No undergraduate or postgraduate programmes currently exist for the professional education of informal educators. The authors outline the development of previous programmes and consider the emergence of informal education as a discrete concept. The article then highlights some key failings in the professional education of informal educators and…

This article briefly compares the prison system in the United States with progressive correctional systems in the world, before pivoting to discuss the lessons learned from the author's development of the Prison Education Project (PEP). PEP has expanded educational opportunities for inmates in 12 Californian correctional facilities. With the…

This article explores the suggestion that the UK should follow the lead of the United States and establish "Troops to Teaching" programmes. In particular, it examines the worth of the suggestion that non-graduate qualifications similar to those that have been designed for teaching assistants might be usefully employed to achieve this. In…

Developing educational programs for older adults who are highly educated and healthy is necessary in order to meet the learning needs for this specific group. One response to this demand for educational programs is the Learning in Retirement Organization (LIR). LIR began in New York City in 1962 as an educational program for retired professionals.…

Verifies, in a national probability sample, some findings of Allen M. Tough and associates regarding self-initiated and self-planned learning. About 80 percent of Americans 18 and older perceive themselves as continuing learners, and involvement in self-initiated learning projects is 76 percent. Reasons uncovered for planning one's own learning…

Following a brief section on definitions of politics, political systems, and educational policy, the article reviews major systems for thinking specifically about adult learning: continuing, recurrent and nonformal education, and lifelong learning as related but distinct concepts, and the question of central control by national government.…

Employee development programs (EDPs) are workplace adult education programs which focus on encouraging personal growth and improving confidence and self-esteem through the provision of leisure-based programs. EDPs are determined by employee needs, offered free of charge, and conducted outside working hours. EDPs were first implemented in the…

Adult education in the U.S. today and its future are summarized. As it presently exists, adult education is said to be local in nature. A national adult education research project is currently being conducted to determine the performance requirements for adults in a postindustrial society. Adult education has been a strong factor in raising the…

These proceedings of a symposium on literacy include precis of six speakers' comments and a directory of the participants. "The Hidden Education Problem" (Paul Simon) addresses the need to provide all citizens with the opportunity to learn to read and write. "The Role of Government in Literacy" (Jean-Jacques Noreau) describes…

To explore options to establish Federal Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), a study reviewed Pennsylvania's Individual Learning Accounts, Cedar Company's Individual Learning Accounts, ITAs under the Workforce Investment Act, and the United Kingdom's Individual Learning Accounts. ITAs were defined as a base amount of resources--dollars or…

This report describes developments in Britain and the United States which enable people to use, in an education or training context, components of their achievements drawn directly from their prior experience. The report is divided into three sections. The first section consists of an account of the present situation in Britain concerning further…

A study was done to provide baseline data on the continuing education opportunities that colleges, universities, and professional societies offer engineers and scientists and to determine how programs and courses are developed. Although degree credit courses were included, the focus was on noncredit education designed to increase or update…

This volume reviews measures and programs recently undertaken by governments in several different countries to address youth unemployment and school-to-work transition. Focus is on studies of assessment methods and data needs (Part 1) and recurrent education (Part 2). The first three studies emphasize the development of assessment methods. One…

This paper sketches major programs for adult education in Sweden, the Soviet Union, France, and England and considers several policy implications for adult education in the United States. The first section examines the reforms in Swedish public education designed to facilitate social equality, with special emphasis on the study circle. A…

This document consists of 12 papers that, together, summarize the key issues underpinning future research and policy development related to intergenerational programs (IPs). "Introduction" (Alan Hatton-Yeo) discusses the project out of which the papers developed. "A General Assessment of IP Initiatives in the Countries…