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Adult Education is an interdisciplinary field that often includes a focus on social justice issues and thus prompts a liberation, empowerment, and decolonisation approach to adult education. The purpose of this chapter is to report findings from informed by the papers of Lalage Bown held by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, and the British Library. The chapter explores the concepts and nexuses of liberation empowerment and decolonisation through Adult Education in Africa. It addresses liberation and empowerment in the life of Lalage Bown in Africa, and her life and family background. It also explores her perceptions on decolonisation and the key reasons why she fought for the oppressed through Adult Education during her stay in Africa. The paper examines Lalage Bown’s work experiences in different universities in Africa – including Nigeria – Britain, and her new ideas, including her approach to colonisation, Colonial Development and Welfare Fund. Finally, it discusses Lalage Bown’s Legacy.

This chapter introduces the work of Lalage Bown: a highly influential practitioner, researcher and activist who was passionately committed to the role which adult education could play in supporting social justice aims. The four main themes of the book are outlined: adult education and social justice; decolonisation, post-colonialism and indigenous knowledge; from literacy to lifelong learning; and, policy development and supporting future generations of adult educators.

Adult education is recognised globally as a critical element in addressing challenges pertaining to climate justice, migration, employment, education and inequality. This chapter will explore the development, delivery, and impact of the International Master in Adult Education for Social Change (IMAESC n.d.), a European-funded joint master’s degree, that can proudly trace its lineage to the work of Prof. Bown at the University of Glasgow. IMAESC is jointly delivered by the Universities of Glasgow, Malta, Maynooth, Tallinn and the Open University of Cyprus. Students complete three mandatory mobility periods and choose between two study tracks ‘Community Engagement and Education’ or ‘Critical Issues, Policy and Curriculum’. Additionally, this two-year programme has a summer school in Malaysia (Universiti Sains Malaysia) focused on sustainability and peace studies. The first cohort of IMAESC students started in 2016 and there have been 118 graduates over the past seven years from over 60 countries. Adult Education takes place in many different sites – Vocational Education and Training (VET) institutions, higher education, community-based, workplace, and political struggle – and our students’ experiences reflect that diversity. We examine what impact IMAESC graduates have made nationally and internationally, drawing from an empirical qualitative research project, ‘Decolonising Higher Education: A case study of Erasmus Mundus master’s programme IMAESC’, undertaken in 2021-22. This research included interviews with 19 IMAESC graduates from the Global South. Through critical engagement with theory, policy and action, graduates have contributed to improving their communities, cities, civil society, nations, and international relations.