Institutionalised forms of adult learning and education (ALE) such as community learning centres (CLCs) and related models are found in most parts of the world. These are spaces offering opportunities for literacy and skills training, health and citizenship, general, liberal and vocational education, in line with fuller recognition of the meaning…

Access is often defined in policies oriented to digital inclusion as the potential, if not the means, to access an Internet connection. Using a policy anthropology (Wedel & Feldman, 2005) approach that combines methods of critical policy analysis with an ethnography of adults' learning experiences in a public-access digital café, we argue that…

What constitutes public pedagogy? The term is broad and can be applied in so many situations and settings to the learning that occurs outside of formal schooling. In this article, the author explores how a community event--a painting competition held in a Melbourne suburb's botanic gardens--constitutes public pedagogy. The event centres on…

This paper explores the connection between participation in community-based adult learning (CBAL) and the development of social capital. It is based on a life-history study of participation in community-based adult learning opportunities undertaken in two local authority areas in Scotland. A life-history approach was chosen in order to ensure that…

This paper explores learner progression for participants in community-based adult learning (CBAL) provision in Scotland. It focuses on learners' perceptions of progression drawn from analysis of life history interviews carried out with ten adults who had participated in community-based adult learning. The analysis of data was undertaken in three…

This paper argues that learning for human flourishing needs a balance between small-scale, convivial experiences, imaginary and creative expression, logical, rational planning and autonomous, purposive practices. It is the second one--imaginary and creative expression--which is particularly of interest in this paper. The focus is on the capacity…

The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and…

The learning community plays an important role in expanding lifelong learning ideas in social units such as cities, towns, and communities. Some European countries, Australia, Japan, Korea, and China are employing the idea of learning community to promote lifelong learning in local communities. In an effort to address recent social problems, China…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how knowledge of different kinds is put to work in workplace education programmes for adults with low skills and adults with higher skills. A novel framework, which has moved beyond narrow conceptions of "transfer" to concentrate on different forms of knowledge and the ways these are…

In this chapter the authors' primary aim is to describe the general workings of the system of adult literacy and learning as it exists in the United Kingdom today. To better illuminate that system, they take a little time delving into its past--that is, showing how it arrived at its current state of operation. A secondary aim is to compare and…

Ways of increasing awareness of and access to literacy programs for Native people in Toronto, Ontario, were examined. Data were collected through the following activities: a literature review; meetings with stakeholders and the public; surveys of learners, Native literacy workers, executive directors, and steering committee members; and focus…