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The pioneering work of Ulster Television (UTV) in the field of adult education television is among the most neglected chapters of UK regional broadcasting history. Between July 1962 and August 1963 the station produced 73 televised lectures in association with Queen's University, Belfast. UTV's initial effort, Midnight Oil (1962), was the first ever adult education series on UK television, while its sequel, The Inquiring Mind (1963), explored the medium's potential as an illustrative educational tool. Both series prefigured key aspects of the television broadcasts which supported the subsequent Open University. Their audience ratings also challenged established wisdom about the potential reach of televised adult education. Despite their innovative nature, UIV's series have been marginalised within accounts of the origins of adult education television in the UK. Such narratives have tended to focus on later English productions and generally identify Anglia Television's Dawn University (1963) as the first precursor to the Open University. One account, Sendall (1983), even questioned the veracity of the UTV's claim to have brought adult education television to the UK. This article establishes the extent and nature of UTV's contribution to adult education television before examining the factors which may have led to the marginalisation of its role within narratives surrounding UK broadcasting history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of a semester-long aging and adult development course that included an intergenerational, service-learning component on attitudes toward older adult men and women, aging anxiety, and interest in occupations that serve older adults among individuals training for careers in healthcare and social services. It also investigated the relationship between quality of intergenerational contact and ageist attitudes as well as differences in attitudes toward older adult men and older adult women. Data collection occurred across two semesters. Participants were 70 undergraduates from healthcare and social service majors. Attitudes improved and aging anxiety declined over the semester; interest in occupations serving older adults did not change. Quality of intergenerational contact was related to attitudes and occupational interest at pre-test and post-test. Implications for teaching as well as service-learning are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process learning for adults training joins in a space/time which can be considered as « communicative action ». Learning is for us a part of a space of sense referred to the notion of passage and thus process. It is well known today that one of its modalities, for adults as for children, leans on the imitation. On the other hand, the game of the interactions makes that the learnings are not passed on without an autonomous and mediate renegotiation of the subjects (vicariant learning). This relation between the partners will base itself on characteristics which allow to understand the interpretation as a modality, an essential medium to an «emancipator learning». On that basis, the constructed knowledge, the knowledge in elaboration, engages a conversion of the look in the training for adults, but also that of the learner towards an empowerment of a subject and his emancipation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses some of the generalized analyses of adult learning education, mostly informed by technocratic thinking, highlighting perceived trends in adult learning education between CONFINTEA V and CONFITEA VI. Those trends could be understood as challenges. Employing a political sociology of adult learning education as a critique of instrumental reason is advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the European Union 2007 enlargement, the time has come to reconsider the place of some valuable local adult education traditions in Central and Eastern Europe. Therefore, I have chosen the examples of two outstanding personalities of interwar Romania: Nicolae Iorga and Dimitrie Gusti, whose activity in the field of adult education still requires a thorough analysis for a full understanding of its historical meaning and importance. Therefore, the present paper attempts to explore the path they chose to become adult educators, and thus, accounts for key elements of their professional background, for the theoretical and practical knowledge of adult education they both had at that time, as well as for their ways to transform ideas into institutions in the above-mentioned field. As a result of the analysis of what Iorga and Gusti explicitly or implicitly asserted concerning adult education, one could find at least five distinct features, which I intend to present as clues for a future more detailed perspective of their understanding on adult education. In their views, adult education was intimately linked to the politics of culture - being in fact, an important part of the second one; adult education was conceived differently from school pedagogy; furthermore, it was thought that there are important differences between them; in interwar theorists' and practitioners' minds, there was a peculiar difference between andragogy as theory (i.e. encompassing and emphasizing the principles of adult education) and as practice of adult education; accordingly, adult education did not identify itself - as both process and result - with the bare assimilation of some disciplines, theories or formal principles, no matter how important they were seen per se; adult education did not mean the mere mechanical adoption of what had been done in other countries; on the contrary, the stake of its successful implementation was the making of the inland experience compatible with that of the outland one, by stimulating the innovation, initiative and self-responsibility. As I did on different occasions (see Isac, 