Adult Learning And Education Research Articles

100 years of Volkshochschule in Germany – 50 years of DVV International: Signposts for local and global comparative perspectives on adult learning and education

In 2019, German folk high schools – Volkshochschulen (vhs) – celebrated the centenary of their inclusion in the Constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919, an era when they founded local centres in many parts of the country. Ever since, they have played an important part in the adult learning and education (ALE) sub-sector of the German education system, meanwhile reaching a participation level of almost 9 million learners per year. Under the umbrella of its national association Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband (DVV), founded in 1953, the vhs offers courses in a variety of subjects and different forms through roughly 900 adult learning centres and almost 3,000 local branches. In 1969, DVV expanded its operations with the establishment of its own institute for international cooperation. DVV International, whose 50th anniversary coincided with the vhs centenary, has institutionalised the diversity and ever-growing scale of cross-border and global cooperation activities of the national association. Marking both anniversaries generated a kind of collective cultural memory which located the vhs in the institutional foundations of a democratic society, and paved the way to advance policy dialogue. At the same time, these anniversaries also fed into a marketing strategy to mobilise higher levels of support and participation. DVV International used the example of the evolution of the vhs system to demonstrate the importance of interventions for better policy, legislation and financing at local, national, regional and global levels. Activities throughout the anniversary year included high-level events, conferences and workshops, publications and studies. Based on these activities and outputs, the authors consider and compare commonalities and differences of ALE milestones in other countries and regions of the world, and their potential for learning from the past for the future.

“Why don’t they participate?” Reasons for nonparticipation in adult learning and education from the viewpoint of self-determination theory

The study deals with the perceived reasons for nonparticipation in adult learning and education (ALE), drawing on existing research concerning the motivation for lifelong learning, adult attitudes towards education, and the study of dispositional barriers. The aim of the study is to determine the subjective reasons/motivation of adults not to participate in ALE and what factors influence their nonparticipation. For this purpose, we drew on self-determination theory (SDT). Based on that we have created the research tool “Motivation to Nonparticipation Scale” (MNP-S), which measures three factors: extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, and amotivation. The empirical research was conducted with a representative sample of adults (N = 943, age: 19 to 81 years) who had not participated in ALE. Contrary to theoretical assumptions of SDT, amotivated adults do not predominate among nonparticipants, with the main subjective reasons for nonparticipation based on intrinsic or extrinsic motivations.

Interrogating Values of Adult Education Practice in Hong Kong

The practice of adult learning and education (ALE) in Hong Kong is lesser known to the wider community of ALE practitioners due to lack of exchanges with international peers. There is a small community of full-time ALE practitioners working mainly in university continuing education schools but a larger body of uncharacterised or alternative practitioners can also be found. Essentially, both types of practitioners are conservative in their outlook and they adopt strategies that align with market needs and priorities set by public funders. Under the backdrop of neoliberalism which has harmonised ALE practice worldwide, a dominant form of individualised learning makes it difficult to promote group learning for societal advancement. ALE practitioners in Hong Kong are no exception to this influence and have been found to profess philosophical orientations favouring the behaviourist/narrowed progressivist notions of learner empowerment for economic and personal gains. Given recent worldwide renewed enthusiasm in making ALE responsive to societal issues, this paper examines the options and learning areas that ALE practitioners in Hong Kong can make their contributions to, such as: health advocacy, climate justice, and media literacy. Through engaging in these aspects of work, practitioners will have to incorporate methods of facilitating group learning in formal and non-formal ALE programmes and courses. An embrace by practitioners of the original notion of progressivist philosophy in adult education may emerge as one of the outcomes to make ALE practice inclusive, relevant and socially responsible. Even with the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, it is deemed even more pressing to pursue a balanced practice approach that can take care of individual's skills transformation for post-COVID economy as well as developing human bonds that would help to make society progressive as a countercheck to neoliberal-inspired individualistic adult learning.

