This study investigated adult learners' experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees' personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative…

Research informing adult education teachers' didactic practices in distance education is scarce. Approaching the adult learner's perspectives on how distance education is perceived is key to informing future initiatives. This study explores adult learners' perception of distance education, concentrating on aspects such as, social presence, course…

This article sheds light on adult engagement in a learning activity during and after online coaching on piano, guitar, or songwriting. Data was collected from the participants using thematic semi-structured interviews and experience sampling. To investigate the extent to which adult learners are involved in learning during and after online music…

Competence-based education (CBE) is an international educational trend and a core issue in developing Finnish vocational upper secondary and higher education. The theory and practice of the competence-based approach should preferably be included in vocational teacher studies. Yet, there are still relatively few organisations implementing…

Higher education and lifelong learning projects aimed at adults have become more widespread and have sparked a debate on how to restructure higher education policies and support lifelong learning. In Finland, a recent initiative in higher education policy is based on the theme of continuous learning. Different supporting structures and practices…

Language learning is an important necessity of today's globalized society. Therefore, it is vital to provide the most effective methods for learning a foreign language. Through understanding how foreign language learning, cognitive load theory, learning modalities, and participants' physiological sex relate to one another, more effective…

This article offers a close analysis of a 90-minute teaching sequence in an English as a foreign language classroom of an adult basic education program for refugee-background learners in a Finnish community college. The White European-heritage teacher, the author of the article, researcher on-site, and substitute teacher at that point, taught a…

This article analyzes experiences of racialization in stories of adult learners with refugee experience who attend a basic education program at a Finnish community college. Throughout a two-year ethnographic study, several students shared stories and thoughts on racialization and racism with the white researcher on site (the author). This article…

Adopting the methods of multimodal conversation analysis, this study demonstrates that adult second language (L2) users with emergent literacy formulate requests as 'complex multimodal Gestalts' consisting prototypically of deictic or depictive gestures combined with gaze, situationally relevant material, and vocal or linguistic resources. The…

In this article, we argue that drama can serve as an interconnecting method for climate change education. In this study, we elaborate the practice of drama and participation experiences through three drama workshops: 1) process drama work on the global, social, and individual aspects of climate change, 2) outdoor drama practice on relations to…

This article explores university students' constructions of the ideal student at present-day university, that emphasises student-as-consumer culture and employability rather than education as a virtue in itself. The research is based on thematic narrative accounts (n = 67) generated in a generalist field in one regional Finnish university. We…

Rapid development of digital technologies affects the lives of all people and often leads to people being in unequal positions regarding digital skills training opportunities. Older adults' motivations for learning digital skills vary, but they are generally connected with expectations of upcoming benefits. This study investigates the…

This paper explores patterns in participation in adult education and training (AET) by comparing five countries with high participation rates (the Nordic countries and the Netherlands) with three countries with significantly lower participation rates (France, Poland and the Slovak Republic). Using PIAAC data the paper examines differences in the…

The humanist and critical principles of educational gerontology attribute different goals to education in later life. Self-Actualization is the goal of humanist educational gerontology, while empowerment, emancipation, and social change are the goals of critical educational gerontology. Liberal arts education is dominant in later-life learning.…

The aim of the present study is to examine the breadth of influence of a business plan-based entrepreneurship education. This task is implemented by examining students' (n = 227) self-reported learning outcomes concerning entrepreneurial skills, attitudes and abilities after education. In addition to proposing a classification of the self-reported…