Adult education offers the potential to enhance the individual's sense of agency to direct and improve their future; this is especially important in times of significant societal unrest. It may lead to social change and even social justice. This book begins with a new consideration of historical perspectives of radical adult education in the UK and how these might inform planning for future adult education which is both relevant and emancipatory. The volume aims to capture some of the 'messiness' of adult education through analysis of a wide range of its many forms and a focus on the learners themselves, the different kinds of providers and the wider community around them. Individual chapters offer insights into an environmental community gardening scheme, provision for refugees and asylum seekers, the radical role of volunteers, the impact of discussion groups for older people and the National Community Service scheme for young adults. The book considers the significance of the Sustainable Development Goals, each of which includes targets linked with adult training, awareness-raising or education. Considering the factors for effective adult education programmes for social change, this volume questions the extent to which it can be argued that positive social change results from adult education. Active learning, group learning and education which is practical, flexible and individualised may provide the best routes ahead. The wide-ranging case studies demonstrate the importance of recognising and valuing adult learners' prior knowledge, and the need for alternative approaches to assessment.

Adult Education and Lifelong Learning is regarded as one of the most widely used textbooks about adult education. Now part of the Routledge Education Classic Edition series, this key title combines the practical and philosophical to cover all areas related to the topic, including how we understand people as learners, how to teach adults, curriculum planning, distance education and assessment. It doesn’t shy away from complexity and asks difficult questions to provoke the reader into thinking about what lifelong learning really means. Not your basic ‘how-to’ book, it combines practice with theory and points the way to further studies and engagement in the field. With a new introduction by Professor Sam Duncan to contextualise the work, this is a must-read text for all education students as well as practitioners and researchers in adult education and lifelong learning.

Adopting a 'social practice' approach to literacy research based on ethnographic methods, this book provides a strong critique of dominant understandings of the role of literacy in the lives of adults in Australia. It explores how groups of working-class adults can manage the literacy practices of their everyday lives by drawing on social networks of support. It is based on research conducted by the author over a forty-year career in adult literacy education, featuring the voices of varied adult groups, including: prisoners, the long-term unemployed, local council workers, manufacturing workers, adult literacy students, marginalised young people, vocational students, and patients living with a chronic illness (type 2 diabetes). Each chapter explains how dominant society views these adult groups in relation to literacy, and provides a qualitative examination at the local level of how members of these groups manage the literacy practices of their everyday lives.

Based on an extended period of ethnographic research and observation of migrant workers' educational programmes, this book presents a theoretical exploration of social and educational issues in an industrialised area in south China. It highlights the tensions existing between the traditional ideology stressing collectivism, selfless devotion and teacher-centred teaching, and the new social practices promoting commercialization, personal development and interactive teaching. The author provides first-hand descriptions and analyses of rural-urban migrant workers' lives, work and education. He develops the ethnographic approach by analysing the tensions and contradictions in the implementation processes of educational policies in the region. The book argues that the educational programmes, which focused on elite workers to support the development of industrialization and urbanization projects, assisted migrant workers as students in promoting their aspirations. However, this also stratified migrant workers, thus increasing gaps in socioeconomic status and professional development. Education policy design and implementation are observed as a dynamic process, thus contributing to a nuanced understanding of adult education and migration at a micro level.

This work provides an overall review and analysis of the history of education and of its key research priorities in the British context. It investigates the extent to which education has contributed historically to social change in Britain, how it has itself been moulded by society, and the needs and opportunities that remain for further research in this general area. Contributors review the strengths and limitations of the historical literature on social change in British education over the past forty years, ascertain what this literature tells us about the relationship between education and social change, and map areas and themes for future historical research. They consider both formal and informal education, different levels and stages of the education system, the process and experience of education, and regional and national perspectives. They also engage with broader discussions about theory and methodology. The collection covers a large amount of historical territory, from the sixteenth century to the present, including the emergence of the learned professions, the relationship between society and the economy, the role of higher technological education, the historical experiences of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the social significance of teaching and learning, and the importance of social class, gender, ethnicity, and disability. It involves personal biography no less than broad national and international movements in its considerations. This book will be a major contribution to research as well as a general resource in the history and historiography of education in Britain.

