Community wellbeing is a function of many factors working in concert to promote an optimal quality of life for all members of a community. It is argued here that the promotion of lifelong learning among older adults can significantly contribute to community wellbeing. The aging society is a worldwide phenomenon presenting both opportunities and…

The aging population is a worldwide challenge. Understanding how older adults have been portrayed would provide a foundation on which future scholarship can build. This study assesses and critiques the assumptions underlying the portrayal of older adults and their learning in adult education journals from 1980 to 2006. On reviewing 93 articles in…

What counts as knowledge and truth in an African context is deeply embedded in the community and is a product of age and experience, in contrast to "the western strategy of convincing with arguments. From the African point of view, arguments are a sign of weakness, of lack of power and vitality. A good, forceful truth does not need arguments.…

Interviews with 20 people involved in Wiccan communities of practice revealed a trajectory of participation from the periphery to the center of the group, experiential learning that combines formal and intuitive knowledge, and a process of identity development in becoming a witch. To an extent, the community's marginality shaped learning and…

Discusses a framework for approaching the literature on adult learning that enables people to identify a focus and the supporting literature for their activity. Proposes a matrix that can be used to categorize this literature. (JOW)

The use of qualitative research methodology in adult education has (1) led to the concepts of marginality, enrollment economy, and perspective transformation; (2) stimulated research in participation, motivation, and self-directed learning; and (3) increased understanding of adult illiterates. Qualitative inquiry has potential for extending the…

Includes "Multicultural Issues in Adult Education: Where We've Come from, Where We Are Now, Where We're Going" (Ross-Gordon) and "Multiculturalism and Adult Education: Questions to Guide Our Research" (Merriam). (SK)

Assesses the state of the art of theory building efforts in adult learning. Theories are divided into three categories: (1) those based on adult learner characteristics, (2) those emphasizing the adult's life situation, and (3) those focusing upon consciousness changes. Common components are identified. (Author/CH)

Early efforts to understand adult learning were by psychologists studying learning in general. Adult educators added such theories as andragogy, self-directed learning, and perspective transformation. New perspectives (sociocultural, critical theory, and feminist) are adding to understanding. (SK)

Research within and across cultures is depicted in four case studies: a black woman interviewing black women, Asian students in the United States interviewing people back home, an African professor and African businesswomen, and a cross-cultural team studying aging in a non-Western culture. Insider/outsider status of researchers is described in…

As the population of older adults increases, the field of adult education needs to respond accordingly. The study reported in this paper examined motivations for learning among older adults actively engaged in formal lifelong learning. One hundred eighty-nine members of a Learning in Retirement institute were surveyed using Boshier's Education…

How adults change over time is best understood through consideration of three kinds of time: historical time period, chronological age, and culturally specific social timetable of life events. Time provides a context for understanding developmental processes. (SK)

This book provides an overview of major dimensions of the adult education field and raises awareness of the critical issues and tensions inherent in its practice. Chapter 1 sketches the broad outlines of the field in terms of its definitions, major concepts, goals, and purposes. Chapter 2 explores the philosophical foundations of adult education.…

This article, drawn largely from personal experience, examines the realities of being a woman professor in terms of preparing for the position, being in the role, and finally, the interrelationship of the role with one's personal life. (CT)

The relative newness of the field of adult education and the newness of its research has been one of the problems in the research-to-practice dilemma. Edcuators have a sense of uncertainty and hence uneasiness in their role as social scientists. Others feel that adult education research is too flawed or impoverished for adoption. Dissemination…