Role Of Adult Education Research Articles

Professional development of adult educators: A European perspective

This article provides an overview of major dimensions of the professional development of adult educators identified in European policy documents, relevant reports and research. The author reviews the relevant policy visions of the past two decades, aiming to determine the extent to which professional development of adult educators is visible in European policy documents, how it is conceptualised and under which terms it is discussed. The author argues that adult educators play an essential role in adult education and society in general, are an important factor for securing quality in the sector, and are considered to be a critical pillar of adult education. To perform this role well, they require specialised, targeted and systematic professional development programmes in a changing environment which affects both their learners’ and their own position as educators. However, the analysis of the policy documents shows that despite a consensus about the importance of quality adult education, over the past two decades little attention has been given to the initial training and continuous professional development of adult educators in practical terms. Due to a lack of opportunities, their professional development seems weak and still faces many challenges.

Boundary Experiences in Canada: ‘Doing Migration’ and the Role of Adult Education

Adults’ engagement with international boundaries can prompt reflection of pedagogical and social work practice. This paper reports findings from a qualitative dissertation project that explores how people learn when moving to a new country. Taking a doing migration perspective which brings into view performative aspects of mobility and migration, I draw on narrative interviews conducted with individuals with tertiary education who moved to Canada as adults. Using the documentary method, I identified three forms of boundary engagement as enduring in-betweenness, navigating boundaries, and solidifying boundaries. The findings suggest that a more nuanced understanding of the different forms of boundary engagement may be useful to expand social work and adult education practice in the context of migration and international mobility to create new spaces for reflection and learning.

From Alternative Facts to Tentative Truths: Towards a Post-postmodern Dialogic Epistemology

Drawing attention to today’s epistemic crisis, this article seeks to reflect on the role of adult education in addressing this crisis and thereby fostering our democracies. We argue for the need of developing a new shared epistemic basis, a post-postmodern dialogic epistemology. This article presents three core components for this: (1) universalism and particularism, (2) embracing epistemic humility, and (3) seeking for dialogue and the public use of reason. Starting with recognizing the value of postmodern critiques on the Enlightenment ideas of rational thinking and its practices of rigid categorizations, we update key concepts of Enlightenment thinking, such as the power of judgment, human epistemic fallibility, and public reasoning. The modern value of the Enlightenment lies for us predominantly in the democratic educational project that it started. In this light, we see adult education as a (public) space dedicated to developing epistemic responsibility.

Politics, policies, and a human rights agenda for racialized minorities: The role of adult education

AbstractAs we have witnessed under the Trump Administration, policies can negatively impact adults’ livelihoods. Now more than ever, it is imperative that adult education organizations coalesce their resources and efforts to promote policies and agendas that serve our most vulnerable adult learners. This article will explore a framework to understand the historic struggle for social justice and governmental policies impacting adult education. It will also critically analyze how adult education research is poised to influence policy and how associations can partner for greater impact.

The Significance of Adult Educators’ Mentoring in the Application of Experiential and Participatory Teaching Techniques

The main objective of this research is to investigate the significance of adult educators’ mentoring in the application of experiential and participatory teaching techniques. Bearing in mind that teaching techniques play a major role in adult education, emphasis is given on examining whether adult educators need mentoring for a more effective implementation of these techniques. More specifically, the study focuses on researching a sample of 337 educators’ opinions concerning the extent they need mentoring and in which particularly teaching techniques. According to participants in the research, mentoring process has a significant impact on the effective use of experiential and participatory teaching techniques. Thus, research findings indicate that mentoring can become a useful tool for enhancing their knowledge and skills helping them become “better educators”.

