Despite the clear and obvious need for adults to be proficient in numeracy, international studies suggest that many continue to struggle in this area. In Ireland, one of the main challenges continues to be the availability of effective adult numeracy education. This is a diverse sector, and little is known about the varied provision of adult…

The Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD) provides an avenue for networking of professional developers in the field of adult education. In the early years, the organization established three priorities related to professional development: (1) professional development standards, (2) research, and (3) funding. In 2006, the…

Through assigning one-on-one instructional coaches, the Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) initiative successfully supported teachers in 33 states to integrate the skills that matter into instruction using effective approaches in five topical areas: health literacy, civics education, digital literacy, financial literacy, and workforce preparation.…

While the educational system attempts to recover from the last few years of teacher attrition and lower enrollments in teacher education programs, there is an opportunity within adult education to both promote and mentor indigenous women in educational leadership roles by providing education, resources, and opportunities during their training. As…

This article explores the design and development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on inclusive teaching. Released in the Fall of 2023, the MOOC is particularly unique because of its intentional use of ethnically diverse voices and multimodal content to include art, music, spoken word, and storytelling. Modules range from Self and Empathy to…

Adult education instructors frequently attend both required and elective professional development events and seminars to gain and maintain proficiency. However, as prospective learners, do instructors know exactly what the training will be about? Are the takeaways, or training outcomes, clearly stated beforehand? The answer seems to be, sometimes.…

The general aim of this study is to find out the views of academic staff working at universities on lifelong learning and adult education. While finding out the views of academic staff, the 6 principles of Andragogy Approach, which includes the characteristics of adults about learning, were taken as basis and the professional or personal…

A key commitment of the Adult Literacy for Life Strategy (2021) is to reduce the number of adults in Ireland with unmet numeracy needs from 25% to 12%. One of the main challenges in achieving this is the varied provision of adult numeracy education. Many numeracy practitioners are either employed parttime or are volunteers with few opportunities…

This article provides an overview of major dimensions of the professional development of adult educators identified in European policy documents, relevant reports and research. The author reviews the relevant policy visions of the past two decades, aiming to determine the extent to which professional development of adult educators is visible in…

We describe a longitudinal (5-year) researcher-supported initiative designed to strengthen the research-practice link (RPL) and serve as an effective form of situated professional learning and development (PLD) in adult second language programs. We facilitated the formation of and supported 9 professional reading groups of 6-12 instructors (N =…

This study aimed to investigate the reasons for low enrollments in a related teacher preparation program alongside seemingly high attrition rates among instructors in the field of teaching English to adults and determine if any solution could be found to encourage people to not only enter the field but persist in the career. A review of current…

Adult education instructors are as diverse as the students they teach. Their professional backgrounds, training, licenses, and modalities of teaching (online, in person, open vs. closed enrollment, etc.) vary widely, which can make the planning of meaningful, effective professional development challenging. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a…

In further education (FE), teachers and trainers are not legally required to undertake continuing professional development (CPD), with this mandate removed in 2013. Nevertheless, the Education and Training Foundation has emphasised the importance of maintaining and updating professional knowledge. Literature highlights CPD's contentious role among…

The article conceptualizes coursework in teacher education through the lens of intrinsic motivation. Authors theorize a pragmatic heuristic known as the motivational framework for culturally responsive teaching to achieve that goal. Then, using two illustrative examples, one of which is shadowing high school students, authors show how the…

Online education has increased in popularity over the last few decades due to the enrollment of adult learners. Adult learners have challenges with returning to school. It is not known what resources and support faculty need to support adult learners taking online first-year experience courses (FYE). The purpose of this general descriptive…