The paper examines the influence of cultural capital from one's family of origin on adult participation in education. International research confirms that factors such as education level, professional status, age, and attitudes significantly explain variations in adult learning. To explore inequalities in adult education participation further, the…

Motivation plays a crucial role in adult learners' decisions to enroll in educational programs. This study aimed to evaluate the motivations for adult learners who enrolled at adult high schools in Riyadh as well as the potential gender and age differences for their motivations. The Education Participation Scale (EPS) A-Form was administered to…

This article presents the findings of a comparative study of values-based adult learning and education (ALE) fields; specifically, in Austria, critical-emancipatory adult basic education; Scotland, learner-centered, community-based adult learning; and South Tyrol, Italy, the "Winterschule," a radical-critical popular education format. We…

Applying Culture and Appreciative Education lenses, this qualitative study, eliciting detailed descriptions, examines six North American adult and higher education scholars' lived learning experiences and insights gained from their academic collaborations in and with the East. Our findings indicate that participants hold unique international…

Participation in adult learning and education requires the availability of, and accessibility to, learning opportunities provided by educational institutions. One fundamental element is time. Adult learning and education participation can only be realized by successfully matching individual time-availabilities with the temporal organization of…

Low-educated adults participate less in adult education than higher-educated adults. In this study, we analyze psychosocial barriers to learning while acknowledging that barriers for low-educated adults may be different from those of medium- and high-educated adults. An extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior is used to study training…

Digital literacies are critical for adults from migrant and refugee backgrounds as they settle in a new country. However, institutions, leaders, and teachers often feel uncertain about how to teach digital literacies. Using the notions of digital literacy practices and assemblages, this article reports on a qualitative case study and explores how…

This study provides a detailed account of dilemmas experienced by community organizers arising from the tension between political and educational objectives within the community organizing social action approach. We address the way these dilemmas emerge during nonviolent direct action (NDA), and the associated organizers' valuative processes.…

Language skills are central to refugee integration and the availability of language courses could thus be a limiting factor. We explore how the most important provider of language courses in Germany, adult education centers (VHS), adapted their course supply to the refugee wave of 2015/2016. Our results highlight two channels through which the…

This article presents a quasi-experimental study evaluating Morocco's Agency for Adult Education "Literacy for Empowerment" program, using propensity score matching to compare data from participants and nonparticipants. Framed within a theory supporting an all-inclusive concept of literacy, the study was guided by two main questions, and…

Despite the increase in life expectancy and the intensification of research with older populations, little is known about the relation between adult learning and engagement in social, civic, and political participation experiences. In this study, we interviewed 18 older adults involved in a diversity of contexts, from senior universities to civic…

The article aims to show that taking into account diverse characteristics of the wider social environment is indispensable for a better understanding of participation in adult education (PAE). It explores the association of corruption as a macro factor with PAE, arguing for an integrated approach to PAE. By using two indexes for corruption at…

Using the PIAAC data, we show how exposure to various dimensions of nonformal and informal learning relates to the problem-solving capacity in a technology-rich environment for working adults. The sample included permanent staff from various economic sectors, self-employed individuals, and casual employees doing fixed-term contracts (n = 1248)…

Building on previous work on the civic returns of adult learning, this article examines the association between adult education, personality traits, and demands for civic participation or volunteering. Based on National Education Panel Study data, the study finds openness to be a crucial personality trait for participating in further training, as…

This study investigated adult learners' experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees' personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative…