This book examines how adult education is influenced by and has an influence on the society in which it takes place. It presents a clear analysis of the development challenges and sociological realities of the adult education context and explores the potential of adult education to help African countries and communities achieve their developmental goals. Issues discussed include: adult education, social change and development; community education; race, ethnicity and religion; social class and gender; empowerment; democracy; health and HIV/AIDS; poverty and debt; globalisation and the environment.

This book identifies quantitative, qualitative and multi-method approaches, and is based upon existing research methods teaching in Africa. It is grounded in African adult education contexts and draws on material and experiences from research courses taught in African universities. It emphasises the importance of combining quantitative methods with qualitative research that is embedded in adult education contexts and that builds on indigenous knowledge. Examples of the contexts addressed in the book include: village communities, agriculture development workers, literacy and income generation projects, community policing strategies, brigades, vocational training centres, mass health awareness campaigns such as HIV/AIDS, work-based education and training, management development, needs analyses, and the training of adult education trainers.

A Turning Point for Literacy: Adult Education for Development, The Spirit and Declaration of Persepolis contains the proceedings of the International Symposium for Literacy, held at Persepolis, Iran in September 1975. The conference intends to evaluate the results of international actions on literacy teaching, with the aim of extending and intensifying adult literacy teaching throughout the world. The compendium presents the work of specialists and some international institutions in the framework of the themes of the symposium; they serve as catalysts for discussion and reflection. The themes of the symposium include appraisal and lessons of 10 years of adult literacy work and functionalities of literacy, in view of the need to satisfy the essential needs of human in terms of economic activities, health, culture, and participation in the reform of society. Other themes are the determination to introduce deep changes in the living conditions of human and in social structures as a sine qua non of literacy undertakings and the innovative role of literacy experiments in the reform of teaching and training systems and their integration into the global educational process. The book will be of interest to educators, policymakers, teachers, historians, and students of education.

Presenting psychology as an applied discipline that can help adult educators be more effective in their work, this book analyses the cultural factors that influence the characteristics, behaviour and thinking of adult learners. It emphasizes the collective orientation of African cultures and the view of the self in terms of interdependent relationships within a community. The chapters provide an introduction to the psychology of adult learning and address the following: characteristics of adult learning; life span development; human motivation and participation; learning styles; facilitating adult learning; and guidance and counselling of adult learners.