This book is written at a time when our own field of adult education is under assault from a variety of capitalist and neoconservative forces pressuring us... to turn away from the causes of criticality, lifelong learning, and education for freedom. Rather than succumb to these pressures, we have hope that our long term goals of education for life and living can and will be accomplished alongside professional and vocational education. This book offers new insight into what is a very dark moment of our human civilization. From the preface by Dr Carlos Alberto Torres, Professor, GSEIS, Director, Paulo Freire Institute, University of California at Los Angeles The book offers decidedly critical and international perspectives on various aspects of adult education, especially on state, citizenship and neoliberal policies. Critical in both content and method, it is at the same time the part of the collective work needed to advance the Belém call to action by furthering awareness and capacity in the field of adult education. Dr Katarina Popovic, Professor,Universität Duisburg-Essen, University of Belgrade & DBB International, In the midst of diminishing resources and growing inequalities, English and Mayo provide an incisive and much needed critique of adult education in ways that highlight not only its historical and philosophical roots but also its major significance to the practice of democracy. In a direct challenge to the neoliberal accountability craze, Learning with Adults offers a rigorous political reading of the field—one that systematically challenges oppressive educational policies and practices, while affirming an emancipatory vision of civic engagement. Truly an informative treatise that sheds new light on the education of adults. Dr Antonia Darder Professor & Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Education Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles Leona English and Peter Mayo challenge hegemonic assumptions and ideas, while offering a constructive alternative based on the principle of working with learners and not just for them. Their analysis is accessible enough for newcomers to the field, while the authors’ wide-ranging coverage and radical approach provide refreshing and challenging messages for the most experienced adult educator. Up-to-date, genuinely international and passionately committed, Learning with Adults is a great book. Dr John Field, Professor,University of Stirling Cover design by Annemarie Mayo

Presenting a snapshot of contemporary international research into the pedagogy of lifelong learning and teaching, this book focuses on a wide range of issues related to lifelong learning, including higher education, community-based learning and literacy practices in continuing education. It highlights the fact that the wide-ranging conclusions they draw have vital implications for this rapidly changing field. The book reviews the emerging issues from researching teaching and learning in different post-school contexts - an issue which has grown in research importance around the world in recent years - with the concern both to widen participation and improve student attainment. Examining empirically, methodologically and theoretically contemporary research in teaching and learning in diverse contexts, it focuses on three main areas: learning careers and identities; pedagogy and learning cultures and learning beyond institutions.

As individuals and societies try to respond to fundamental economic and social transformation, the field of adult learning and education is rapidly getting increased attention and new topics for research on adult learning have emerged. This collection of articles from the International Encyclopedia of Education 3e offers practitioners and researchers in the area of adult learning and education a comprehensive summary of main developments in the field. The 45 articles provide insight into the historical development of the field, its conceptual controversies, domains and provision, perspectives on adult learning, instruction and program planning, outcomes, relationship to economy and society and its status as a field of scholarly study and practice. - Saves researchers time in summarizing in one place what is otherwise an interdisciplinary field in cognitive psychology, personality, sociology, and education - Level of presentation focuses on critical research, leaving out the extraneous and focusing on need-to-know information - Contains contributions from top international researchers in the field - Makes MRW content affordable to individual researchers

This book argues that feminist aesthetics as practices of adult education can inform our responses to gendered, racial, class and ecological injustices. It illustrates the critical, creative, and provocative pedagogical theorising, research, and engagement work of feminist adult educators and researchers who work in diverse community, institutional, and social movement contexts across North America and Europe. This book captures the complexity, diversity, energy, and imagination of those who theorise, decolonise, facilitate, investigate, visualize, story, and create within the politics of gender (in)justice and radical change.