The Role of Adult Education in Sustaining Cities and Communities in Nigeria: Impact of Fourth Industrial Revolution

This is an era of technological advancement. New things are springing up daily that needs to be supported with innovative ideas and creativity. Any state that is contented with the status quo is not bound to develop. For rapid development to take place in cities and communities, there is need for a level of disruption. This is the basis and core of the fourth industrial revolution. This paper is based on the fact that every country of the world needs to imbibe the idea of the newest technology with a view to attending to the various challenges facing development especially in Nigerian cities and communities. The challenge of not moving along the newest technological innovations had always led to difficulties in fixing socio-economic problems which eventually inhibit the rate of development in cities and communities and individuals within them. The fourth industrial revolution is not limited to just a group of young people but also adults. Adults should be carried along in the newest technological evolvement through all the laudable programmes of adult education. Technology stimulates creativity which brings about innovation. The fourth industrial revolution which is a combination of earlier technological inventions and revolutions would lead to stimulation of better creativity for sustainable development of cities and communities and of the people. This paper, thus, focused on how integrating technological innovation of the 21st century into adult education programmes would stimulate creativity in community people thereby leading to creativity, innovations and subsequently sustainability of cities and communities. The authors recommend among others that the Federal Government of Nigeria should focus more on adult education which has immediate relevance to the growth of persons, cities and communities in Nigeria. It is also recommended that technological education should be introduced into all programmes of adult education and efforts should be made to remove every hindrance to technical education from every adult learner and education should be made accessible to all while the curriculum of both the formal and adult education programmes should be replete with elements of the fourth industrial revolution so that none will be left out of the new development agenda.

ADULT EDUCATION IN UKRAINE: PRECONDITIONS OF FORMATION, PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT

Socio-economic changes in the late 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, technological and socio-cultural transformations at global and local levels had a significant impact on de-termining the role of adult education for modern Ukrainian society and outline its further development vec-tor. The need for mass professional retraining of adults to ensure socio-economic reforms, as well as the for-mation of Ukraine’s civil society, is prompted by the development of an adult continuous education flexible system to respond to the whole society’s challenges and the demands of its specific layers. The author states that Ukraine has a rich historical experience of adult education (from weekend schools, re-education schools, part-time universities, universities for workers and peasants to the creation of research institutions in the system of the National Academy of Educational Sciences, engaged in research and theoretical analysis of an-dragogy and departments of andragogy at higher education institutions). Contemporary landscape of adult education in the country has been analyzed. According to the author, the situation is ambiguous and charac-terized by both positive (awareness of the role of adult education) and negative (reduction of terms of study, commercialization of many adult education pathways, funding cutbacks) features. However, positive changes prevail: branching of goals and education fields; diversification of educational services, development of adult education flexible structures that can meet modern requirements. The system of adult education in Ukraine has been analyzed. According to structural features, it has formal and informal components. The emphasis is placed on the role of non-formal education. The author concludes that adult education in Ukraine is gaining more importance in modern society.

From The Inside Out: Museum Educators and Professional Development On Race Talk

The purpose of this article is to share highlights of a professional development workshop, aimed at helping museum educators build capacity for difficult dialogues on race with adults. Museum educators play a unique role in adult education as facilitators of learning on social justice issues. But in sharing with adults about the scope and elements of race related objects, they may fear or be unable to manage the kinds of emotions that could be evoked. Consequently, they may hesitate to fully engage in what could be a rich learning moment. The workshop was designed to explore characteristics of adults as learners and featured discourse and activities around a recently developed “8 S” framework for educators who often engage in race talk.

Assessment of Menstrual Waste Disposal and the Environment: The Role of Adult Education in Nigeria

The phenomenon of menstruation portends great impact on the environment and its calls for concern. Environmental effect of menstrual hygiene and related issues has been downplayed Nigeria. This study was conducted to assess menstrual waste disposal practices and it’s implication on the environment. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to elicit information for the survey design research. While multistage sampling technique was used to select 194 participants of females within the age range of 20 and 59 in Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State. The four research questions raised for the study were answered descriptively while the two hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics at 0.05 level of significance. Finding revealed among others that though the female adults were aware of the environmental implication of indiscriminate menstrual waste disposal, they practices does not correlate with their awareness because menstrual waste disposal knowledge is not in public domain, while the knowledge gained is informal from older women who themselves lack adequate knowledge. It was therefore recommended among others, that adults deserves to be empowerment by Adult Education through Menstrual Waste Education (MWE) to improve hygiene as well as the environment during menstrual cycle due to the precarious situation it places on women.

