Participation has become so central to adult education for community development that even the World Bank supports participatory programming. This article analyses how participation is conceptualised in "Training for Transformation" (TfT), a Freirean-inspired curriculum used in international community development settings. TfT seeks to…

While the policy approach in Urban Regeneration Partnership tends to be viewed as participatory governance using an urban studies lens, this article posits an alternative theorisation that takes an adult education perspective. We draw from Lefebvre's notion of "space", Engeström's "Cultural Historical Activity Theory" and…

Using stories from two employees in the UK Sure Start initiative, this paper offers insight into the complexity of developing a professional identity within a newly established, nebulous role of "outreach worker". Such a role is highly diverse in terms of its duties and the people with whom it engages. As such, it poses challenges for…

The study involved 14 volunteer facilitators, four UBC staff members, and the researcher as participant; the data collected were observation notes, questionnaires, results from focus groups, and interviews. The study revealed that the key strengths of the training workshop lay in its approach to training, its focus on confidence and capacity…

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a pilot study that promoted productive and capacity-building activities among deprived rural women of Mexico. The evaluation design is observational; 1,278 women are interviewed, and the comparison group is estimated by propensity score matching. The results show a positive impact on the…

This study examined community leadership education programs employed in rural communities and organizations of several states to empower both local leaders and residents. In particular, the study investigated the relationships between community leadership education program design and structure (contact hours and content) and six outcome indices of…

This book assembles over 50 papers from the 7th Triennial European Research Conference of the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA), which was held from the 4th to the 7th of September 2013 at Humboldt-University in Berlin. The title of the conference was "Changing Configurations of Adult Education in Transitional…

This paper examines a recent government initiative aimed at raising adult literacy levels across the Canadian province of British Columbia by 2010. Through analysis of policy documents and interviews conducted with policymakers, analysts, researchers and practitioners, the author argues that the current focus on adult literacy in British Columbia…

This article documents the contribution of local elementary teachers and examines the teachers' role as a conduit between an urban school and its community. Based on participant observation and interviews with local teachers and parents, the research considers the teachers' bridging position as professional practitioners and community constituents…

In 2009 AONTAS commissioned a piece of research to examine the outcomes and impact of community education in relation to the three aims that the Government has defined for it: enhancing learning; fostering empowerment, and contributing to civic society. In part, the research also responds to a need to measure the wider benefits of learning (such…

This paper examines the quality and development of relations between organisations and the ways in which these are informed by incidental learning experiences in two projects. The paper conceptualizes instances of inter-organisational learning (IOL) applying theories such as principal-agent, prisoners' dilemma and women's place in community…

Beginning in the 1970s, low-wage manufacturing areas in advanced industrialized countries experienced deindustrialization and worker dislocation as transnational corporations left for sites of lower-cost labor. In response, communities sought to rebuild their economies and pursue new employment opportunities in the restructured labor markets of…

In this dissertation, through semi-structured interviews with 36 female social movement participants and 3 male participants in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Argentina, I ask, "How do women in Latin American social movements perceive the influence of theology on these movements' pedagogies?" I argue that through this work, the…

This research was commissioned by AONTAS-the National Adult Learning Organisation, in partnership with Irish Aid, the Irish Government's programme of assistance to developing countries. To date, a strategic focus on the integration of development education into adult learning has been missing at both State level and across the development…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the exciting activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and much…