The Future Shape of Continuing Education and Universities: An Inaugural Lecture. Papers in Continuing Education Number 1.

Like the rest of British life around them, Great Britain's universities of adult and continuing education are currently in the midst of a period of great change. There has been much debate surrounding the relative importance of instruction, research, and community service in the overall mission of adult and continuing education in universities. It appears clear that university adult education still has a significant contribution to make. Universities need the kind of experiences and approaches in the university adult education tradition to manage their new circumstances. Industrial partnerships, community and commercial consultations, and continuing education of professionals can and do enhance the life and work of universities. Universities need older students for two reasons: for their motivation to learn and for the financial gains continuing education programs bring universities. Besides being able to respond to changing community needs by providing a variety of course lengths and formats, continuing education can offer and revive a recurrent education market. Perhaps one job of universities from the standpoint of their continuing education programs is to help breathe new life into social movements as vehicles for learning that can, in turn, define and codefine what Great Britain in the nineties needs of its universities. (MN)