2003, chapter 3.3., p. 67-86; Isac, 2004), to the end of the paper I propose a brief discussion about the meanings of this impressive cultural and educational inheritance for nowadays Romanian adult education in European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper id to examine the successful community development by eabling people to help themselves so that they could increase their career opportunities and recover the fertile natural environment previously lost through over straining the local ecosystem. Sustainability is of central importance for many countries in the world. Especially developing countries need to strive for sustainability and continuity in their economic, social and political systems. This paper aimed at identifying sustainable human resource development in relation to the Huay Sai Royal Development Project initiated by His Majesty the King Bhumipol Adulyadej of Thailand as a case study. Design/methodology/approach - This study was a case study. Data were collected from documents, interviews and project visits. Then, the analysis was made by document analysis and observation during the study visit, and the information from the interviewees was recorded and transcribed in the Thai language. Some information from the interviews was then added to the analysis to confirm the case that the project had generated sustainable development and encouraged a better life for the local people. Findings - It was found that the nature of people development for sustainability in the project was based on two central themes: people-centered development and whole system-focused development .People-centered development aims to make people succeed in their life. The latter theme aims at helping people become social beings that are willing to place societal concerns before personal interests. This reflected the eastern approach of people development, which puts people and their mindset at the center of development. Other findings pertaining to the methods of people development showed that action learning was a central method of development. Research limitations/implications - The Sufficiency Economy and people-centered development served as an alternative development path, pursuing balanced growth based on development from within and on the accumulation of knowledge. The main thrust emphasized development from within,self-protection, conservation, caution and moderation, which called for the sustainable use of resources and concern for the social and environmental impact of economic decisions. This contributed to the action learning approach that the success of the project was not only economic returns but also the learning process to which the people engaging in dialogue could share their problems and develop solutions for themselves and for each other. Practical implications - There were three key success factors that can be seen in the case. First, the development approach was aligned with the lifestyle and local wisdom of the people. Second, this project promoted step-by-step development, beginning with building a good basis for the people at the individual level. Lastly, the initiation of the project stemmed from an in-depth study of the problems int he area and action research, with a closely coupled monitoring system by which feedback was always fed into the study center. Social implications - It could be noted that the Sufficiency Economy and people-centered development served as an alternative development path, pursuing balanced growth based on development from within and on the accumulation of knowledge. The main thrust emphasized development from within,self-protection, conservation, caution and moderation, which called for the sustainable use of resources and concern for the social and environmental impact of economic decisions. Originality/value - The Sufficiency Economy strengthened sustainability as a goal and means of development; the ultimate goal of the development was to develop people to help themselves to become self-reliant. The means of this development were participatory development through a wide variety of methods and the use of local knowledge as a basis for cultivation. Sharing knowledge made people feel more empowered and encouraged them to change their basic attitudes and behaviors. Once people changed their mindset, they became able to enhance their potential. They also had the power to make choices in their life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult learners comprise a significant portion of current undergraduate populations, and projections indicate steady or growing numbers of adult learners in the future. Previous research has suggested that adult learners possess lower self-confidence than and face barriers not experienced by traditional undergraduate students. These constructs have not been explored specifically within mathematics, however, which was the purpose of the current study. Using data collected from 226 undergraduate students (60 traditional students, 166 adult learners), the current research found that adult learners self-report lower levels of math self-efficacy and higher levels of math anxiety than their traditional peers. Implications for adult education are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Storyville, the legalized red-light district of New Orleans (1897-1917), was a designated space containing informal opportunities for learning in which its residents practiced the sex trade. Although Storyville was created to regulate prostitution, prostitutes and madams learned the city’s legal system, politics, and economics to survive in a socially constructed space. Using primary and secondary sources and informed by theory, including informal learning, spatial production, and critical and feminist geography, this study explores the adult learning that took place in Storyville. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In work-related instrumental learning contexts, the role of reflective activities is unclear. Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Mezirow’s transformative learning theory predict skill adaptation as an outcome. This prediction was tested by manipulating reflective activities and assessing participants’ response and error rates during novel applications of an instrumentally learned skill (skill adaptation). Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions (interference, reflection, or critical reflection) according to blocking variables: gender, age, and reflective propensity. Participants then completed behavioral skills training with embedded reflective activities. Afterward, participants completed a novel application task. Analyses of variance did not reveal differences in response or error rates among conditions or an interaction between reflective activity and reflective propensity on response rate. An interaction was found between reflective activity and reflective propensity on error rate: In the critical reflection condition, nonreflective learners had higher error rates than reflective learners. Potential explanations and implications for research and practice are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article looks at popular adult educators’ care of the self practices within social movements in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It answers the following questions: How is popular adult education practiced amongst educators in social movements? What can studying popular adult educators’ care of the self practices offer the field of adult education? To answer these questions, I look to adult educators’ practices of sacrifice and self-naming; remembering historical tragedies; and educator, classroom, and community support within the Union of Popular Organizations’ political formation school and popular adult education schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the notion of literacy -- general and statistical -- in the analysis of data from a fieldwork research project carried out as part of a master's degree that investigated the teaching and learning of statistics in adult education mathematics classes. We describe the statistical context of the project that involved the development of a questionnaire, the organization of the resulting information into tables, and the preparation of posters summarizing the results. The project was carried out with 7th-grade students, ages from 16 to 43, in a public state elementary school as part of the Youth and Adult Education program (Educação de Jovens e Adultos - EJA), located on the outskirts of Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent years Singapore has developed a strong adult and vocational education system based on those of Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Its Continuing Education and Training (CET) sector makes use of competency-based training in the form of Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQs) which are delivered in mainly small private providers by learning facilitators qualified through a range of WSQ-based training programs. Most facilitators are mature-age and second-career people drawn from diverse career backgrounds and employed on a casual and part-time rather than ongoing basis. They identify themselves as 'freelancers' in the training market place and compete vigorously for the work opportunities available. In the paper we argue that continued workplace success is premised on a strong sense of professional identity and its management through a process of 'shapeshifting' according to the diverse requirements of the adult education industry. We explore this idea through revisiting three of our projects examining Singaporean CET educators and ask of our data a new question: 'How do individuals "become" and "be" Singaporean adult education freelancers?' We draw our insights from interviews with freelancers, Singapore's political and economic context and a range of literature drawn principally from a socio-cultural theoretical perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work quality of public servants direct affects a country's administrative performance, and the Taiwan government has recently invested a considerable amount of funds in constructing e-government learning platforms and developing digital courses to provide all public servants with sufficient on-the-job training and enhance the quality of human resources. Therefore, the circumstances under which public servants use e-government learning platforms warrant investigation. In this study, questionnaires were used to collect data for quantitative research, and a theoretical model was created to clarify the impact of 'Barrier Factors' and 'Policy Factors' on e-government learning. These factors have been examined inadequately in previous research on the theory of e-learning behaviour. The results presented here show that Barrier Factors and Policy Factors strongly influence the willingness of public servants to use e-learning systems, and these factors explain more than 80% of the variance in users' behavioural intention. These results revealed the characteristics of the research participants, and the findings can be used as a reference in future studies and by management agencies responsible for providing e-government learning. Furthermore, these results might facilitate further research on and the practice of adult e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on how professional development can help in bridging the gap between research and practice in adult literacy and basic education. The author relates the report on Research Utilization in Adult Learning and Literacy that summarizes the lesson learned in bridging research and practice. She discusses the lessons in the summary report including the need to start with the practitioner, the use of different stance towards research, and the integration of the right tools.

