The commodification of education in all forms has created a lucrative trade, particularly within the realm of continuing professional education. Mandated across a wide spectrum of industries, and particularly salient in healthcare due to rapid advances in medicine and technology, professional education is said to be the vehicle that keeps…

Professional development and improvement in the quality of adult learning staff has been recognized as a priority at a European level. However, at European and national levels there is no clear view on the standard competences needed to fulfill the professional tasks in adult learning. In some European countries competence profiles and standards…

Current developments arising from the Bologna Process and impacting throughout European higher education trace their origins to the lifelong learning and widening participation agendas. They aim to facilitate new patterns and pathways of study and provide transparency and guidance for students. However, practical implementation of the changes in…

This paper examines the relationship between literacy, equality and creativity and the relevance for adult literacy practices. It looks in particular at how literacy tutors can use creative non-text methods to promote an understanding of equality in learners' lives. Through an examination of the findings from the Literacy and Equality in Irish…

It is estimated that in 30 years time nearly half the population of Britain will be over 50. In his introduction to "The Learning Age," David Blunkett proclaimed that "we must all develop and sustain a regard for learning at 'whatever age'" (Blunkett, 1998, my italics). Yet such activity does not extend to higher education,…