Comparative Study on the Policy and Implementation of Non-Formal Education in Indonesia and Thailand

Indonesia and Thailand share similar characteristics in terms of their educational systems, and non-formal education has been developed in both countries. This research aimed to identify how the Indonesian National Qualification System policy has been implemented. The strengths and weaknesses of the two countries in their perception and adoption of non-formal and informal education programs were also examined. The transformation of non-formal and informal education into an inseparable part within the National Education System on the macro setting and the macro area was discussed. Lastly, the policies and implementation of non-formal and informal education in both countries were mapped and compared. This research applied a phenomenography qualitative approach. According to the results, Indonesia and Thailand have different terms related to non-formal education: Thailand uses the term Adult Learning and Education (ALE), which involves adult education, equality, community and the elderly. ALE in Thailand is broader because it covers several fields that are not directly within the Ministry of Education but are used as a non-formal education template for the community.
 Keywords: non-formal education, implementation, Thailand, Indonesia

‘You have to run it like a company’

This paper identifies some of the key characteristics of the marketisation of adult learning and education (ALE) and analyses the effects in the contexts of Germany (focusing on Bavaria) and Slovenia. ALE policies and institutional practices are analysed through the method of document analysis and interviews. Policy models of ALE proposed by Lima and Guimarães—the democratic–emancipatory model, the modernisation and state control model, and the human resources management model—are used as an analytical framework. Our findings indicate that the latter model prevails in the analysed policies, while the market forces are introduced on the organisational level of ALE from ‘below’ through the increased influence of the market demand coming from the learners/customers, and from ‘above’ through calls for tenders that shape the ‘quasi-market’ in which the ALE organisations compete for funding. However, signs of resistance to the marketisation of ALE practices are also identified.

The Effect of Participation in Adult Education on Life Satisfaction of Immigrants and Natives: A Longitudinal Analysis

Beyond formal education, continuing adult learning and education (ALE) is considered as successful means for supporting immigrants’ integration into the receiving society. Although recently, subjective parameters of immigrants’ integration (e.g., life satisfaction) have received increasing academic attention, research on the impact of education on subjective integration indicators is still rare. To address this, the present study contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of ALE participation on life satisfaction in a longitudinal design. The study compares the effect for the group of immigrants with the group of natives in order to estimate whether the potential education effect on life satisfaction is equally strong for both groups or stronger for the group of immigrants (interaction effect). For this, the study uses seven waves of panel data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) with N = 6386 individuals, of which N = 1002 individuals have a migration background. Methodologically, a Random Intercepts Cross-Lagged Panel Model is applied. This allows distinguishing within-person fluctuations from trait-like between-person differences. On the between-person level, we find a significant link between ALE participation and life satisfaction for both immigrants and natives. However, on the within-person level, no significant cross-lagged effects are observed. Moreover, we find no support for an immigrant-native gap in life satisfaction.

SDGs時代の成人学習・教育（ALE）の国際的展開:—SDG4.7とアクティブシティズンシップスキルの教育の課題—

SDGs時代の成人学習・教育（ALE）の国際的展開:—SDG4.7とアクティブシティズンシップスキルの教育の課題—

Adult learning and education in Spain and Portugal: an interpretative study of doctoral theses (2006-2018)

ABSTRACT This article presents a cartography of the field of research in adult learning and education (ALE) via a comparative study of academic production at doctoral level in Spain and Portugal based on a systematic documentary analysis of the summaries of doctoral theses concluded between 2006 and 2018. The aim is to advance the state of the art of research on ALE in recent doctoral theses in both Countries and highlight trends of contemporary knowledge construction in the field of continuing education of adults. Two analytical strategies are applied: i) a characterisation of the doctoral theses’ abstracts by a constructed grid with general and specific categories; and ii) a quantitative strategy of identifying frequencies in the grid for 18 keywords, 6 frameworks and paradigms and 12 associated to concepts. The mapping of priorities and absences in doctoral research at Higher Education Institutions (HEI) demonstrate that in Spain, there is a tendency to present the role of ALE closely related to assisting individuals and groups to adapt to the educational system, to society and to labour demands. In Portugal an unresolved tension between the adaptation of adults to society through ALE and the conscientization of adults by ALE to transform society remains.

