The origins and focuses of adult education across Western countries are often about meeting adults' needs, and for purposes they have nominated, not those compelled by others. Unlike other sectors (e.g. schools, vocational colleges and universities) that were mainly initiated and sustained by church or state, adult education has long been grounded…

This paper brings together the main strengths and challenges currently facing Scottish education and outlines approaches to the ways forward. Knowledge about how to improve education systems has grown rapidly over the last two decades. One key challenge facing Scotland, and no doubt many other countries, is in ensuring a smooth "learner…

Learning and Work Institute is an independent policy and research organisation dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion. This report sets out the findings of research and consultation carried out by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on learning…

Efficient and effective lifelong learning requires that learners can make well informed choices from a vast amount of learning opportunities. This article proposes to support learners by drawing on principles of self-organization and indirect social navigation; by analysing choices made by learners who went before and feeding this information back…

Discusses philosophical and theoretical aims of preretirement education and outlines steps in a comprehensive approach to curriculum development and course design for this form of recurrent education. (SK)

Political science education is currently experiencing a variety of pressures in the form of increasing demands for expanded and more effective educational opportunities in applied professional studies, basic civics instruction, flexible learning programs, and programs for an increasingly adult undergraduate population. An effective response to…

Essays call for the development of a theory of university adult education and for the development of new and expanded research into basic problems of curriculum planning, learning theory, and evaluation of the results of liberal adult education programs. The urban university is asked to examine its purposes in adult education, which is often its…

Recent trends in institutional accommodation of adult students in postsecondary education are discussed, and five key issues are identified: integration, transition, developmental research, leadership and faculty redirection, and fair pricing of programs. It is argued that a commitment to serving learners of all ages gives institutions a new sense…

Project Transition, an experimental program for adult learners, includes a curriculum based on the expressed needs of students. Areas covered in the seminars include the psychology of adulthood, valuing, the future, career development, midlife changes, and learning as adults. Seminars are divided into stages: engagement, sharing leadership,…

This document--an annotated bibliography on adult learning--is one in a series of four developed to provide a comprehensive overview of the scope of training practices relating to adult learning. It presents brief reviews of approximately eighty selected books and other published materials that relate to adult learning, adult education, and…

The growth of adult higher education programs is in direct response to the demand in the marketplace for adult higher education. It is possible to deliver a high quality educational program in a nontraditional delivery format for the adult learner and to identify high quality educational programs in the marketplace. High quality adult educational…

British higher education's response to the emerging adult education trend is examined in this monograph. Examined are the following: institutions of higher education and their contribution to the education of adults; educational access; mode of study; financial support; the need for greater adult participation; various observations on the state of…

This document, which is intended for adult educators in Victoria, Australia, outlines a conceptual framework for a further education (FE) curriculum based on the principle of transformative learning. First, FE is defined as "general education for adults that gives priority to foundations, preparedness, and pathways," and curricula is…

Selected college and university programs established to assist adults in continuing their education, earning their degrees, and learning about whatever interests them are described, and an essay on lifelong learning is presented. In "Curriculum Development for Lifelong Learning," Charles S. Claxton describes how life cycle research,…

This issue of a quarterly newsletter focuses on the theme of critical thinking skills. "Critical Thinking Skills: An Interview with Dr. Richard Paul" (Barbara Christopher) is the text of an interview in which the director of research at Sonoma State University's Center for Critical Thinking examines the meaning of critical thinking and…