Introduction

Abstract

This chapter discusses thematic variations in adult education. One criticism of lifelong education has been that the concept is too vague and unrealistic, that one cannot be a permanent student, and that therefore something more precise and closer to the possible should be formulated. Recurrent education has been widely welcomed in occupationally related education. The articles Community Education and Community Development, and Sociocultural Animation treat a number of ideas, between which there are close similarities, whose impact is intended to be felt outside job-oriented study. Community education attempts to integrate formal schooling with the out-of-school education which it is the function of sociocultural animation to stimulate. Community development, which has been tried in both advanced and developing countries, includes educational initiatives as part of a wider process designed to improve the overall standard of life of a society.