Numerous projects and programmes for adult literacy have been undertaken in developing countries in the past years, so it comes as no surprise that the fundamental problems and the global statistics on literacy have not changed even slightly in a country like South Africa. The present study examines the elearning readiness of adult facilitators…

The purpose of this article is two-fold. Firstly, we consider whether the setting up of mixed-gender focus group sessions has the potential as a research process to contribute to transforming people's understandings of their gendered relationships. Secondly, we relate our discussion to the question of the mutability of stereotypical thinking in…

Purpose: The concern in this article is that there is low interest in adult education and training (AET) programmes of the unemployed adults in developing countries. The purpose of the article is to determine the effects of social marketing efforts in motivating adult learners to acquire marketable skills for poverty reduction.…

Ample literature on the retention of undergraduate students is available. However, information on the retention of postgraduate students in doctoral research is not abundant, especially when the population comprises working adult students studying on a part-time basis. This article aims to explore factors that influence retention in this group of…

Decades of career in adult education confirmed the author's assumption that adult learners possess lots of lived experiences, exhibit different learning styles and have immediate learning needs to fulfil. Some learners may be slow and take time to grasp information while others might be shy, introverts, lack confidence or extroverts who like to…

Although online distance education provides adult learners with an opportunity for lifelong learning, technology-enabled learner support remains a challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional complications. The purpose of the current study was to determine which form of technology-enabled academic learner support students would prefer,…

This article analyses the perceptions of adult learners towards the use of constructivist approach in teaching and learning in non-formal education (NFE) centres of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The analysis is based on five principles of the constructivist theory of learning-interactive learning, collaborative learning, facilitating learning,…

From a practice point of view it seems as if there are certain factors that might contribute to the fact that emerging adults tend to negate therapeutic help and services. It also seems to be specifically true with regard to emerging adults at university. Help negation seems to occur albeit the fact that therapeutic intervention is seen as an…

There is currently considerable interest in strengthening the connections between formal music education and informal, self-motivated music practices. Participants in this study were adults who were self-motivated to learn formal music concepts, but had encountered barriers to doing so independently. The study offered them individual online…

In South Africa under apartheid, higher education was unavailable to a large segment of the population. Many who enrol for an undergraduate degree today are thus mature students or 'adult learners' 25 years or older who are in full-time employment. Since these students learn differently from their younger peers, institutions need to know what…

Student engagement is a prerequisite for successful learning. Due to the tremendous change in the use of information and communication technologies, the nature of this engagement has had to adapt to fit a hybrid approach of teaching and learning. In this qualitative study, three focus group discussions were conducted that aimed to investigate…

There is considerable interest in teacher development at present. This is especially so at underperforming schools, where teacher development is seen as an essential ingredient in transforming these schools into performing schools. Since many teachers at these schools might be reluctant to participate in development activities, it is important to…

The Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC), the triumphant South African liberation movement, proclaims that "the doors of learning shall be open" for all. Twenty years since coming to power, the doors of the universities are struggling to stay open for adult student-workers. An action research project into implementation…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. These papers are from the CIAE 2020 Virtual International…

This study reports the development and validation of the Graduate Skills and Attributes Scale which was initially administered to a random sample of 272 third-year-level and postgraduate-level, distance-learning higher education students. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. In a second study, the scale was administered to a…