This report looks at the impact of the business cycle on participation in adult learning in the EU-27 using aggregate quarterly country level data for the period 2005Q1-2019Q4. Data come from the EU Labour Force Survey. Although downturns may give individuals more incentives and more time to update their skills and knowledge, their ability to pay…

This article summarizes the findings of a 2016 national survey of the formal schooling, further education, and job-related informal learning of the employed Canadian labour force and compares the results with those of prior national surveys conducted in 1998, 2004, and 2010. The major finding is an unprecedented growing gap between increasing…

The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) Adult Participation in Learning Survey 10 years ago showed that two-fifths of the adult population said that they had taken part in learning in the last three years. A decade later, the 2012 survey shows that little has changed--active participation in learning remains a minority…

People are born with three skills: (1) to breathe; (2) to feed; and (3) to learn. When they breathe they live today, when they eat they will live tomorrow, and while they learn they can survive a lifetime. For some fortunate people, what gets them up in the morning is the pleasure of learning something new. While perhaps not a conscious thought,…

Describes two projects: an employee development consortium of small and midsized enterprises in Nottinghamshire and the National Development Project, testing development strategies of further/higher education providers. The projects demonstrate the need for a wider view of workplace learning that recognizes the value of different types and styles,…

Participation in sport or fitness activities in Great Britain was examined through a survey of more than 6,000 adults throughout Great Britain. As of April 2001, 35% of adults surveyed were currently participating in sport or fitness activities. Those most likely to participate in sport or fitness activities were male, young, in high social…

Adult participation in learning in England and across the nations of the United Kingdom was examined in 2002, and the survey findings were compared to those of earlier surveys. Overall, 42% of the 4,896 people interviewed in the weighted sample survey of adults aged 17 and over reported having engaged in learning in the past 3 years. For the first…

This report on adult learning in Spain first establishes a series of socioeconomic, historical, and conceptual coordinates. Chapter 1 has three parts dedicated to the context. Part 1 has a conceptual map showing the different terms and categories used in adult education and training (AET). Part 2 shows the present socioeconomic context in which…

The public vocational education and training (VET) system in Australia encompasses formal learning activities intended to develop knowledge and skills that are relevant in the workplace for those past the age of compulsory schooling, but excludes bachelor and post-graduate courses and learning for leisure, recreation or personal enrichment. Some…

Adult participation in the United Kingdom in 2001 was examined through interviews with a weighted sample of 6,310 adults over age 17 across Great Britain with a boosted sample in Wales. The following were among the key findings: (1) for the first time in 20 years, there was a marked upswing in adults' participation in learning from the previous…

The impacts of the adult basic education and training (ABET) courses offered by the Centre for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) in South Africa's Northern Cape Province were examined. Data were collected through questionnaires, open-ended and semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. Of the 221 students enrolled in the…

This document contains six papers exploring the training and learning of older people in Australia's vocational education and training (VET), and of technical and further education (TAFE) programs in the adult and community sectors. "Preface" (Andrew Smith) discusses the adequacy of training opportunities available to older Australians…

This guide, which is intended for adults in the United Kingdom, contains information about the educational and employment opportunities available to them. The following topics are discussed in the guide's 11 sections: assessing one's own learning skills and identifying available learning opportunities; locating sources of educational and career…

A four-phase longitudinal study was undertaken to examine the relationship between literacy education and employment. Phase 1 focused on trends in Canadian legislation and the labor market and student and teacher attitudes toward the legislative changes. In phase 2, an ethnographic approach was used to identify the educational and employment…

The language competence of adults in Great Britain was examined in a national study involving interviews between April 28 and May 9, 1999, with a representative sample of 3,967 adults over the age of 16 years. Of those surveyed, 58% spoke only their mother tongue, 29% spoke one additional language, and 10% spoke two additional languages. Fifteen…