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For several decades, lifelong learning has been discussed both in terms of its ability to provide both individual and national economic benefits. However, while the importance of lifelong learning, particularly in lieu of occupational changes, has been emphasized, the creation or adaptation of funding methods for lifelong learning specifically in the latter half of life has stalled. However, model funding programs that support learning in midlife and beyond do exist internationally, comprising resources like loans, scholarships, and workplace funding. One funding model that came to prominence over the last two decades is the Individual Learning Account (ILA), which has been implemented in multiple countries, albeit with limited success. Although ILAs have ultimately not been well-integrated into extant educational funding systems for lifelong learning, such as self- or employer-funded learning or student loans, the ILA model and its associated challenges suggest key lessons for informing more effective lifelong learning funding, particularly into older adulthood. This paper will discuss gaps in the following four countries' attempts to implement ILAs and integrate common adult education funding methods: Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [For the published conference paper, see ED597554.]

Participation in adult education and training opportunities over the entire life-course is necessary in international and technologically advanced economies. However, there is a dearth of literature on equitable access to lifelong education opportunities, particularly for at risk and underserved adults in the labor force. Furthermore, opportunities for financing lifelong learning remain minimal for middle-age and older adult populations. The purpose of this research is to explore strategies or alternative models to fund lifelong education with attention to the Individual Learning Account (ILA) schemes. We explore initiatives across four countries--Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This research uses a qualitative descriptive approach to compare strategies to financing lifelong education targeting adult learners. Data were collected from key informant interviews (N=14), government documents, and research reports. Two major themes emerged that are common across all key informant interviews and documentation: (1) ILA offers key lessons in informing the creation of effective lifelong learning funding; (2) Low-income and low-skilled adults are often excluded from participation in ILA schemes. The authors' findings move adult education beyond a focus on providers of education to considering additional strategies for financing individual learning. [This paper was published in: J. P. Egan (Ed.), "Proceedings of the Adult Education in Global Times Conference." Ottawa, ON: Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education." (ISBN 978-0-920056-53-0).]

Distance higher education for adults, media selection, and country profiles are considered in conference papers. Titles and authors are as follows: "Distance Education, Trends Worldwide" (Lord Perry of Walton); "Adults in Higher Education: Lowering the Barriers by Teaching and Learning at a Distance" (Hans G. Schutze); "Distance Education for Adults: Old and New Barriers for Participation" (Kjell Rubenson); "Distance Education for Adult Students: From Old to New Barriers for Participation?" (Ger van Enckevort); "Distance Education in OECD Member Countries"; "The Open University of the Netherlands"; "Background and Objectives" (Pierre Morin); "Basic Concepts" (Henk de Wolf); "The First Students" (G. van Enckevort); "The Open University of the United Kingdom" (Keith Harry); "The German Distance University: Its Main Features and Functions" (Jorn Bartels, Otto Peters); "The Instituto Portugues de Ensino a Distancia, Portugal" (Armando Rocha Trindade); "The Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain" (Doina Popa-Lisseanu); "Distance Education in Yugoslavia" (Ana Kranjc); "Towards a Contextual Rationale in Distance Higher Education: The Small Scale Cases of Australia and Sweden" (Urban Dahllof); "Adult Learning and the Consequences for the Selection of Media: The Japanese Approach" (Yoshiya Abe); "Technology-Based Distance Education for Adults in the United States of America" (Marilyn Kressel); "Distance Education, a Critical View from Canada" (Ian Morrison); "The Impact on Higher Education of New Information and Telecommunication Technologies" (Pamela Christoffel); "Selection of Media at the Dutch Open University" (G. van Enckevort, Freek Gastkemper)"; "Development of Computer-Based Learning Materials" (Jef Moonen); and "Computer Communication: A New Tool for Distance Education" (Norman D. Kurland). (SW)

For several decades, lifelong learning has been discussed both in terms of its ability to provide both individual and national economic benefits. However, while the importance of lifelong learning, particularly in lieu of occupational changes, has been emphasized, the creation or adaptation of funding methods for lifelong learning specifically in the latter half of life has stalled. However, model funding programs that support learning in midlife and beyond do exist internationally, comprising resources like loans, scholarships, and workplace funding. One funding model that came to prominence over the last two decades is the Individual Learning Account (ILA), which has been implemented in multiple countries, albeit with limited success. Although ILAs have ultimately not been well-integrated into extant educational funding systems for lifelong learning, such as self- or employer-funded learning or student loans, the ILA model and its associated challenges suggest key lessons for informing more effective lifelong learning funding, particularly into older adulthood. This paper will discuss gaps in the following four countries' attempts to implement ILAs and integrate common adult education funding methods: Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [For the full proceedings, see ED597456.]

