No undergraduate or postgraduate programmes currently exist for the professional education of informal educators. The authors outline the development of previous programmes and consider the emergence of informal education as a discrete concept. The article then highlights some key failings in the professional education of informal educators and…

Following the publication of a recent report, commissioned by the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and conducted by Staff and Educational Developers Association, this short paper considers the HEA UK Professional Standards Framework in the UK Higher Education Sector, in the context of recent and continuing debates about how best to support faculty…

This paper explores the professional development literature in the educational setting. The different literature pieces are aligned to a framework that requires effective professional development to focus on three concepts: content, context, and process. The content focuses on the "what" question in the programs while the context aims to…

The educational system has witnessed a number of laudable programs since inception in both formal and non-formal systems of education programs that were set up to empower adult educational skills, knowledge, decision-making processes.Correspondence education transformed into distance education which--with the advent of information and…

Professional development (PD) for early childhood educators has received increased attention as a means of bolstering young children's learning and development. Theory and research indicate that educators' characteristics play roles in both their own learning and that of children; however, little research has explored who participates in PD. This…

Growth in distance education programs has required academic institutions to seek and train additional adjunct faculty. Training program content and delivery methods vary among institutions: however, there is an absence of research on whether incorporating learning strategies that consider assumptions about an adult learner increases satisfaction…

Despite the key role that principals play in leading schoolwide change, districts' efforts to support principals are often limited, particularly in rural settings. In this article, we report the preliminary findings of a cross-district mentoring program for nine midcareer rural school principals. The collaboratively developed human resource…

The nature and rate of social change determine the role, content and forms of adult education. For this purpose pertinent information is needed, and can only be achieved if an International Clearing Center for Adult Education (ICCAE) is formed. (RB)

The six essential elements of this model are based on adult learning principles: (1) motivation; (2) ongoing meetings; (3) changes in attitudes, knowledge, and skills; (4) varied formats; (5) small number of participants; and (6) continuous feedback. Comparison with large seminars and individual study illustrates the merits of this format. (SK)

By describing the working of the UTA (University of the Third Age) system in Paris and Cambridge, the author examines the differences that have arisen in the transfer of the concept from France to Britain. (Author)

This document describes and assesses the process of adapting Paulo Friere's ideas in a Western European urban context. The Adult Learning Project (ALP), in the Gorgie Dalry section of Edinburgh, Scotland, is a sustained experiment in the application of Freire's educational principles. Following an introduction, chapter 1 describes the history of…

The purpose of this study was to discover the concepts of humanities education and adult education and apply them as a model for analyzing humanities education programs for adults. The literature related to the goals and content of humanities education and the methods and design of adult education was reviewed, yielding basic elements allowing…

The Ryedale Adult Literacy Paired Reading Project pairs tutors and adults with reading difficulties. In the Ryedale program, tutees choose reading material that is within the tutor's readability level. The tutor and tutee read aloud together at the tutee's pace until the tutee has made enough progress to read aloud alone. When tutees feel ready,…

This study tested the hypothesis that group interaction skill and useful learning occur in a discussion group which is academically structured. A class procedure involving a cognitive map, member skills and roles, and group etiquette was incorporated into a class ("Education and the Contemporary Scene," Fall Quarter, 1968) at the…

The items in this report represent the proceedings of a national conference that explored ways in which community colleges can serve the nontraditional student. The report contains the program for the two-day conference, a list of the participants and their addresses, and excerpts from speeches on the following topics: assessing past performance…