self-reported and objective measures at three points: prior to the start of the content block on "Operational Art"; after the case study of the WW2 battle of Leyte Gulf but prior to any wargaming; and for subjects in wargaming course sections, after participating in the Leyte Gulf scenario of the "War at Sea" wargame. The results support the hypotheses that wargaming increases learning and alter student preferences in favor of learning through gaming but fail to find evidence that students recognize the value of the debriefing phase of educational gaming. This article adds to existing studies by focusing on an understudied practitioner population--graduate-level career military officers at a professional military education (PME) institution--and mitigating several of the methodological challenges facing many scholarly projects in the study of educational gaming in political science.

From November 2015 to October 2020, Canada had welcomed 44,620 Syrian refugees to more than 350 communities across the country. In 2019, it further surpassed the United States and Australia in the number of refugees settled. Lacking the necessary language skills for living and working in a new country is one of the most critical barriers refugees face. This paper aims to inform language-teaching professionals about pertinent linguistic and nonlinguistic issues as well as pedagogical implications associated with supporting adult Syrian refugee learners, drawing both on the literature more broadly and on the author's research in the Canadian context.

This paper draws on longitudinal birth cohort data for Britain to analyse participation in learning activities by people in their 30s and 40s. People in this age group have received less attention than either young adults or people in retirement. Yet technical change and the need for new skills make it important for them to engage in learning to improve their prospects at work. We investigate participation and non-participation in a range of different types of learning including gaining qualifications, vocational training and learning for interest. Statistical models explore how factors which occur before their 30s influence learning in this phase of the lifecourse. The results show that cumulative advantage is important -- those with the highest qualifications in early adulthood were most likely to engage in further learning later on. Participation in learning activities of any kind in young adulthood was also a key antecedent factor predicting higher chances of participating in learning in mid-life.

This paper focuses on learning that takes place outside formal classrooms within groups or teams. Based on the conceptual framework of informal learning, adult learning and lifelong learning, it investigates how two contrasting groups of adult learners in Vietnam, Mekong doctors and Hanoi hairdressers, learn, interact, and collaborate through their informal learning experiences in the workplace. These are two 'co-present groups' or two 'complex systems'. For Vietnamese learners, the challenges of Confucian heritage culture, or the lack of awareness of cultural differences, created obstacles to collaboration and participation. The contribution to this Special Issue argues that co-present group learning applies well to non-Western Confucius-based cultures and other countries with similar values, despite this lack of awareness of cultural differences.

Mathematical dispositions, or an individual's behavioral (i.e., things they say and do), cognitive (i.e., attention and memory), and affective (i.e., emotions and beliefs) tendencies related to mathematics, are critical to the learning of mathematics and choices related to STEM. Previous research has suggested that adult learners may possess unproductive mathematical dispositions, such as high math anxiety and low math self-efficacy. This paper argues that unproductive mathematical dispositions may serve as a barrier to adult learners' STEM choices and provides strategies and techniques to help move adult learners towards productive mathematical dispositions and potentially stronger attraction to STEM fields.

Learner agency, often understood in terms of self-direction and negotiated engagement, is considered important in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Yet nurturing and supporting agency is resource-intensive and difficult. In this paper, we consider learner agency for online TVET--a setting where content delivery models can be experienced as stultifying. We document the design and evaluation of specific task designs using the method and principle of double-stimulation, where prompts help participants to reconceptualise problematic situations and break out of conflicting motives. We draw on data from a research-intervention with adult learners undertaking a facilities management diploma online, while working. We explore how, across nine online workshops, task designs engendered transformative agency: the ability to collaboratively diverge from instructional intent, question dilemmatic conditions, and propose and enact change. We claim (1) that specific double-stimulation tasks encouraged participants to engage in understanding institutional practice, exposing conflict, and enacting change; (2) that participants came to view their own problematic conditions as stimuli for resistance, criticism, and development; and (3) that online resources were crucial for highlighting evidence of failure and learners' potential roles in change. Our findings are of importance to help learners set and evaluate their own learning agendas.

