This phenomenological study describes seven stages of learning to teach at the university level. Through the use of narratives, twelve Canadian university professors reveal their beliefs and attitudes about teaching and learning as they struggle to become better teachers within various academic settings. The purpose of the study was to develop a…

Emphasizes the need to encourage early childhood teachers to be active problem solvers and lifelong learners in their work with children. Suggests applying adult education theory to early childhood teacher education, including the concepts of autonomy, rich experience, and practical application of knowledge. Highlights implications and suggests…

Top-ranked competencies for graduate education in human resources development (HRD) identified by 55 (of 195) HRD practitioners were adult learning, presentation, facilitation, needs assessment, and human relations. Seven of the top 10 were allied with adult education graduate program content. (SK)

Discusses the disparities between adult education and health professions training in terms of theoretical foundations and practice. Uses adult education as a framework for the analysis of clinical teaching in the health professions. Considers the implications of the framework in terms of theory, research, and practice. (DMM)

Learning is a natural process shared by its members in most social and educational institutions, and is seen as both the primary vehicle and foundation for the building and achievement of one's career and/or personal goals. This research offers critical insight into the dimensions of cohort based learning communities and the implications it…

This paper presents personal reflections on the nature of learning and the purpose of schooling and their implications for defining the work of professional development schools (PDSs). The paper examines the implications of intuitive learning, differences in learning, and political aspects of learning theory for professional development schools.…

Presents observations of a member of the Canadian delegation to the early-childhood programs at Reggio Emilia, Italy regarding collaboration, observation, ongoing projects, and documentation. Considers how these components may be adapted for use in Canadian programs. Describes initial attempts to use these educational principles to teach adults…

Discusses the importance of higher education and the economic necessity of developing alternative pedagogical models, such as distance education. The current state of higher education in the United States is discussed as well as distance education programs in other countries, and distance learning theories are reviewed. (22 references) (LRW)

The increase in the numbers of adult students studying on college and university campuses has created a new set of ethical and administrative challenges for those institutions. Projections for the nineties suggest 50 percent of enrollment will be adults. Characteristically, adult students perceive themselves to be responsible for their own lives;…

The socially constructed beliefs that teachers hold about knowing, teaching, learning, and praxis are likely to have a profound influence on their practice. Too often teachers serve to reproduce traditional authoritarian and didactic patterns of instruction in schools, apparently because they themselves have never been given the opportunity to…

Military personnel facing forced retirement are prime candidates for retraining as teachers. As mature adult learners, retiring/retired military personnel have certain needs that must be addressed if they are to become successful in their educational careers. Knowles' six assumptions of andragogy acknowledge these special needs as follows: adults…

This book contains 13 articles on learning from experience and its relationship to adult learning and adult education. The introductory article, "Understanding Learning from Experience" (Boud, Cohen, Walker), examines five propositions about learning from experience. The following papers are organized into three sections that focus…

The University of Arkansas developed a distance education (DE) baccalaureate degree program in human resource development (HRD) that may serve as a model for developing DE at any level. The program, which was designed on the basis of a statewide needs assessment and competencies researched by the American Society for Training and Development, is…

A phenomenological hermeneutic approach was used to explore the process of being and becoming a distance learner and ways the distance learning environment is inhabited or known. The study's author analyzed her own distance learning experiences and those of three other individuals (two females and one male) with an interest in education and…

Selected papers presented in this book are: "Changing Concepts of Self-Direction in Learning" (Long); "The Transition from Learner-Control to Autodidaxy: More than Meets the Eye" (Candy); "Self-Directed Learning and the Theory of Adult Education" (Jarvis); "On the Theme and Variations of Self-Directed…