According to the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a large proportion of adults in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have low literacy proficiency levels. There exist widespread stereotypes about adults who have difficulties with reading and writing, stereotypes which…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and through what mechanisms vulnerable adults are empowered through a second-chance education programme. At the same time, the paper aims at unveiling the obstacles hindering learners' empowerment process and making suggestions for the improvement of the educational programme fostering further…

This paper uses a socio-historical approach to explore the emergence in French theoretical literature in the mid-1960s of a new notion, the "relationship to knowledge" ("rapport au savoir"), and its success in the emerging field of professional adult education within the Complex of Nancy, France. The increasing use of this…

This article examines the conflicts and challenges that student leaders in adult basic education and literacy programs experience in balancing their leadership responsibilities with academic endeavours. Based upon a case study of an adult basic education student leadership council in New York City, the article shows that leadership activities can…

In light of the "rarity" and "unavailability" of academic publications on literacy/illiteracy in the Arab world, this study attempts to determine the linguistic needs of illiterate adult women in Egypt in the context of informal adult basic education. The purpose of this study is to understand illiterate adult women's daily…

This paper reports on a five-year study which explored the engagement of a group of long-term mentally ill adults in community provision in which they learned basic, expressive literacy. The research mapped points in the learning, writing and auto/biographic engagement where set identities were being troubled, and frisson created in the challenge…

This paper will investigate the ontological and existential learning experience of a group of laterlife computer learners in Sydney, Australia. The research, undertaken as a PhD project, focused on the interpretation and understanding of the learning experience from the perspective of the learners. Hence, a qualitative method was used because it…

The English "Skills for Life" strategy symbolises the prominent place that adult basic skills have claimed in education and training policy in England since the beginning of this century. The strategy aims to improve the skills of a large number of learners over a ten year period (2001-2010). This paper explores what we can learn about…

Analysis of research on voluntary associations and social movements and a large-scale study of adult basic education suggest that personal influence is often an important component of an adult's decision to participate in formal education and may play a critical role in retention and instruction. (SK)

Resistance theory was used as a framework in analyzing 10 works of fiction containing a character who resisted traditional schooling and embraced an alternative lifestyle. The results applied to nonparticipants in adult basic education show that resisters reject the hegemony of values of traditional programs. (JOW)

Literacy education in Thailand has shifted emphasis over time. Under authoritarian nationalism in the 1940s-1950s, popular democracy was a focus. Work-oriented literacy programs in the 1970s emphasized broader community development. With the neoliberal state's move toward globalization in the 1990s, calls for further democratization of educational…

According to workplace instructors of English as a Second Language (ESL), such classes are essential if employees have little exposure to English off the job; ESL instruction enables learners to observe others' language-learning strategies and fulfills varied needs: standard English, language attack skills, and a forum for clarifying and…

The study investigated the impact of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme on the phenomenon of female trafficking in South-South Nigeria. To this end, six research questions were raised. These revolved around: (i) resource situation and adequacy of training provided for repatriated trafficked victims in the service provider centre; (ii)…

Two hundred and fourteen adult basic education students in Connecticut were interviewed to determine the range and types of personal and institutional supports and countersupports available to students and to discover how the presence or absence of such supports enhanced or detracted from their participation in basic education classes. (CT)

One of the Millennium Development Goals declared by the United Nations in 2000 was to reduce by half the population of people living in extreme poverty, by 2015. Adult education can and should contribute significantly to this development goal. Nevertheless it has hardly been explored so far in the national Poverty Reduction Strategies Papers. In…