The purpose of this study is to identify the goal orientation of adult students in the Malaysian context. The finding of this study shows that mastery goal orientation registered the highest mean among the adult students. Therefore, the adult students were found to have adopted mastery goal orientation in their learning process. The analysis of f-Test and One-Way ANOVA indicates that there were no significant group differences in the mean scores of mastery goal orientation among gender, age group and years of experience of the respondents. In addition, this study also attempts to offer the higher education institutions to understand the students' learning strategies by knowing their goal orientation. It provides information on how deep learning strategies can be integrated with mastery goal orientation so that they are in line to produce better learning outcomes. It is recommended in this study that deep learning methods such as flexible learning and problem-based learning can be used to encourage students to take greater responsibilities for their learning outcomes. In this respect, they will be able to interact with the facilitator on the course material in a more practical and analytical manner. In terms of future research, this study provides validated measures of goal orientation which can be used by future researchers in the similar research setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many adults with special needs, who did not finish high school, complete a GED® credential to go to college. As they prepare to transition, they may encounter barriers and likely require supports to succeed in college. The purpose of this qualitative research paper is to describe the college prospects of transitioning adults with a GED credential and special needs, in terms of characteristics, challenges, attributes, and supports. Findings emerged from qualitative interviews of GED passers in the recent Perceptions and Pathways research project. Tenacity motivated many interviewees toward resilience. Enrollees with special needs valued encouragement from a family member or an instructor during their college experience. The article concludes with interviewee and researcher recommendations for adult education programs and colleges to support transitioning adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the changes made to the GED® test in 2014, one concern among state policy makers, adult educators, and GED® service providers has been the impact of these changes on students as well as teachers, staff, volunteers, and other GED® program stakeholders. Using a qualitative, case study research approach focused on one GED® test preparation site serving young adults under 25, the present study addressed three objectives: (1) understanding participant opinions and perceptions of the changes to the GED® test; (2) examining the ways in which these changes may impact the program's provision of services, and (3) determining how the young adult students served by this program may be affected by these changes. Study findings suggest future changes to the ways in which GED® services are currently provided, especially from the perspective of program staffing needs, training practices, and resource requirements. Overall, participants were skeptical of the benefits of the new test, and all stakeholder groups perceived that the new test would have negative implications for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a narrative report of the findings from the analysis of multicultural facilitators' discourses on their e-readiness in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) affordances in open and distance learning (ODL) mediation experiences. First, the findings revealed by qualitative deconstructive discourse analysis indicated that the majority of ODL facilitators lack those e-readiness skills that are critical in the effective manipulation of ICT affordances tools in ODL mediation environments. Secondly, some facilitators did not fully understand what undergirds ODL andragogy, principles and practices. Institutions' academic lecturers are periodically given e-training, but this seems to be inadequate. I, therefore, recommend that a comprehensive orientation tutorial package, covering e-readiness, e-training and ODL principles and practices, be organised for all inexperienced, as well as newly employed lecturers, to appropriately prepare them for the rigours of ODL pedagogies and methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although training young people has been extensively studied, similar attention has not been given to the training of adult learners already active in the contexts of high professional responsibility. In adult education a more active role on the part of the learners is certainly necessary. In practice this would mean the capacity to capitalize on past experience, the need to redefine the learner's role and finally a dialogue based on exchange and reciprocity between teachers and learners. In order to give greater prominence to the subject, adult education cannot simply be understood as a different and updated version of the "old" pedagogy: the learning dynamics that arise require a different approach, and especially with regard to the type of cognitive involvement at play. In adult training, active involvement by both subjects is a necessary condition for obtaining a positive result. The training leads to a conscious evolution of the subject, especially when it comes to an atypical universe consisting of adults active in the same professional context. Compared to traditional training, which is understood as an intergenerational relationship, training which is implemented in a professional context is undoubtedly an unusual challenge. The traditional model of the University was, by definition, based on a drastic difference between teaching/speaking and learning/listening. This fundamentally dualistic, and practically oppositional model, came to an end when university attendance was opened up to the masses and access was granted to persons outside the university tradition, such as children of non-graduated parents. From that moment on, the teaching style and the ability to involve the learners increasingly became a competitive resource. However, the real turning point that radicalized the need for an effort to upgrade the teaching skills of teachers took place when the mass media - especially television - imposed itself as a form of elementary cultural socialization. Even more significantly, when the Internet required a paradigm shift from the traditional mainstream media to personalized media such as the PC, tablets and smart phones, the skills of the media audiences, and sometimes their selfconfidence, increased to the point of seeing themselves in competition with the university teachers. In other words, the cognitive differences on the 'pedestal of the distinction' between those who teach and those who learn, mentioned by Bourdieu, were reduced. This created a real didactic training emergency: at the time of an abundance of media offers and the reduced prestige of the institutions, teaching became strategic to building the authority of teachers and their recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary school faces a great number of challenges, general ones (which affect, to different extents, the school everywhere) and some specific ones (which, for our country, are linked to the transition peculiarities and to the school reform particularity). Among