Personal narratives can be seen as iterative theories-of-valued-selves: thick, deliberate outlines traced over and selectively enhancing and obscuring the finer details of life as lived. Through telling such stories we represent and orient ourselves towards certain potential actions while turning away from others. Biographical narration is in this…

Compared with other age groups, the literacy practices and creative outputs of older adults (50+ years) have been seldom researched. Generally, research about older adults has tended to focus on decline and agential passivity, rather than potentiality. In this article, we report on a small ethnographic study of older Australians who were part of a…

Internationally, the field of adult literacy is a site of struggle. On the one hand, most agree that literacy is a critical resource for negotiating one's social and economic life. On the other, public funding for adult literacy programmes is not generally guaranteed or adequate. However, for individuals and communities with limited literacy,…

The transition into a post-industrial economy changed the nature of the Australian labour market extinguishing jobs in traditional industries and creating jobs in new industries. Workers displaced from the manufacturing sector and women seeking to re-enter the labour market after taking time out for family reasons need to retrain in order to…

This article considers how a group of migrant women in the town of Shepparton, Australia, understand their futures in the spaces created by globalising forces. Shepparton is a "case study" of globalisation, at the centre of the movement of peoples, skills and capital globally. The issues it faces are compounded by profound climate…

Lifelong learning has come to be seen almost universally as essential for effective personal and social functioning in the modern world. Subsequently it has become the basis for educational and social policies in many modern societies, but not Australia where a spokesperson for the previous, conservative Liberal-Coalition federal government…

This paper examines the educational ambitions of adults from a disadvantaged area in Australia who returned to study at a further education institution as a means to access higher education. The study examines the significance and influence of romance, gender and social class on their formal learning, and the delaying influence of these factors in…

This article explores issues of literacy and identity of skilled migrants in an educational context in Australia as a learning society. First, it concentrates on forms of knowledge imposed on the learner and looks at how new discourses shape the self. Next, it tests the validity of the four pillars of education in the life of the learner. The…

The British radical socialist tradition has been marginalized by the liberal tradition. The latter has claimed achievements in working class education that the former actually brought about. The socialist tradition should be revalued as a means of countering capitalism's economic determinism. (SK)

A review of adult education in Australia in the context of changes in demography, workplaces, knowledge, and the role of the state finds that adult education has been reconfigured as adult learning and is a major postsecondary provider. Adult education is now more widely recognized, inclusive, better managed, and responsive to changing contexts.…

Eighteen homebound frail elderly took part in an eight-week teleconference that provided practical information (nutrition, health, social services) as well as stimulated thinking. Quality of life improvements and further interest in education resulted. Teleconferencing proved a cost-effective method of reaching homebound persons. (SK)

As a voluntary learning movement, adult education finds expression through a search for values. Continuing and community education provide support for both hospice and palliative care workers as well as families and friends of terminally ill persons in dealing with death and dying. (SK)

Features of the Australian educational system are examined: the evolution of postcompulsory education, continuing education and training within employment from 1950-80, issues and options faced in the mid-1980s, and decisive changes in the structure of higher education at the end of the 1980s. (SK)

Mutual improvement societies were at the forefront of adult education in New Zealand from 1870-1915. Although university extension and technical education were major contributors to adult education in Britain and Australia, they were less successful in New Zealand; thus the mutual improvement societies were predominant. (SK)

Data from 29 older adults in University of the Third Age Online in 1999 and 34 in 2001 indicated that women outnumbered men; more than 70% were from large urban areas; and 70% had professional, business, and managerial backgrounds. Many are unable to participate in mainstream adult education and derive purpose and enjoyment from virtual…