Identification through education: Exploring the effects of adult education on national and ethnic identification of people with migration background in Germany

AbstractEducation is often targeted as a key resource for integration of people with migration background. A silent assumption in many discussions is that beyond formal education, adult learning and education (ALE) also fosters integration, especially higher psychological identification with the receiving society. Still, empirical evidence testing this assumption is rare. To address this issue, the present study investigates the effect of ALE participation on national and ethnic identification of people with migration background in a longitudinal design. The study uses data from the adult starting cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study with a sample size of N = 799 individuals. Structural equation model consisting of true intra‐individual change models and a general propensity score are applied. We find no significant effect of ALE participation on neither national identification nor ethnic identification. However, we find a significant positive association between a change in national identification and a change in ethnic identification over time: An increase in national identification over time is associated with an increase in ethnic identification over time, supporting the idea of the integration strategy being pursued in Germany.

Adult learning and education as a tool to contain pandemics: The COVID-19 experience.

In combating pandemics, more can be gained by changing citizens’ behaviours than by relying solely on the medical route. In the current COVID-19 pandemic, the struggle to contain the outbreak and push back new infection figures will ultimately be won by training citizens how to avoid creating secondary transmission chains. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the relationship between individual behaviour and group risk. Mass training of all social strata of a country’s entire population is therefore critical in mitigating the pandemic. The authors of this article argue that adult learning and education (ALE) can play a pivotal role particularly in countries where average literacy levels are low, as these are usually the same countries in which healthcare systems are more fragile. This article explains why ALE, especially the promotion of health literacy as part of ALE (which is itself part of lifelong learning), is necessary to enable individuals to make informed health-related decisions. Research has shown that low- or non-literate individuals are less responsive to health education, less likely to use disease prevention services, and less likely to successfully manage chronic disease than literate citizens. The authors refer to the evaluation of the health literacy aspect of a large-scale adult literacy campaign launched in South Africa in 2008 which has yielded measurable outcomes and proved that the intervention had enabled adults to better understand health messages. They stress the importance of populations having at least a basic level of literacy and numeracy skills to enable them to receive and act on vital information during a pandemic or disaster. They argue that ALE should in fact be understood as an inherent element of every national emergency strategy, both in terms of prior preparation for possible future emergencies (such as pandemics, earthquakes, tornados, flooding, bushfires etc.), and in terms of reaction to a given emergency such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Hidden gender differences in formal and non-formal adult education

ABSTRACT One of the most often repeated goals in modern society is making education available to all on equal terms, regardless of social origin, culture or individual characteristics such as age, gender or the socio-economic status of an individual. However, in relation to gender inequality within learning environments, in the Czech Republic the traditional roles of men and women are still deeply inscribed. The results of the present study are primarily based on an Adult Education Survey which provides high quality data on the participation rates of the Czech population in formal and non-formal adult learning and education (ALE). Despite equal gender participation rates in ALE, the presented findings show that men participate more in job-related training and job-related purposes, while women manage domestic tasks, a situation which reflects the predominance of women in part-time employment, earning a lower monthly income and obtaining less work-related learning. This socio-economic profile influences not only women’s income but also affects their access to education and becomes the main barrier in the concrete form of family-related responsibilities and costs. Moreover, for women more personal-related learning has been shown to predominate as opposed to job-related education.

Educational Leave as a Time Resource for Participation in Adult Learning and Education (ALE).

