This multiple case study explored how the literate experiences of six African American men influenced their perceptions of and engagement with a community-based adult basic education and literacy (ABEL) program in a large northeastern city. The theoretical framework included a social practices view of literacy and a constructivist view of…

The learning community plays an important role in expanding lifelong learning ideas in social units such as cities, towns, and communities. Some European countries, Australia, Japan, Korea, and China are employing the idea of learning community to promote lifelong learning in local communities. In an effort to address recent social problems, China…

This paper reports on a five-year study which explored the engagement of a group of long-term mentally ill adults in community provision in which they learned basic, expressive literacy. The research mapped points in the learning, writing and auto/biographic engagement where set identities were being troubled, and frisson created in the challenge…

In March 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that the situation in the Chinese countryside is desperate and claimed new resources would be devoted to healthcare and education. This announcement should have pleased architects of the Chinese "learning initiative" who are building learning cities and villages. The authors describe why…

This article features Crisis Skylight, a learning and activity centre, which opened in Spitalfields, East London, in 2002. Crisis Skylight was developed by Crisis, a national charity for single homeless people. It gives homeless people a chance to learn alongside other, non-homeless, members of their communities. Skylight's remit was…