This article explores the use of Biographical Narrative Interpretive Methods (BNIM) in research on motivations for trade union learning. Our use of BNIM--a new methodological approach for us--was intended to test our own research practice in an effort to get further inside the "felt world" and "lived life" of the union learner.…

Correctional education in Greece has been implemented since 1980's. Second Chance Schools (SCS) in prisons were established in 2004, aiming at combating social exclusion. This study's aim is to look into the reasons of school dropout and to interpret why inmates take part in the educational program provided by SCS, registering the motives,…

The history of Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) can be traced back to World War II when the American Council on Education (ACE) began conducting credit evaluations of military training. However, it wasn't until the 1970s with the inception of adult-serving colleges such as Charter Oak State College (COSC) and others, the altering of ACE to expand…

Two purposes existed for initiating this qualitative case study involving adults who had completed a college-level business statistics course. The first purpose was to explore adult challenges with stress and anxiety during the course: a phenomenon labeled statistics anxiety in the literature. The second purpose was to gain insight into adult…

This study describes adult learners understanding in learning Islam using the andragogy approach in Singapore comprising multicultural and multi-religious society. Singapore is a secular state where freedom of religion is encrypted in the constitution and Malay/Muslim comprises 13.3% of the population. Adults learn Islam to deepen their…

This paper explores commonly expressed classroom experiences and needs of adult students who are participating in higher education primarily for career-related reasons while having other major responsibilities and roles. I will identify factors that affect their classroom experiences and needs and discuss implications for supporting their…

This article examines the meaning and experience of retention and withdrawal in higher education from the perspective and voices of non-traditional adult students. It draws on UK biographical data from a European study on access, retention and withdrawal. Withdrawal is perceived negatively by higher education institutions and policymakers as it…

The goal of this work is the study of psychological-pedagogical approaches to the understanding of the idea of professional competence of social work specialists as well as the role of study in the system of additional educations in professional-personal development of the listeners. In the process of study of this problem we define main…

In recent years and especially over the past 12 months, with the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest after the death of George Floyd, community colleges have been making efforts to view and rethink their missions through an equity lens. These efforts have included turning this prism toward institutional operations like student services, human…

The 45th annual conference of the Adult and Higher Education Alliance (AHEA) was held virtually in March 2021. Papers in these proceedings include the following: (1) An Analysis of the Role of Communities of Practice in Transformational Learning during a Pandemic (Nighet Ahmed and Ava Tabb); (2) Using Children's Literature to Create a Culturally…

Searching for the real voices in regard to pedagogical challenges Iranian EFL teachers may struggle against seems to be an unexplored issue, which is the purpose of this qualitative grounded study. To achieve generalizable findings, based on the tenets of grounded theory, data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire with 187 Iranian EFL…

Understanding how language modality (i.e., signed vs. spoken) affects second language outcomes in hearing adults is important both theoretically and pedagogically, as it can determine the specificity of second language (L2) theory and inform how best to teach a language that uses a new modality. The present study investigated which…

This article explores the identities of tutors working in one-to-one instructional arrangements, which entail a tutor and an adult English learner working together to meet the particular language learning needs and goals of the learner. The tutors in this study are matched with their partners through an organization in New Zealand which aims to…

Summarization and persuasive writing are important in postsecondary education and often require the use of source text. However, students entering college with low literacy skills often find this type of writing difficult. The present study compared predictors of performance on text-based summarization and persuasive writing in a sample of…

Little research has been done regarding the role of spirituality from the perceptive of self-identifying African-American emerging adult learners and how it contributes to their academic persistence, even though isolation, lack of peer support, and identity issues can decrease motivation of self-identifying African-American students. This study…