Government regulations require businesses to improve their processes and products/services in a green and sustainable manner. For being environmentally friendly, businesses should invest more on eco-innovation practices. Firms eco-innovate to promote eco-efficiency and sustainability. This paper evaluates the eco-innovation performance of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Data were gathered from the world bank database and global innovation index report. Findings show that for most OECD countries, energy use and ecological sustainability are more important than other inputs and outputs for enhancing eco-innovation. [For full proceedings, see ED571459.]

This paper explores the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] achievement of twenty countries in light of some of their demographic differences. SES [student socioeconomic status], nuclear family, gender, home language, and native status were predictive of achievement for every country. Demographics accounted for as little as 8 percent to as much as 22 percent of individual score variance depending on the country and subject. Being male was almost a universal advantage in math, but was a far greater disadvantage in reading for every country. The relative performance of some countries changed when scores were adjusted for demographic differences; however, the Asian countries and Finland remained on top. Instructional strategies related to countries performing above expectations were explored.

The present study examined an international sample of adults from the Survey of Adult Skills administered by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2009) to assess (1) how specific individual and country-level characteristics predict adult readiness to learn, and (2) how readiness to learn predicts adult skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments. Multilevel modeling showed that education and hours worked positively predicted readiness to learn, while age negatively predicted it, and men showed high levels of readiness to learn than women. At the individual level, a positive relationship between readiness to learn and skill proficiency was observed, while at the country level a negative relationship occurred. This "readiness to learn paradox" is discussed in terms of cultural differences in learning environments.

Many European governments associate improving literacy with providing development assistance to regions like Africa and Asia from which the majority of the world's 774 million illiterates come. As school attendance is compulsory in the region, it is assumed that the Education for All (EFA) goals have been achieved and literacy is therefore not deemed a priority concern. It is in this context that the Institute and its partners, the Agence Nationale de Lutte Contre L'Illettrisme (ANLCI) and the UNESCO French National Commission, organized a Regional Meeting on "Literacy and the Promotion of Citizenship: The Challenge of Learning" from 2-5 April 2005 in Lyon, France. With the support of the European Union and the involvement of the European Association of Education of Adults (EAEA), it brought together 145 participants representing governments, research institutes and universities, non-government organizations, and public and private literacy providers. This publication brings together the main presentations from that meeting, and as such documents the diversity of literacy-related thinking and practice in the region. This publication begins with a foreword by Adama Ouane and contains the following papers: (1) Literacies for Active Citizenships (Evangelos Intzidis and Eleni Karantzola); (2) Literacy and Social Inclusion in Ireland and the European Union (Inez Bailey); (3) Young Adults, Gender and Literacy: A UK Perspective (Bethia McNeil); (4) Ensuring Quality in Literacy: Populations, Practices, Pedagogy and Professionalism (Ursula Howard); (5) Assessing Low Levels of Literacy: The Case of France (Jean-Pierre Jeantheau); (6) Basic skills education for the Turkish Roma population (Maria Simion); (7) Social Integration through Literacy: The Example of Romas in Bulgaria (Maria Todorova); (8) Literacy for Migrants: The Nordic Example (Qarin Franker); (9) Interventions for the Imprisoned Populations in Greece (Dimitrios Bekiaridis-Moschou); (10) Professional Development Training Staff in Austria (Antje Doberer-Bey); (11) Ensuring Learners' Participation: The Experience of Frontier College (John O'Leary); (12) Ensuring Learners' Participation Workshop Skills for Life in England (Andrew Nelson); (13) Workplace Basic Education in Ireland (Inez Bailey and Helen Ryan); (14) The Role of Municipalities in Literacy (Rosa M. Falgas i Casanovas); (15) From Adult Learners' Week to Local Education Plan (Lidwien Vos de Wael); (16) Literacy and Numeracy in Local Communities (Jan Eldred); (17) Libraries as an Open Space for Further Education (Barbora Horavova); (18) Illiterates Online! Learning reading and writing via internet? (Ralf Kellershohn); and (19) Literacy through ICTs (Helen Ryan). Individual papers contain tables, footnotes, notes, endnotes, appendices and references. [Additional funding for this paper was provided by French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Conseil general du Rhone, and Trace Element Institut pour l'UNESCO, and Ecole nationale superieure des sciences.]

