Study circles such as the National Issues Forums encourage members to reflect upon and discuss community and social issues and foster reasoned advocacy and informed choices. (SK)

Explains how to recruit members for a trade union study circle: types of people, preparation of informational materials, and guidelines for discussing the purpose and benefits of study circles. (SK)

Six principles of critical practice in adult education are derived from the conceptualization of adult education advanced in this article. They concern voluntary participation, respect for self worth, adult education as collaboration, praxis, critical reflection, and the nurturing of self-directed adults. (CT)

The usual model of action learning includes within its framework the role and function of the set adviser. This article provides an account, by its members, of an action learning set operating with no set adviser. The development of procedures and processes within the group is reviewed, together with an assessment of outcomes. (Author)

Explores the Mechanics' Institutes of nineteenth-century Britain as a voluntary movement beset by problems of social class, conflicts over the perception of educational needs, and failure to meet those needs. Draws implications for professionalism and volunteerism as part of adult education today. (SK)

The village adult education center holds the key to the success or failure of rural adult education programs. To meet the objectives of field work, new methodologies and approaches are needed, and programs must be strongly community-based. (SK)

Discusses historiographic issues involved in researching learning in community and gives a brief history. Describes three types: autonomous learning groups, community development groups, and community action groups. Poses critical questions for understanding the relationship between learning and community. (Contains 54 references.) (SK)

Daytime adult education has emerged in Ireland in the form of voluntary, locally based groups of working class women providing education for themselves and others. A survey of 96 groups illuminated their struggles with finding suitable space, day care, and advertising. They thrive because of disenchantment with the content, scheduling, and form of…

The Program for Organizational Interdisciplinary Self-Education teaches group self-education skills such as team development, management, and maintenance. Training includes defining and negotiating team member roles, case study approach, group simulations, and problem solving. (SK)

Self-directed teams, in which the people who do the work are responsible for managing it, are changing the practices and structures of many organizations. Self-managing teams are based on trust and empowerment, on treating workers as responsible adults. (SK)

This study sought to describe the personality characteristics of self-directed continuing learners, develop an instrument to identify such learners, and conduct empirical investigations to validate the instrument. Results suggest the instrument is a valid tool for identifying self-directed continuing learners when used in its entirety. (Author/CT)

The peer self-help group approach used by Alcoholics Anonymous can be a model for other types of adult learning. The group's power, solidarity, experience sharing, and values clarification can provide positive social and educational experiences to others such as the chronically unemployed, illiterate adults, and high school dropouts. (SK)

Focuses on one kind of continuity in education by showing that our current interest in self-directed study and lifelong learning is not a new development. (Editor/RK)

Study circles, sponsored by government subsidy in Denmark and Sweden, are characterized by small group discussion of subjects of common interest, voluntary participation, and facilitators instead of teachers. They have often functioned in the formation of public policy and in the education of citizens on important issues. (SK)