the general ones, the most significant are: globalization, the cognitive society and its requirements, mass school and its democratization, schooling and the world of work (the entrepreneurial paradigm and the deviation of the market economy logic in education), the decrease of the state's role in education, the diversification of the educational field and the social sources of education, the offensive of the pragmatic and commercial values over the humanistic ones in education, etc. Among the challenges customized to our country (but not only) we can mention: the crisis of educational ends, disrupted and contradictory educational policy, incoherent discourse on the social role of the school, degradation of the school social status and the crisis of the teaching profession identity, the anomic school culture (incoherence of values), equality and equity (or "paid gratuity") in the schooling system, etc. All these lead us to admit that the contemporary school is undergoing an identity crisis. Without a lucid outlook on the current state of the educational reality, we cannot rethink education and look ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this selection, the author provides a re-representation of data that honors the voice of participants, allowing readers the opportunity to draw their own interpretations about what the participants' lived experiences mean. Developed from a study designed to explore the lived experiences of 18- to 25-year-olds transitioning from high school into adult basic education programs, the narratives of 12 GED students are presented here in the form of an ethnodrama. The script is meant to open a space to vocalize tensions felt among the participants regarding their experiences in school and their transitions to adult education, while at the same time fracturing what adult educators believe they know about high school leavers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research funding, promotions, and career trajectories are currently increasingly dependent on the emerging economy of publications and citations across the globe. Such an economy encourages scholars to publish in international journals that are indexed in databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. These developments place an increased emphasis on the question of who is allowed to publish in the journals listed there and whose research counts as valuable. Based on bibliographic data from articles submitted to three main journals in the field of adult education research between 2005 and 2012, we scrutinize the extent to which the emerging economy of publications and citations is dependent on national and regional boundaries. Our results show how four Anglophone countries dominate the field in relation to both published articles and the share of most cited articles and where the publication pattern of these authors are national and regional rather than international. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the comparative study of the thesis of undergraduate and graduate students in Latin America and the Caribbean on youth and adult education. It discusses how the study was conducted which involved 170 students who are participating in a contest between 2005 to 2011. The results reportedly revealed that studies on youth and adult education are thematically varied.

This article shows how quality can be defined and assessed only in its relative aspects and that the definitions of quality in education have a basis in the interests and values. This reasoning also applies to the various lists of quality indicators in education. The inclusion of the concept of interest groups and the relational and dynamic processes of defining quality becomes important for the contemporary epistemological quality theories. It enables various interest groups to get their voice heard in the discussion about what education system we wish to have and to realize their legitimate interests. But the normative thesis of the legitimacy of interests does not really guarantee that the interests of a particular group will be realized. Whether their voice is heard depends on if the group has enough power in society. These processes also include an ethical-political dimension. In this article, the conceptual framework of the collection of quality indicators for the field of adult education, the structure of quality fields and examples of developed quality indicators, quality standards, and quality measures are presented. A reflection is made on how to promote the development of educational institutions for adults as inclusive multicultural communities, in which the rights and interests of groups who have less social power are respected, and their active participation in quality issues become important indicators of the quality of their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the effects that distance education has had with adult learners over the last four decades, including (a) correspondence courses, (b) single technology, (c) blended learning, and (d) e-learning. Distance education has changed to decrease situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers for adult learners that students listed in the 1970s and 1980s. Removing these barriers has improved adult education in the 21st century; however, e-learning and blended learning also raise new concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education Policy Analysis Archives / Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas / Arquivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas is the property of Educational Policy Analysis Archives & Education Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper reports on the implementation of a high-level contextualized mathematics curriculum by 12 adult basic instructors in a midwestern state. The 10-week pilot curriculum embedded high-level mathematics in contexts that were familiar to adult learners. Instructors' weekly online posts were coded, and the following themes emerged: (a) relevancy of content and context was the most-cited facilitator in overcoming difficulties associated with learning high-level mathematics, (b) instructor adaptations of the curriculum shifted from reactive to proactive as they began contextualizing content independently, and (c) according to instructors' reports, adult learners grew more proficient in connecting mathematics with their life experience while instructors adopted a more interactive teaching style. Implications for adult basic education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Qualitative Research in Education (2014-6418) is the property of Qualitative Research in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Today’s sociopolitical and economic conditions require adults to engage in informed, culturally sensitive coexistence. Correspondingly, adult educators need to design experiences that help prepare learners for cross-cultural collaboration and socially responsible careers in a global age. Framed through cosmopolitanism and situated learning theories, the purpose of this study was to investigate adult learners’ sense and development of global citizenship through engagement in an innovative itinerant master’s degree program. The investigation of the experiences and contexts of this program’s community of practice provides important insight into adult global citizenship development and cosmopolitan instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some professors make conversational