Adult education and the fostering of asylum seekers as \u201cfull\u201d citizens

The role of adult education in the shaping and fostering of democratic citizens is prevalent in current transnational and national policy discussions; a significance which has been further infused by the past few years’ historically high migration flows. This article focuses specifically on the role of adult education in shaping asylum seekers into “full” citizens in Sweden. Drawing on a poststructural discursive theorisation, the author analyses policy reports as well as interviews with project managers and leaders of study circles (a particular form of collaborative adult learning in Sweden) involved in a state-funded initiative called Svenska från dag ett [Swedish from Day One]. This programme emerged in the wake of the arrival of high numbers of asylum seekers in Sweden in the autumn of 2015 and onwards, providing them with an introduction to the Swedish language and to Swedish society. The author’s analysis illustrates how a discourse on asylum seekers as “not yet citizens” emerges, where “they” still lack certain knowledge and capabilities deemed necessary to potentially become “full” citizens in Sweden. Such knowledge, besides language, concerns (Swedish) cultural and institutional (e.g. healthcare and taxation) knowledge. The article concludes by raising some questions regarding the way in which the need for country-specific language as a basis for inclusion is taken for granted.

The presence of andragogical competencies in graduate study programmes of foreign languages

The development of the quality of adult education is directly connected with andragogical competencies of teachers. As andragogical institutions offer more foreign language learning programmes, foreign language teachers have an integral role in adult education and their competencies for working with adult learners are extremely important. However, it is disputable how foreign language teachers gain the mentioned competencies during their initial education. According to that, the first part of the paper analyses the presence of andragogical competencies in graduate study programme curriculums of English Language and Literature, German Language and Literature and Italian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka. Based on the results of the analysis, the second part of the paper will provide guidelines and recommendations for including andragogical competencies into initial educational curriculums for foreign language teachers. Furthermore, as an example of good practice, the paper will present the programme designed for the students (future teachers) of English, German and Italian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka with the purpose of developing andragogical competencies. Keywords: Andragogical competencies, analysis of curriculums of graduate foreign language study programmes, foreign language students, project/programme for gaining andragogical competencies.

Editorial - The role of adult educators in fostering informal learning in the community

Editorial - The role of adult educators in fostering informal learning in the community

「危機的状況」下の成人教育 : 第三回国際成人教育史学会より(学会報告)

「危機的状況」下の成人教育 : 第三回国際成人教育史学会より(学会報告)

The role of adult education and learning policy in fostering societal sustainability

The idea of “sustainability” as a core value has slowly permeated policy and practice at governmental and institutional levels, in public and private policy. However, at times when social and economic crises have revealed the fragility of existing institutions and policies, it is important to consider how sustainability is – and could be – integrated into educational policies. In this theoretical contribution to a special issue on “Societal sustainability”, the authors draw on available literature and knowledge. They begin their paper by summarising the conditions under which the concept of “sustainability” entered political discourse in the early 1970s and outline how it has influenced educational research. They then introduce the longstanding debate about the relative role of tradition (in terms of traditional cultural and social order) and change (in terms of efforts to provide learning opportunities for everyone) in adult education. Finally, they argue for a rethinking of the ontology of sustainability: this, they suggest, can shed new light on its relationships with adult education and learning and social justice.

The influence of social media on adult learners’ knowledge construction and democratic participation

This paper provides a resource on the impact of social media on adult learners’ construction of knowledge, particularly as it pertains to adult education's role in fostering a robust democratic society. There has been an increase in the literature in recent years that explores the various aspects of social media use, such as the incivility of online discussion, the homogenous nature of views learners are exposed to online, and the ability of individual and corporate actors to manipulate online content. This paper aims to provide a wide angle view of the situation while achieving two goals (a) development of categories which group implications of social media use (b) argument of low social media information literacy as a challenge facing adult educators.