This paper conducts Group Delphi-study and foresight approach within a five-year horizon in the field of digital education, with a specific focus on Continuing Education (CE) in a post-pandemic society. The study examines the impact of increasing digitalisation on the significant population of low-qualified individuals (approximately five million in Germany). The project identifies both opportunities and risks associated with digitalisation in CE for the low-qualified. The study focuses on 1) the impact of digitalisation on the participation of low-qualified people in CE, 2) the impact of accelerated digitalisation on the planning of programmes and services for this target group, 3) the transformation of programmes and services for low-qualified people due to digitalisation, and 4) methodological innovations for predicting the impact of digitalisation in the CE sector.

This study examines the perspectives and experiences of older lifelong participants in outdoor education/recreation. 32 participants, women (11) and men (21), aged 60-84 provided narratives of their lifelong engagements in the outdoors in nature-based activities. They were invited to write freely on their early experiences and their current engagements in the outdoors. The purpose was to explore and understand why and how serious lifelong older participants continued with their outdoor activities. This paper considers participants' current embodied engagements. The evidence suggests that as they age, their bodies become less able to deal with discomfort. Yet, the participants, as a consequence of their lifelong knowledge and experience, manage injuries and ill-health, choosing to adapt in various ways to enable their continued engagement/enjoyment in being active in nature. The study stresses the significance of lifelong engagement in the outdoors and the necessity for opportunities for outdoor nature-based experiences throughout the lifespan.

Board gaming is a popular activity, growing despite all the pressures of digitalization. People are gathering to play socially. Besides this ludic movement, modern board games can be used directly or adapted to achieve other goals beyond entertainment, approaching serious game methods as a modding exercise. This paper describes a process where a facilitator selected a sequence of modern board games (mostly party games) and played them with the employees of an enterprise (design and marketing) during an informal meeting. The games were played in a restaurant, in an environment, testing whether participants could recognize learning and training utility. The game facilitator observed the game dynamics and collected participants' comments during gameplay and debriefing. Participants recognized the activity as a pleasant learning and training informal session. The author argues that these informal playable learning spaces can be beneficial for institutions that wish to foster them because participants would train, learn, and strengthen social bonds.

Leadership scholar-practitioners seldom need to be sold on the benefits of working together. Rather leadership educators want to know how to teach adult leadership scholar-practitioners how to work together across differences. The aim of this paper is to guide leadership development practitioners on how to nurture leadership that can address the complex problems the changing global arena demand of us today and into the future. We argue when preparing adult leadership scholar-practitioners, using adult learning theories and paying attention to the interdisciplinary roots of the field of leadership might lead to better learning and engagement with real world challenges. In this paper we present a leadership development model we call interdisciplinary leadership. First, we discuss the interdisciplinary roots of leadership. Second, we describe interdisciplinary leadership as a tapestry--an intricate combination of identities, practices, and outcomes used to prepare people to address complex problems. Finally, we describe the mission, structure, curriculum, and instructional strategies that can be used by leadership educators when applying interdisciplinary leadership. This model acknowledges the identity, practices, and outcomes needed to develop scholar-practitioners of leadership and provides practical techniques to help leadership educators prepare leaders to work together across differences to address complex problems.

A growing number of single mothers are seeking entry to higher education via enabling programs; however, these students face unique struggles to make their dream a reality. There is some research on the challenges faced by student-mothers in higher education; however, research specifically on single mothers in enabling education is limited. This research focused on identifying the competing discourses that single mothers faced during an enabling program, and the ways they can be supported. Interviews were conducted with seven women who self-identified as single mothers, describing their personal struggles, alongside their experiences of great accomplishment. What became evident, was despite the difficulties of raising children as a sole parent, the student-mothers gained noticeable confidence in themselves during and after completing their enabling studies. Analysis of the data identified unique challenges faced by this non-traditional group of students and highlighted specific supports that this student group require. This paper details a range of obstacles that impeded their study; related directly to their status as single parents. These hurdles included financial difficulties, lack of support, negative familial relationships, personal health concerns, and study related challenges. In addition, these seven student-mothers identified the key factors that supported their success: forging strong connections with other students, improved self-efficacy, the observed positive 'knock-on' effect to their children, and quality academic support and pastoral care from university staff. Thus, with perseverance and appropriate support, these student-mothers were able to achieve success in an enabling program. This study voices the personal 'survival narratives' of seven student-mothers; revealing challenges and strategies unique to their circumstances, that in-turn, generated a successful student experience.

