It could be argued that the current adult education paradigm aligns with a liberal knowledge economy. A more critical perspective is Paulo Freire's banking education concept that removes criticality from a learner's repertoire and facilitates alignment with the prevalent liberal education and its hegemonic objectives. Drawing from Paulo Freire's…

In many countries the COVID-19 pandemic has been managed through lockdowns including school closures which require parents/guardians to take responsibility for overseeing children's education. Lockdowns also left parents supervising more of their children's informal time. Parenting has always been the subject of adult education, both formal and…

Delving into the linguistic performance of EFL learners with varying linguistic backgrounds and potentials appears to be of huge significance, particularly in EFL classrooms. The knowledge of the potential variations between monolingual and bilingual EFL learners might help teachers better meet the needs of these learners, for instance through…

This article considers the construct of "teacher resilience" from critical discourse and labour process perspectives in order to cast new light on what has been traditionally viewed from a psychological perspective. In this respect, the construct of resilience is placed in the broad political landscape of teachers' work and the labour…

The focus of this issue of the "IJTD" on organization development reinforces the importance of a continuing exploration of change. This is even more significant when considering that change is not only unavoidable but is also occurring with greater speed. Models of planned change may no longer be sufficient to address the needs of today's…

This paper explores the ways in which policy discourses have constructed rationales for addressing adult literacy over the last 50 years. In particular, we examine how policy positions the literacy learner as citizen within discourses of rights and equity. Taking the case of the UK, we compare two key documents produced at different historical…

This article explores the discourse of international educational reform that aims at meeting the various challenges of globalisation and a knowledge-based economy and preparing students for a better future in the twenty-first century. Specifically, it reviews the dominant themes, trends and goals of modern education. It does so by exploring the…

This study of social capital employs data from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Learning (LSAL), funded by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) and conducted at Portland State University to increase understanding of the learning process of adults with limited formal education. It provides longitudinal data on…