This article, a conceptual and theoretical piece, opens a window on "playful learning" as a philosophy of education and a suite of diverse pedagogical approaches, methods, and techniques. The paper criticizes the serious ambience of adult education with its high levels of instrumentalism and performativity. It argues for playful learning…

With their increasing popularity, there is a need for more research clarifying the potential strengths and weaknesses of the comic format for education. The panelled comic format may be particularly effective for educating adults on the scientific aspects of processes (sequences of events, occurring over time, in a series of discrete steps). We…

A gap often exists between adult leadership learning and development practice. This gap seems particularly pronounced when considering training through a collective, practice, and constructionist theoretical lens. Leadership developers need to address this gap in their teaching methods if they are to support learning capable of responding to…

Although the role of grammar instruction is still highly debated within the field of second language acquisition and language pedagogy (Nassaji, 2017), explanations have emerged as fruit-bearing interactional phenomena that can illustrate the "how" of explicit grammar instruction (Fasel Lauzon, 2015; Hudson, 2011; Majlesi, 2018;…

There is a dearth of knowledge regarding how self-directed learning and inclusion relate as concepts. In this paper, we explore how self-directed learning and inclusion are discussed together in the educational literature. With the aim of advancing our conceptual and theoretical understanding in this regard, we present the findings of a systematic…

The widespread myth that adults with intellectual disabilities lack agency still pervades learning and research spaces, justifying ableist teaching and research methods. Bringing critical, socio-cultural perspectives on disability together with Disability Justice principles, I present a joyful counternarrative, illustrating how a group of adults…

Teaching is an important part of an Extension agent's duties; however, little is empirically understood about effective teaching practices in an Extension context. The purpose of this study was to explore the adult teaching practices of exemplary extension agents. Through a nomination process, seven agents in Florida were interviewed. The analysis…

This qualitative study examines student learning experiences toward a student-developed case study activity for online discussion guided by a three-tier case method model. Forty-five students were recruited from four online adult education courses. Analysis of students' feedback shows that this activity leads to students' positive learning…

This article discusses the findings of qualitative case-study research that looks at pedagogical contexts of adult education programs for migrants in Cyprus, Scotland, Malta, and Estonia. The goal of this research is to understand how Learner-Centered Education (LCE) is promoted within a human-rights framework and implemented as an approach to…

This study explores the effectiveness of experiential learning in teaching generative AI to entrepreneurs and small business owners. The in-person training program, grounded in Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory, aimed to enhance participants' understanding, attitudes, and perceived benefits of AI adoption. Through a structured cycle of Concrete…

Older adults are a growing population. This article reviews the literature on older adults in "Adult Learning" from its inception in 1989 through 2020. Topics focus primarily on program reports, programmatic learning needs, personal reflections, and classroom methods. Key findings include that "older adult" is not well-defined…

This paper investigated teacher wellbeing in a rapidly expanding educational context of Universities of the Third Age in China. Based on the analysis of 48 metaphors innovatively elicited from 27 teacher participants, important cognitive, affective and social aspects of teaching and learning that configure teacher wellbeing have been outlined. It…

In further education (FE), teachers and trainers are not legally required to undertake continuing professional development (CPD), with this mandate removed in 2013. Nevertheless, the Education and Training Foundation has emphasised the importance of maintaining and updating professional knowledge. Literature highlights CPD's contentious role among…

The practice of narrow listening was introduced almost 30 years ago (Krashen, 1996), but has not received enough attention from English language teachers and researchers. Past research has placed a focus on the combination of this method and narrow reading, or the use of this method in teaching languages other than English. This study explored…

Recent publications abound that criticize instruction that takes learning styles into consideration in teacher training, lesson planning, and content delivery. What contribution does the recent movement to debunk the validity of learning styles make to teaching adults? This article challenges the purpose for debunking learning styles and…