The study investigates effects of the implementation of a law authorizing educational leave in Germany on individual participation in adult learning and education (ALE). In 2015, the federal state of Baden-Württemberg introduced the so-called Bildungszeitgesetz, legitimating an exemption for eligible employees of up to 5 days per year with continued payment of salary. Explaining participation in ALE is a central subject of educational research at national and international level. Current theoretical assumptions of rational choice and empirical findings of educational and socio-statistical research suggest that within the general population, individuals’ availability of time affects the decision to participate and therefore lastly determines participation in ALE. However, current academia mainly discusses time as either a prerequisite for learning activities or as an observable outcome of participation and not as an explanatory factor. Furthermore, since recent studies remain on a descriptive level regarding influences of time on participation in ALE, no causal effects of the availability of time on participation are estimated. Hence, our study addresses this research gap by investigating effects of educational policy interventions such as the Bildungszeitgesetz on participation in ALE. Policy interventions are ideally suited to examine the significance of time resources for participation, as the implementation of the Bildungszeitgesetz provides a specific timeframe for employees to participate in ALE outside of their working time. Drawing on data from the German National Educational Panel Study, we employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy with propensity score matching and instrumental variable to identify the direct causal effect of the implementation of the Bildungszeitgesetz on participation in ALE (N = 709). This combination toward causal inference controls for observed and unobserved baseline differences as well as heterogeneous treatment effects. The results reveal a non-significant but heterogeneous treatment effect of the implementation of the Bildungszeitgesetz on individual participation in ALE. Contrary to our theoretical assumptions derived from rational choice approaches, we cannot confirm the hypothesis that the availability of time resources due to the implementation of the Bildungszeitgesetz causes a positive effect on participation in ALE. Furthermore, the results reveal that the implementation causes decreasing participation rates for younger adults, women and significantly for migrants.

The role of traditional folklore in facilitating adult learning in Nigeria

Adults, unlike children, have a wide variety of prior experiences and knowledge which they bring to the processes of learning they engage in at later stages of life. This difference between teaching children (pedagogy) and teaching adults was identified by Malcolm Knowles in the 1980s. He coined the term andragogy to describe the art and science of helping adults learn. Andragogy is premised on five key tenets: self-concept; experience; readiness to learn; orientation to learn; and motivation. These are often absent from the conventional facilitation methods used for adult learning and education (ALE) in Nigeria. The author of this article notes that many ALE programmes fail to meet the needs and expectations which motivate learners to engage in a course. She argues that for learning outcomes to be more successful, teaching methods need to be more creative and take learners’ prior experience and knowledge into consideration. After reviewing literature on the topic of adult learning, this article examines conventional methods of facilitating ALE in South West Nigeria. The author points out some of these methods’ shortcomings and suggests that one viable approach to addressing these might be to introduce the use of traditional folklore for andragogical purposes. The author posits that integrating oral tradition would also enable a more playful approach to adult learning. In a practice-oriented vein, she discusses the innovative and andragogical elements inherent in folktales, lullabies, folksongs, poetry, proverbs and riddles, illustrating her discussion with Yoruba examples. She concludes that folklore is useful as an independent or integral ALE facilitation method, with promising potential to make ALE more effective.

Lifelong learning in Sustainable Development Goal\xa04: What does it mean for UNESCO\u2019s rights-based approach to adult learning and education?

This article, which draws on a review of primary and secondary literature, examines the role of a human rights-based approach to adult learning and education (ALE) in the context of the global Education 2030 agenda, which is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2015 by the United Nations. Whereas the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on primary education, the SDGs, through SDG 4 which is devoted to education, call on Member States to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The inclusion of lifelong learning has awakened hopes for a stronger role of ALE in global education agendas and policies. In principle, the ten targets of SDG 4 open up clear possibilities for ALE. However, the author cautions that there is cause for scepticism that ALE, in particular human rights-based ALE, will receive more attention under the SDGs than it did under the MDGs. The article is structured into three sections. The first section traces the emergence of a rights-based approach to adult education as an international paradigm, with particular attention given to the role of UNESCO. The second section discusses how the rights-based approach to adult education has been contested by other actors in the field of education for development. In the final section, the author draws on recent empirical data to reflect on the role of ALE in the age of the SDGs.