These proceedings are comprised of 23 presentations on research in European vocational education and human resource development. Papers include "Developing Information and Communication Technology Capability in Higher Education in the United Kingdom (UK)" (Nick Boreham); "Methodological Issues in the Study of Organizational Learning, with Reference to the Framework V Project ORGLEARN--Organizational Learning in the Chemical Industry and Its Implications for Vocational Education and Training (VET)" (Nick Boreham); "Forms and Implications of Work Related Identity Transformation: Preliminary Findings of "FAME" Project Investigation in the French Case" (M'hamed Dif); "Promoting Social Capital in a 'Risk Society': A New Approach to Emancipatory Learning or a New Moral Authoritarianism?" (Kathryn Ecclestone, John Field); "The Value of a Three-Year Upper Secondary Vocational Education in the Labor Market" (Erika Ekstrom, Asa Murray); "Taking Control of Their Lives? Agency in Young Adult Transitions in England and the New Germany" (Karen Evans); "Tacit Skills and Work Inequalities: A UK Perspective on Tacit Forms of Key Competences and Issues for Future Research" (Karen Evans); "Does Training Have Any History? The Enduring Influence of Behaviorism in Britain, 1940-1966" (John Field); "Training Policies Valuation in European Enterprises by Studying the Valuation Practices/Comprendre les Politiques de Formation d'Entreprises Europeennes par l'Etude de Leurs Pratiques d'Evaluation" (Gerard Figari et al.); "Work Process Knowledge in the Context of Socio-Technical Innovation" (Martin Fischer); "'I Couldn't Wait for the Day': Young Workers' Reflections on Education During the Transition to Work in the 1960s" (John Goodwin, Henrietta O'Connor); "Typology of Work Experience: Analysis of the Workplace Training Process in Quebec" (Marcelle Hardy, Louise Menard); "Apprenticeship in France, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Scotland: Comparisons and Trends" (Jannes Hartkamp); "Gender and Qualification: Are Gender Differences Ignored?" (Anke Kampmeier); "From Normatively Constructed Identity to New Identities in the Contexts of 'Double' Transition Processes. The Case of Estonia" (Krista Loogma et al.); "The Consideration of Relevant Features for the Processes of Identity Formation in Current VET Policies" (Fernando Marhuenda); "The Hidden Labor Market of the Academic" (Anne Rouhelo); "Developing a Model of Factors Influencing Work-Related Learning: Findings from Two Research Projects" (Sally Sambrook); "Transition from Higher Vocational Education to Working Life: Different Pathways to Working Life" (Marja-Leena Stenstrom); "WEPP--The Work Environment Pedagogy Project: Individuals' Discovering, Interpreting, and Changed Perception of Work and Learning Environments" (Arvid Treekrem); "Continuing Vocational Training in Belgium: An Overview" (Els Vanhoven, Dirk Buyens); "Training Incidence and Job Mobility in Switzerland" (Stefan Wolter); and "The Role of Human Resource Development in Creating Opportunities for Lifelong Learning: An Empirical Study in Belgian Organizations" (Karen Wouters et al.). (YLB)

This monograph presents 26 papers addressed to workshop sessions representing thought and innovation in employment counseling and vocational guidance. Two papers are written in German, one in French, and 23 in English. Abstracts preceding each paper appear in the two languages other than that used for the paper itself. Topics covered include training of counseling services personnel (Germany); counseling for midlife career change; policies for career information, guidance, and counseling in school-work transition; PLACE, an individualized learning package to assess employability; measuring employment counselor effectiveness; career decison making and computers; counseling for mid-career change; computerized job-person matching (Sweden); conceptual approach to career education; career development in industry; employment counseling of college students (United Kingdom); "focusing" in adult career counseling; life skills training; brokering and employment counseling; STEP, self-exploration programs for career selection (Germany); competency-based inservice program for counselors; impact of a computerized guidance information system; vocational counseling as an instructional process; evaluation of employment counseling; and computer-aided vocational counseling in mid-career change. (YLB)

Papers in this collection were presented at a 1982 symposium convened to address the question, "What is the best way to provide school education for immigrant children?" The papers (and their authors) include (1) "The Social and Ideological Context of Multicultural Education in Immigrant Countries" (Ronald Taft); (2) "Multilingualism and Multiculturalism form the Linguist's Point of View" (Els Oksaar); (3) "The Social Context of Multicultural and Multilingual Education in Immigrant Countries: Some Program and Policy Considerations" (Ray Rist); (4) "Multicultural Education in a Psychological Perspective" (Joti Bhatnagar); (5) "Intercultural Education and Community Perspectives: (Verity Saifullah-Khan); (6) "Deciding on Languages of Instruction: Psychological Social Considerations" (Wallace E. Lambert); (7) "Multicultural Education: Research Problems in the U.K. and Elsewhere" (Gatendra K. Verma); (8) "Problems in the Comparative Analysis of Bilingual Education" (Christina Bratt Paulston); (9) "Research and Its Implications for the Swedish Setting--An Immigrant's Point of View" (Tove Skutnabb-Kangas); and (10) "Maintenance or Transition-or Both? A Review of Swedish Ideologies and Empirical Research" (Lars Henric Ekstrand). Each paper is followed by a transcript of related discussion; a transcript of a panel discussion completes the volume. (KH)