Background/Context: Educational researchers have long sought to understand the factors that enable or constrain persistence in non-formal family literacy and adult education programs. Scholars typically posit three sets of factors influencing persistence: situational (learners' life circumstances), institutional (programmatic factors), and…

This technical assistance guide contains information on adult learners and how they differ from learners who are children and the related program implications. The first section describes characteristics of adults that affect the attitudes adults bring to the classroom situation. These include bringing life experiences; having self-concept as a…

This monograph contains two studies that investigated adult learning as it occurred within specific communities. "The Formation of Literacy Perspective" (Linda Ziegahn) examines the perspective toward literacy that was developed by 27 Montana adults experiencing reading and writing difficulties, 15 of whom were Native Americans. Four…

This book, which is based on a broad concept of adult education that embraces all forms of organized learning undertaken by adults, draws on empirical information and case studies to provide a theory of applied political economy to explain the interface between society and adult education in developing countries. The following are among the topics…