Changes to adult learning and education (ALE) policy environment in Finland, Korea and the United States: implications for addressing inequality in ALE participation

ABSTRACT In conducting a literature review, this article explores changes to Adult Learning and Education (ALE) policies and related processes as well as the context within which those changes have taken place, so as to draw out comparative insights regarding the unequal distribution of participation in ALE. Emphasis is on an analysis of political priorities, political-administrative guidelines, and organisational and administrative dimensions of ALE in Finland, Korea and the United States. While country-specific differences are identified, several convergences are also of importance: a priority assigned to ALE as a means to support market-driven policy, namely to enhance competitiveness in the globalised market; legislative efforts to support the demands for developing a skilled and competent workforce in the labour market; decentralised organisational and administrative structures that relate to ALE; and a decreasing trend in publicly funded ALE.

Adult learning and education as a response to global challenges: Fostering agents of social transformation and sustainability

This article explores the potential of adult learning and education, its pivotal role in addressing social transformation and promoting global-local partnerships, and its relationship to the issue of sustainability. The authors’ conceptual setting helps to reveal the closely connected yet contested and always power-related perspectives of adult learners, adult education practitioners, academic researchers and intergovernmental organisations under the auspices of a required “great transformation”. The article provides a critique of indicators, monitoring exercises and needs-assessment procedures while exploring accountability and the mandate of adult learning and education in not only raising, but also hearing, voices as part of a partnership dialogue on equal terms. The authors suggest a framework for systematising and connecting conceptual approaches to sustainability. They then propose transferring this framework to the domain of education policy tools (e.g. the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals) and applying it to adult learning and education (ALE) as a contributing factor to sustainability. Two examples, one from Finland and one from Ghana, serve to illustrate the components of the suggested framework.

Inequality in adult learning and education participation: the effects of social origins and social inequality

ABSTRACTThis comparative study examines patterns of inequality in participation in two different types of adult learning and education (ALE) – job-related formal ALE (JFALE) and job-related non-formal ALE (JNFALE) – as related to social origins at the micro-level and three categories of social inequality at the macro-level at the macro level (economic, education, and skill inequality). Using data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), two methods are used to analyse 19 selected OECD countries: multivariate binary logistic regressions to explore the extent to which individuals’ social origins are associated with ALE participation and two-stage multilevel analysis to examine the relationship between social origins’ advantages in ALE participation and social inequality. Statistically significant advantages in ALE participation of social origins were observed in some countries. Additionally, statistically significant positive relationships between social inequality and social origins’ advantages in JNFALE participation are found, which implies that increases in social inequality strengthen advantages associated with social origins.

Flexibilisation of Adult Learning and Education in the context of shifting temporalities in Nigeria and Germany

In his theory of acceleration, Rosa (2013) describes how modern societies have recently been going through a severe change in temporalities. This new dynamic confronts providers in Adult Learning and Education (ALE) with the challenge to not only adapt to shifting temporalities regarding their own processes and structures but also to support learners in adapting to a new ‘pace of life’. One way of reacting to social acceleration can be considered flexibilisation. In our contribution, we compare ALE in Nigeria and Germany to investigate how social acceleration takes effect in both societies, what challenges result for ALE and how ALE providers react in terms of flexibilisation. By examining policy papers, recent empirical studies and data reports, we can show how shifts in temporalities cause similar challenges in both countries and that they appear as a driver for the flexibilisation of ALE.

'The drought is my teacher’: Adult learning and education in times of climate crisis

In Cape Town we have been experiencing the most severe drought in our history. We are not alone.Other cities – for example, in the United States, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Australia, Morocco andPakistan – are also learning to live under new, more extreme, drought conditions. In this article Iuse the local drought as an aperture through which to identify key insights into how adult learningand education (ALE) can and should respond in times of climate crisis. The article is exploratory, asthe ambitious topic opens up a raft of complex economic, socio-ecological and political issueswhich can only be touched upon. It aims to prompt deeper conversations about ALE and climatecrises and to identify key questions for future ALE research.

“If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist”? Popular education in the shadows of global reporting on adult learning and education

Discourses on adult learning and education (ALE) and in particular the GRALE Report generally have limited coverage of popular education as part of its ecology. Given both the long history of popular education globally as a necessary approach towards affecting transformation and the socio-economic-ecological transformations that are needed, we identify the challenge of incorporating the radical approach of popular education more explicitly into ALE discourses. We proffer suggestions toward this end.