Literacies are the social processes that emerge and sustain, from everyday life, representing and transforming the mundane and repeated activities which resist the unequal power adjustment in society. In this regard, informal learning and literacies cultivate critical reflexivity of people to perform like activists. This paper aims to explore informal learning and literacies that foster awareness of existing social hierarchies and structures to help bring about change in family and social life. Two adult women's groups were purposefully selected in a village in Nepal. The main sources of data were persistent observations of these groups in a number of meetings, transient walks in the village, and participation in a range of community activities. Two women from each group were selected for in-depth interviews. The themes emerging were generated and analysed from three human interest perspectives: technical, practical, and emancipatory, using the concepts of Jurgen Habermas. This paper found that everyday life activities are embedded in learning and literacies which result in the critical reflexivity of a marginalised group of people. Critical reflexivity has helped them to think through their value system and to anticipate the changes in their life. The paper concludes that informal learning and literacies are the process of activism that enables change in the lives of adult women and the wider community, thereby recognising and valuing adult learning and literacies.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop queer futuring strategies that take into consideration adult learners' needs in support of transformational and sustainable change for social justice and equity. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops the construct of queer futuring, which engages queer theory perspectives in a critical futures framework. Adult learning theory informs queer futuring strategies to support adults and inform education to sustain transformational changes for social justice and equity. Findings: With social justice in mind, queer futuring opens spaces and supports opportunities for adults to engage in learning activities that address historical and layered forms of oppression. Building on learning needs of adults to create meaning and make a difference in the world around them, queer futuring strategies provide tools for activism, advocacy and building new relationships and ways of being-with. Research limitations/implications: The sustainability of our current system of growth and financial well-being has already been called into question, and the current pandemic provides tangible evidence of values for contribution, connection and concern for others, even in the midst of political strife and conspiracy theories. These shifting values and values conflict of society point to the questions of equity and narrative inclusivity, challenging and disrupting dominant paradigms and structures that have perpetuated power and authority "over" rather than social participation "with" and harmony. Queer futuring is just the beginning of a bigger conversation about transforming society. Practical implications: Queering spaces from the perspective of queer futuring keeps the adult learner and queering processes in mind with an emphasis on affiliation and belonging, identity and resistance and politics and change. Social implications: The authors suggest queer futuring makes room for opening spaces of creativity and insight as traditional and reified rationality is problematized, further supporting development of emergentist relationships with the future as spaces of possibility and innovation. Originality/value: Queer futuring connects ethical and pragmatic approaches to futuring for creating the kinds of futures needed to decolonize, delegitimize and disrupt hegemonic and categorical thinking and social structures. It builds on queer theory's critical perspective, engaging critical futures strategies with adult learners at the forefront.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal how research on brain-based learning (BBL) addressing adult learners' education and training issues has contributed to the overall knowledge base linking neuroscience, adult education and human resource development (HRD) research and practices. Through this comprehensive review of the BBL studies, this paper aims to expand the landscape of understanding educational phenomenon in adult education and organizational settings using the lens of neuroscience. Design/methodology/approach: Using the content analysis method, this study extracts key research themes and methodological choices from the body of BBL studies. In addition, this paper explores the relationships and proximity among key concepts of BBL research using keyword network analysis. For data analysis, this study reviews the current literature on BBL addressing both adult education and HRD topics from 1985 to 2019. Findings: The findings of this study provide a clearer picture of the potential mechanisms of BBL approaches observed in the literature of adult education and HRD. What has been found from the thematic analysis is that addressing misconceptions about the neuroscience of learning is regarded as an important topic. In terms of the methodological approaches, the literature review was a dominantly used method, whereas experimental or quantitative research has yet to be fully performed. Influential keywords and topics obtained from the keyword network analysis reveal the primary foci and structural patterns of current BBL research. Originality/value: This study makes a significant contribution to theories and research in adult education and HRD scholarship as it provides an integrative view of key research themes and major issues about BBL. Additionally, our findings offer practical insights for adult educators and HR professionals to successfully apply neuroscientific approaches.

