This document contains the following papers, which were developed during a project in which barriers to participation in adult education in rural England were examined through case studies of the historical/geographical, economic/social, and political/public/administrative barriers to participation in four regions of England (East Sussex, Derbyshire, Cornwall, and North Yorkshire): "Introduction" (John Lowerson); "Case Study 1: East Sussex" (John Payne); "Case Study 2: Derbyshire" (John Payne); "Case Study 3: Cornwall" (John Payne); "Case Study 4: North Yorkshire" (Mike Boice); "Adult Education and Changing Roles of Women in Rural Communities" (Susan McGrath); and "Reflections" (John Lowerson). Among the various barriers identified in the papers are the following: the comparative expense of developing programs for small, relatively scattered potential cohorts; physical isolation compounded by transportation difficulties; the delicacy of local rural economics, patterns of material and cultural deprivation; limited opportunities for retraining and general learning in rural areas; national policymakers' unawareness of many rural problems; lack of cohesive policies at the national and local levels; and threats to already-sparse staffing in rural areas because of resource cutbacks. (MN)