موقف المجلات التربویة العربیة من بعض القضایا الخاصة بدور کلیات التربیة فی مجال محو الأمیة وتعلیم الکبار فی الفترة من 1991-2010 م دراسة تحلیلیة

موقف المجلات التربویة العربیة من بعض القضایا الخاصة بدور کلیات التربیة فی مجال محو الأمیة وتعلیم الکبار فی الفترة من 1991-2010 م دراسة تحلیلیة

Evaluative Strategies in Adult Education

Structural changes in post-revolutionary Romanian society require affirmation of adult education as a prerequisite for harmonious integration and development on the socio-professional plan. If in the past, the adult education was specific to academic environment, nowadays this educational term covers most social groups as a consequence of the ability of human beings to be educated. It can be said that the process of education occurs during the adult's life, based on their learning needs and in correspondence with the adult's psychological features. In the message Declaration of the First National Conference regarding adult education, Timisoara 2001, it's stated that “it is necessary to recognize adult education as a national priority, as part of the national education system” (Sava, 2001: 194). An important role in adult education is played by the access to the latest information from the social, cultural and professional domains, as a premise for skills development at individual level but also macro-economical level, for the society progress based on knowledge. Learning can be performed in specialized institutions through courses, training programs and/or e-learning platform which are completed by an official diploma certifying a particular professional qualification. Improving the quality of evaluation trough training programs for adults require the identification of evaluation strategies that highlight correctly the skills acquired by the students. This article aims to identify the main evaluation strategies used in adult education from teacher-trainers’ perspective in order to optimize courses’ design and development for adults. The paper is structured in four chapters, as follows: the first chapter outlines general characteristics of adult assessment activity. The second chapter presents various conceptual approaches in the literature on assessment strategies used in courses for adults. The third chapter presents the authors contribution to the dynamics of educational policy elements of Romania relating to adult education The fourth chapter highlights the conclusions drawn from the proposed study.

The Role of Adult Education in National Development

Adult and non-formal education has been apparently much neglected aspect of educational activities in the country. This neglect could be traced to our colonial heritage where the British colonial masters and the early missionaries who pioneered education in the African continent paid attention only to formal education to train clerks and interpreters in Government service and commercial houses; and catechists in the church. The complication and the problem of organizing and administering non-formal education is yet another reason for the neglect.

The Adult Education Self-Help Study Platform Based on Internet

With the development of computer science and multimedia technology, network act as an important role in adult education. The traditional adult education mode are not suitable the modern teaching modes need. To construct an adult education self-help study platform is urgent needed. This paper analyses the defects of the traditional adult education mode, rises a new education mode based on the internet, and realizes the framework design of the self-help study platform based on Internet.

Adult education as care work in a South African prison: the role of adult educators

The 2000s saw a change in South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services’ theorising about adult education’s potential to shift incarcerated men’s thinking about their future in a proactive way. The plan was to advance active citizenship in the incarcerated. As such, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) introduced holistic, integrated adult educational programmes at twelve of its prisons. Although the policy and scaffolding aspects of AET (Adult Education and Training) received extensive attention, limited research was done to understand the situational and institutional challenges that adult learning centres are presented with, and how institutional culture impacts on the successful implementation of policy. The contributions that adult educators make in advancing transformative learning in adult learning centres, often go unacknowledged because they are seldom the focus of educational research. This article reports on a case study of a successful prison-based adult learning centre. It explores the adult learner-AET educator relationship, specifically the role that educators play in fostering transformational change in such students’ lives, through education. The data were generated through semi-structured interviews with students, their educators and the ALC’s (Adult Learning Centres) manager, as well as through observations in the prison setting. The findings show that there are strategic employees within the prison environment who resisted the educational opportunities available to incarcerated students. This hostility presented with unique institutional and situational challenges that work against the adult students’ participation and success. However, through facilitation and reflective mediation, the educators established an educationally viable environment in which their students could accumulate cultural and social capital to benefit their educational journeys whilst incarcerated, and their chances of success once released from prison. The educators’ actions resembled a caring pedagogy that was based on social justice principles.