In 1969 the Census Bureau carried out a study that found that nearly 85 percent of the participants in all kinds of adult education had successfully completed high school or a higher level of education. The study further showed that the more schooling an adult had completed, the more likely he or she would be to pursue some kind of further…

The instrumental and expressive utilities of participating in education differ among participants. To ascertain how age affects their perception of these forms of utility, questionnaires were executed by 400 middle class participants ages 18-84 in 45 classes for adults in the Chicago area. Independent variables influencing perception of utility…

Older people grow and develop psychologically; they do not necessarily decline in intellectual functioning; and they are capable of learning and enriching their own lives and the lives of others with their wisdom and experience. However, in a fast-paced and impatient culture, little time is given to hearing what older people have to say. Older…

Numerous models have been developed to analyze the relationship between adult education, adult learning, and adult development. Squires' contingency model postulates that the how of teaching is determined by the nature and characteristics of the participants (the who), the content (the what), and the setting (the where) in which teaching takes…

A study of adult learners reveals four steps of transformative change in adult life: diffusion, dissonance, differentiation, and coherence. The educational implications of these steps are explored through case studies, and it is argued that these transformative changes affect not only the individual and the nature of adult education, but the…

Career development has become very pertinent for adult educators inasmuch as career development programs have been shown to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the field of adult education. Career development programs can vary widely in their content, approach, and philosophy. Various theories have been proposed to explain career development.…

Life cycle and stage theories are used to show how adult learners experience educational programs differently according to their individual developmental stages. It is argued that quality adult education can and should affect a person's perspective and create new life meanings. (JSR)

Educational psychology, being part of the youth-oriented education system, has neglected adult development and learning phenomena. Recent major socio-cultural changes challenge the discipline's youth orientation while simultaneously offering opportunities for significant research, teaching and service, and for fertile dialectic within the higher…

The concept of lifelong learning has become important in recent years as adults increasingly need to adapt and innovate, become more flexible workers, and take more active roles in the education of their children. Most of the discussion of lifelong learning, however, is couched in terms of formal educational institutions. But informal learning may…

Lifelong learning and lifewide learning describes the concept of learning in which individuals learn throughout the life-span from formal, non-formal, and informal sources. It is an issue for educational policy, labor market policy, and the workplace, as well as for civil society. Key issues in lifelong learning include the following: (1) lifelong…

This publication, the first in a series on theory, innovation, and practice in andragogy, is a reproduction of two papers first published in 1971 by Coolie Verner and Catherine V. Davison. The first paper in this booklet explores psychological factors in adult learning and instruction, while the second discusses physiological factors. In the five…

This learning packet consists of a leader's guide and handout materials, for conducting inservice workshops on adult learning for adult educators. Twelve modules are included in the binder. Each of these modules is a separate workshop training activity, most of which will take no more than one hour to conduct. Each of the modules includes a…

This second issue of a series on theory, innovation, and practice in andragogy analyzes some of the instructional variables in adult learning and discusses ways to influence the degree of learning through the application of instructional and behavioral technologies. It unites theory and practice, generating recommendations from the abstract…

This paper identifies and describes specific applications of knowledge from other disciplines to adult education. It is observed that the concept of adult educators' borrowing from other fields has been widely discussed in both North and South America. Verner's criteria for selecting usable material are cited. The following four general topics of…

These proceedings contain the texts of the following 44 papers: "Adult Development in Midlife, Childless Women" (Rita Keneipp); "Analysis of the Relationship between Cognitive Style (Field Dependence-Field Independence) and Level of Learning" (Eugene Tootle); "Reconceptualizing Adult Education Participation" (Peter Cookson); "Adulthood:…