moves intended to transform their relationships with students and help move students through a liminal space toward more adult-like (or andragogical) patterns of learning. Specifically, professors might attempt to construct more collaborative and mutual relationships with students, and may attempt to encourage students to position themselves as more intrinsically motivated, personally responsible, and self-directed. This study explored such conversations and transitions using the coordinated management of meaning as a theoretical and heuristic lens. Conclusions were drawn inductively from interview data, recalled conversations, document analysis, and ethnographic observations; a taxonomy emerged for describing the conversational patterns enacted when professors attempt to foster student development toward andragogy. This framework included identification of significant bifurcation points (or relational turning points) where one interlocutor might enact an intervention intended to transform their conversation, relationship, or conversational partner. Further, the model developed from this study identifies a set of explicit and implicit strategic conversational moves that were employed in those critical moments. Finally, this essay discusses some methodological implications and recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents findings from 12 months of ethnographic observations of nonformal adult education classes offered by an internationally funded nonprofit, referred to in this article as Comunidades de Poder (CDP). The primary objective of this article is to examine the various contextual factors that influenced CDP teachers' instruction and to explore the applicability of world culture theory as a framework that can explain these phenomena. This article finds that CDP teachers' classroom practice was more heavily influenced by teachers' personal experiences in teacher-centered formal classrooms than by their training in Freirean pedagogy. It also finds that world culture theory has limited applicability in explaining these phenomena, as it fails to account for changes in world culture over time and the role of power in its dissemination. This article argues that a modified version of the theoretical construct of the educational project accounts for these areas in which world culture theory is insufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on ethnographic vignettes in an Indian rights-based approach to adult education programmes in order to examine the contestations and negotiations of facilitators in interface situations involving programme capacity building, monitoring and evaluation practice. The paper proposes that making visible the hegemonic nature of relationships between different adult education actors is critical to engendering democratic participation in adult education. It explores conditions of possibility for democratic participation in adult education in terms of (1) conceptualising empowerment as self-representation and autonomy; and (2) interrogating one’s identity through self-deconstruction as an ethical responsibility and commitment to equity and social justice. This analysis has implications for informing and enhancing democratic participation in adult education capacity building, monitoring and evaluation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study builds upon a Delphi study carried out by Zawacki-Richter (2009) which posited a validated classification of research areas in the special area of distance education. We now replicate the study for the broader field of adult and continuing education (ACE). The aims of this paper are: firstly, to develop a categorisation of research areas in ACE; secondly, to identify the most important areas; and thirdly, to identify the most neglected research areas in ACE. Based on a literature review and a Delphi study, three broad levels with 28 research areas have been derived to organise the body of knowledge in ACE. Prospective researchers can use the results to identify gaps and priority areas, and explore potential research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life history or biographical approaches to research in lifelong learning may be particularly useful for researchers working from a social purpose and/or feminist perspective. Adult educators working from an emancipatory framework are often curious about factors that shape people's lives, both from an individualistic, biographical perspective and from a broader social-cultural framework. Through life history and biographical research they can gain insights into what motivates people to engage in adult learning for social and personal change. Looking at examples taken both from the literature and from four different research studies that the author has engaged in during recent years, some of the benefits, challenges, and possibilities for life history/biographical research are explored in this paper. Both practical aspects, such as how to recruit participants, and more philosophical/methodological concerns such as the importance of recognising how participants use narrative as a means to explore meaning making around their own identity and life course are explored in the discussion. In conclusion, the paper argues that new technologies and emerging forms of artistic representation in life history and biographical research offer opportunities for both educators and participants, as well as other audiences, to explore adult learning experiences connected to social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to examine the views of European adult educators toward transformative learning (TL) theory. First, I explore the relevant attitudes of my colleagues in Greece, which appear to be quite positive. Then, through a literature review, I assume that the scholars in other European countries have a limited interest and a quite critical disposition regarding TL. I develop interpretative hypotheses, by correlating these findings to the way in which TL theory has been formulated and has evolved, particularly after 2010, when it seems to have entered a critical standpoint. Finally, I put forward a series of suggestions and refer to new trends that could contribute to the development of a renewed and expanded TL theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transformative learning has usually been defined as transformations of meaning perspectives, frames of reference, and habits of mind—as proposed initially by Jack Mezirow. However, several authors have found this definition too narrow and too cognitively oriented, and Mezirow has later emphasized that emotional and social conditions are also important. Thus, there is a need for a broader, more up-to-date, and still significant definition. This article suggests that the target area of transformative learning should be defined by the term “identity,” which explains what this term implies, argues why it is the best possible choice, and gives examples of how the concepts of transformative learning and identity can mutually enrich each other and lead to new understandings in both of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An editorial is presented in which the authors discuss the October 2013 release of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) report on the development of socially and economically beneficial workplace skills. Topics addressed include research on skills assessment, as well as government responses to surveys such as the PIAAC.

