Adult educators are recognizing that factors in the learning environment related to psychological, social, and cultural conditions exert a powerful influence on learners' growth and development. Current discussions on learning environments have broadened to include the need to confront issues of sexism and racism, interlocking systems of power and…

Even Start is a family literacy and support program for families with young children. This paper identifies several characteristics of adult learners in order to suggest effective approaches for working with adults to improve literacy skills. The first section presents five case studies illustrating adults with different histories, circumstances,…

This book contains 28 personal stories and poems about growth and development in adulthood that were written by individuals who were purposely chosen to reflect the diversity of U.S. culture and sociocultural factors such as race and ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, and able-bodiedness that affect development in adulthood. The stories…

This book, which is designed to prepare individuals to become workplace consultants, examines the theory and practice of enhancing learning in training and adult education. The following are among the topics discussed: putting cognition theory into practice in instruction; cognitive science perspective on adult learning (adults as learners, three…

The learning and development experiences of English-speaking Caribbean immigrant women in the United States were examined in a transcultural study. A heuristic phenomenological approach was used to explore how a sample of 15 Anglophone women from the British Caribbean islands who had immigrated to the midwestern, southwestern, and eastern United…

This document contains six papers exploring emerging viewpoints, issues, and trends related to mentoring and adult learning. "Mentoring: From Athena to the 21st Century" (Catherine A. Hansman) traces the definitions of the term "mentor" and mentoring practices that have evolved since antiquity. "Emerging Perspectives on…

This document contains information about and from a study of the experiences of 41 adults enrolled in adult basic education/English for speakers of other languages (ABE/ESOL) programs that was conducted to determine what their learning meant to them and to identify strategies for developing a new pluralism in ABE/ESOL classrooms and teaching to…

As part of a larger study (not discussed) ten educated Malaysian citizens were interviewed to find whether their rising political consciousness, over a ten year period (1988-1999), indicated that their transformation was influenced by their culture. The subjects were between 35-45 years old, married, with an average of four children. All were…