The Accelerating Opportunity initiative helps our nation's lowest-skilled adults earn college credentials and enter higher-wage jobs faster by combining the Adult Basic Education and career and technical training they need into one integrated curriculum. Based on four years of designing and managing Accelerating Opportunity, Jobs for the Future…

This article addresses how older people understand and engage with contemporary art in the gallery context--whether there is something unique to the art, the format of the visits, the pedagogical approaches used by gallery educators, the social contact, or a combination of all these factors. It also addresses the psychosocial barriers to…

In the "Digital Divide" research, adult women have generally been found to be the weakest group when compared with others. There is thus a need to provide this particular group with computer literacy training, and to give them opportunities to learn about using computers. In such training, women not only need to learn computer skills,…

The adult learning and skills sector is a diverse world, encompassing adult and community learning, apprenticeships, Train to Gain, and contracted employment programmes. The learning and skills sector plays a vital role in uncertain times by giving greater opportunities for social mobility, for example by supporting progression to further and…

This paper deals with specific characteristics of elders,1 bearing in mind both their cognitive and their non-cognitive aspects. Regarding their way of learning, the paper refers to basic principles for this group of people: active learning, situational analysis, their experience, awareness that they have--and need--specific time and rhythm for…

This paper reports on the findings of a small qualitative research project that examined the experiences of a group of adult learners attending a basic skills programme in the English Midlands during the late 1990s. It explores patterns of participation on such programmes and illustrates that early life course experiences can shape changing…

The London Irish Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Set up as a refuge for new immigrants, the centre's focus has changed, as has its client base. Increasingly, as younger members of the London Irish community move away, the centre's work has focused on the learning and support needs of an ageing community. The older generation are coming…