The advanced clinical reasoning approach is widely adopted in speech and language therapy practice. This article reports on the introduction of the approach across a multidisciplinary adult learning disability service and staff reports on the impact of this initiative. Staff in the service were offered training in the approach. Staff completed pre-course questionnaires, immediate post-course evaluations of the training and questionnaires a year after initial training. Semi-structured interviews took place with three team managers a year after the training. Staff and team managers reported that the training had a positive impact on their practice. All respondents demonstrated confidence in the use of the advanced clinical reasoning terminology and a clear understanding of the nature of duty of care and clinical risk. Enhanced knowledge about caseloads and greater confidence in managing episodes of care were reported by staff and team managers to have resulted in a more efficient and effective service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the Portuguese appropriation of the lifelong learning policy proposed by the European Union since the mid-1990s and the definition of adult education policy in Portugal were based on a discourse that emphasised an ‘unacceptable educational deficit’ for democracy. The role of the State in thegovernanceof the public provision of adult education was linked to its disengagement or precarious contractual involvement in the same. In this article, we discuss developments in adult education and training policy from the mid-1990s to 2010 in terms of an ambivalent policy dynamic and orientation of educational change, examining how a civil society organisation used adult education as a tool for rural development, to support the economy and individual resilience in the face of socio-economic weaknesses and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The research investigated the association between school engagement and adult education and occupation outcomes, within the context of a 1985 Australian longitudinal national cohort study of the factors affecting children's long-term health and well-being. School engagement may be more modifiable than other factors related to academic success, such as academic attainment, which is influenced by family background. A School Engagement Index was constructed using questionnaire items on school enjoyment and boredom. Related school engagement items included learner self-concept, motivation to learn, sense of belonging, participation in school or extra-mural activities, and enjoyment of physical activity. In 2004-2006, participants (aged 26 to 30 years) reported their highest level of education achieved and current occupation. Potential covariates included age, sex, markers of socio-economic status in childhood, personality and school-level variables (i.e., number of students, single sex versus co-education; government, private or independent). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of achieving post-compulsory school education and achieving higher status occupations. Findings revealed that each unit of school engagement was independently associated with a 10% higher odds ( OR 1.10 95% CI 1.01,1.21) of achieving a post-compulsory school education. Maternal education, self-concept as a learner, motivation to learn, all also significantly predicted achieving post-compulsory school education. School engagement was found to mediate the association between the personality characteristic of agreeableness and education outcomes. Higher school engagement was also independently associated with achieving higher status occupations 20 years later ( OR 1.11 95% CI 1.03, 1.20). Importantly, this was independent of a host of background factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mission statements of universities in developing countries usually include serving the surrounding communities. Often this service does not reach beyond lip service. This article puts into context the experience of developing an adult education research program responding to the needs of the surrounding community in a historically disadvantaged rural area. The areas of research were adult education needs assessment and community development, young adults at risk, adult health education, and policy and implementation issues. Globalization, social exclusion, and lifelong learning were key concepts tailored to the specific context of the rural areas in South Africa. The first two authors of the article were personally involved in the program, as a visiting professor from the Netherlands and his South African successor, respectively. The third author worked in a similar program at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]