Faculty Research Development (FRD) in higher education institutions (HEI) is often implemented haphazardly and rarely evaluated. In this paper, we introduce a robust assessment framework (CERTi) that utilizes an overarching (Macro-level) adult-learner faculty-centric theoretical framework which incorporates using qualitative, quantitative, and economic evaluations (Micro-Level) to assess FRD efforts at HEI conjointly. The framework's cyclical approach begins by assessing FRD program effectiveness, followed by an in-depth examination of implementation practices to assess FRD program efficacy, then measures program return-on-investment (ROI), ultimately repeating the process for continuous improvement.

Adult learning involves the analysis and synthesis of knowledge to become competent, which cannot be assessed only by traditional assessment tool and didactic learning methods. Stimulation of higher domains of cognitive learning needs to be inculcated to reach a better understanding of the subject rather than traditional assessment tools that relies primarily on rote learning. So, there is need for an alternative assessment tool. Hence, we conducted a study where we used case‐based examination methodology. This study was conducted on 226 Ist year MBBS students in Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi (India). Based on their compiled internal assessment marks according to monthly formative assessment, students were categorized into 3 groups (I: 0–7; II: 8–14; III: 15–20) marks out of 20 marks respectively. Two sets of question papers were set by three examiners, on the same topics carrying 50 marks each. The first set was based on traditional assessment tool (Paper‐A) with recall questions and second set on case‐based assessment method (Paper‐B). Out of 226 students, 146 were males and 80 were females. For all groups, marks (mean ± SD) in Paper B were found to be higher (18.40 ± 4.29, 30.01 ± 4.12, and 40.33 ± 1.15) as compared to paper A (10.88 ± 4.34, 21.96 ± 7.34, and 31.50 ± 6.94) respectively. However, we found that there was significant (p < 0.001) difference in group I & II, whereas with group III, difference was found to be insignificant. Hence, we concluded that students performed better in case‐based assessment rather than traditional method due to their direct involvement. Thus, for better memory and deeper learning the subjects can be assessed by case‐based assessment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive priming encourages adult immigrant students to become more involved in their learning activities and increases their chances of success in their host society. The use of priming effects in teaching adult immigrants, however, is not sufficiently explored in the educational literature. This article therefore fills this gap by presenting a pedagogical strategy consisting in using positive priming activities in civic integration classes to develop a positive mental attitude in students. The paper explains how the effect of positive priming can be achieved by engaging adult students in sharing their positive impressions and experiences in the host society. The practical strategies discussed were tested in multicultural groups composed of men and women and they can be used by educators to animate civic integration courses as well as instructors working with adult students in other programs.

This case study investigates a migrant adult's identity work in playful talk occurring spontaneously in a classroom for Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA). Based on 12 hours of video-recorded interactions among four learners and their teacher, I identified five playful episodes. This paper focuses on two episodes instigated by a woman who told stories of her outside lives. Discourse analysis was performed through the lens of chronotope (timespace) to examine how she navigated multiple chronotopes, including the front-region classroom chronotope, to negotiate identities and how playful language was related to her chronotopic identity work. Playfulness began in the periphery of the classroom chronotope; then the playful language in it led to the playful formulation of outside-life chronotopes where her agentive identity was constructed. Her full semiotic behaviours blurred the boundaries between the classroom chronotope and the outside chronotope so that the other participants could witness her agency. The study concludes that the classroom chronotope itself showed signs of change in a forward-looking direction.

This qualitative narrative research was conducted with an Australian police jurisdiction. The paper draws on practice theory to interpret the narratives of a group of traditionally trained police officers' perceptions of policing practices, professional practice, learning and professionalism within the context of police professionalisation. Thirty-six police officers from various ranks, including senior management, participated in semi-structured interviews. Many police officers' understanding of professional practice and learning is centred on technique, technical knowledge, image, uniform, and reputation. Our research reveals, the practices of police are embedded in the discursive practices of policing and the institutional constraints of the organisation, that maintain and perpetuate past stories contrary to the agenda to professionalise policing. The research is set in the broader context of national and international agendas driving the professionalisation of policing which sits alongside prevailing conceptions of policing as a craft or trade, learned on-the-job, and police officers as artisans.