Second Chance Schools (SCSs) have been operating for twenty-five years in Greece, that provide basic education to adults (18 years of age and older) who have not completed the compulsory nine-year education but have a primary school leaving certificate (six-year study). This study reports and analyses the participation factors of young adults…

The aim of this study is to examine what it means to be a student in a vocational education and training programme in the municipal adult education system in Sweden and how the interplay between school and working life affects students' identity formation. To achieve this, 12 students from two different programmes have been interviewed at the end…

The aim of the present study was to contribute knowledge about how adult L2 learners perceived their possibilities to use and develop the target language (Swedish) when formal language teaching was combined with placements. Situated in the context of Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), the study drew inspiration from action research and ethnographic…

Older adults continue learning for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. Literature has often portrayed the reasons for learning in older age as either intentional or as predetermined by socialisation. This emphasis on either agency or social structures is found, not least, in the humanist and critical principles of older adult education. This article…

In this article, focus is on students' oral production in two classrooms in Swedish for immigrants (SFI). The study focuses on practices with interaction patterns where students are involved in negotiation of meaning. Theoretical basis is the importance of interpersonal interaction for language development, with a focus on students' use of varied…

This article investigates the significance of the use of multilingual language assistants (MLAs) in second language teaching for adult migrants with limited formal schooling. Norton's theories of investmentand critical pedagogy serve as an analytical backdrop. An emic perspective is adopted, with interviews with nine adult learners taking centre…

The study aimed at exploring reading acquisition in Arabic from the perspective of a newly-literate adult native speaker, seeking to improve her reading ability and recite the Quran. Drawing mainly on a participatory cognitive schematic-interactive approach, and accounting for a literacy social view, the study's construct allowed the investigation…

This paper explores the challenges and successes of engaging female survivors of childhood sexual abuse and sexual violence in community-based, arts-informed adult learning. The study presents the complex physical, psychological and emotional barriers to participation that were encountered during the fieldwork period. The rationale for using an…

This writing critiques the idea that literacies education can and should empower adult learners. The ideas of Pierre Bourdieu and James Paul Gee are analysed with reference to how power and empowerment are understood and what this means for the concrete practice of adult literacies education by educators and students. My concern is that their…

The objective of this paper, which makes use of the concepts of power and discipline from Michel Foucault's theoretical framework, is the investigation of the impact that the manner of operation of a Second Chance School (SCS) has on the disciplinary work of a prison in Greece. The research was carried out using semi-structured interviews with the…

This article introduces the exhibit called "Out from Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember" and positions it as a focal point for exploring questions of disability, museum exhibition and adult education. Created by the School of Disability Studies at Ryerson University in Toronto, "Out from Under" was the first…

This article discusses the teachers' role in self-directed learning (SDL) -- a central concept in adult education. We explore the use of Socratic questioning to develop critical thinking, which is the outcome of SDL in problem-based learning (PBL). In particular, we analyse 11 adult learners' reflective journals in relation to a Socratic seminar.…

Despite the diversification of the student population in higher education, there has been little empirical research on the impact of Access to Higher Education (AHE) courses, on mature students' learning identities, and of the changes in higher education policy on their chances to participate. Using data from a study examining AHE students'…

This paper discusses how mature Access to Higher Education (AHE) students worked hard to gain access to Higher Education (HE) because they wished to pursue careers that required this level of education. They wanted to transform themselves as learners to achieve their aspirations despite the hurdles that many faced, such as maintaining families,…

Adult participation in higher education has frequently entailed mature students studying part time in lower-ranked institutions. In England, higher education policies have increasingly emphasised higher education provision in vocational further education colleges, settings which have extensive adult traditions but which mainly teach…