Problems in research on participation in adult education include the following: (1) treatment of participants as voluntary, which ignores the growth of compulsory training in the workplace; (2) lack of knowledge about the choice to be a nonlearner; (3) individualistic focus; and (4) inadequate investigation of informal learning. (SK)

A study analyzed how a group of single welfare mothers, heads of households mandated to participate in a preemployment program with an educational component, viewed learning. Welfare policy makers assumed a highly illiterate population whose "deficiencies" would be remediated through participation in existing, voluntary basic education. Studies…

As in other countries, older adults in Australia could benefit from acquiring information technology (IT) skills in many ways, including improved access to information on health issues and development of the skills needed for employment in high-demand IT-related occupations. The research on adult learning and the problems faced by many older…

The six articles in this first issue comprise a critical discourse about theories, practices, and research with the intent of realizing the potential of adult learning to bring about social change. "Adult Education and Empowerment for Individual and Community Development" (Jack Mezirow) outlines and updates the author's transformation…

This booklet, which was produced as a follow-up to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education, examines monitoring adult learning for knowledge-based policymaking. The following are among the topics discussed in the booklet: (1) the need to reconstruct the reality of adult learning in consideration of the concepts of lifelong learning…

This broad introduction to adult and postcompulsory education offers an overview of the field for students, adult educators and workplace trainers. The book establishes an analytical framework to emphasize the nature of learning and agency of learners; examines the core knowledge and skills that adult educators need; discusses policy, research and…

The basic premise of the book, "Demographic Factors in Adult and Continuing Education," (on which this keynote address is based) is that adult and continuing education are irrelevant, immaterial, and inconsequential unless grounded in social reality. The book identifies more than 1 million demographic factors in the 8 Mountain Plains…

This publication describes the activities, deliberations, and products of a semester-long, graduate-level class dealing with policy development related to self-directed adult learning. The first section of the document provides a brief overview of the scope and content of the course. After a section of definitions of terms relating to…

This booklet, which was produced as a follow-up to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education, examines the need to establish a global community of adult learning through information, documentation, and development of a network of networks. Among the topics discussed are the following: issues and challenges emerging from uneven…

This book introduces readers to issues, debates and literatures related to a number of central areas of practice in adult education and training, especially in Australia. It is intended as a first attempt to define the field of adult education in Australia in an analytical and theoretical, as opposed to a theoretical and practical sense. Written…

Possible ways of conducting research examining the changing context of workplace basic skills policy in the United Kingdom were explored. First, workplace literacy was examined from the perspective of its role in the U.K. government's lifelong learning agenda, and existing research in workplace literacy policy and related studies were reviewed.…

The relationship between learning and continuity and change in adult life was explored in a study involving 140 in-depth biographical interviews of adult learners in 3 different areas of England and case studies of 6 adult learners. The study methodology was based on a triangular conceptualization according to which personal identity, human…

This document consists of 12 papers that, together, summarize the key issues underpinning future research and policy development related to intergenerational programs (IPs). "Introduction" (Alan Hatton-Yeo) discusses the project out of which the papers developed. "A General Assessment of IP Initiatives in the Countries…

This document presents the national plan for research and development (R&D) in adult education and literacy that was developed by the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL). The document begins by explaining the process used to develop the plan, which included conducting a literature review, obtaining input from a national steering group, and…

In the past decade, significant advances in information technologies in the Euro-American world have fostered the creation of information monopolies. The prices imposed by the monopolies, whose products are largely in the English language, have caused academic libraries to focus almost exclusively on international scientific and cultural materials…