The "Hamburg Declaration on Adult Learning and Agenda for the Future" (UNESCO, 1997) is perhaps the most utopian statement about adult learning and education (ALE) in recent times. Grounded in the ideas of radical educators Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich, it built upon two earlier influential and inspiring reports that promoted general adherence to…

In an age in which information is available almost instantly and in quantities unimagined just a few decades ago, most educators would agree that teaching adult learners to think critically about what they are reading, seeing, and hearing has never been more important. But just what is critical thinking? Do adult learners agree with educators that…

This exploratory paper considers the concept of generation in the context of learning across the life course. Although researchers have often found considerable inequalities in participation by age, as well as strongly articulated attitudinal differences, there have so far been only a handful of studies that have explored these patterns through…

Almost no literature in the academic field of Jewish education exists that studies congregational rabbis as teachers of adults. This article seeks to contribute to filling the gap in the extant literature base. Using portraiture, the study describes and analyzes the aims of rabbinic teaching of adults in a synagogue setting. The findings suggest…

The chapters in this volume, all written by experts in the field, present an array of new research on second language acquisition (SLA) that touches on several current theoretical debates in the field and present a rich range of new empirical data and a number of innovative findings. The studies address questions relating to ultimate attainment,…

Significant structural reforms of public administration are commencing in Finland from 2017. Firstly, municipalities and cities are being combined into larger entities. Secondly, five social-welfare and healthcare regions are to be created, with that level being responsible for arranging services in this field. Thirdly, the City of Helsinki is…

The article "Personal Coaching: A Model for Effective Learning" (Griffiths, 2006) appeared in the "Journal of Learning Design" Volume 1, Issue 2 in 2006. Almost ten years on, Kerryn Griffiths reflects upon her original article. Specifically, Griffiths looks back at the combined coaching-learning model she suggested in her…

Science hobbyists engage in self-directed, free-choice science learning and many have considerable expertise in their hobby area. This study focused on astronomy and birding hobbyists and examined how they used organizations to support their hobby engagement. Interviews were conducted with 58 amateur astronomers and 49 birders from the midwestern…

The present study employs social cognitive theory (SCT) and social capital as the guiding frameworks to explain online interaction quality among learners in a blended learning program (N = 179). Capturing performance expectancy by perceived learning benefits and online interaction quality with nuanced cognitive measures, the study aims to validate…

Events or experiences that have a transformative effect on people's lives can have an even greater impact if they are documented and disseminated through books, articles, or other forms of media. Whether one learns of such episodes through personal interaction or published sources, these personal stories enrich and inform one's own life, providing…

These days focus of interest in English learning changes to productive skills, in Turkey. This research study assesses the teachers' point of view about using ice-breakers for adult Turkish EFL learners in upper-intermediate level. It also anticipates finding valuable information with applying ice-breaker activities as a useful teaching policy…

This edited book documents practices of learning-oriented language assessment through practitioner research and research syntheses. Learning-oriented language assessment refers to language assessment strategies that capitalise on learner differences and their relationships with the learning environments. In other words, learners are placed at the…

This paper is about a quantitative study which has examined and elucidated the conceptualizations of ageing and learning by a group of elders in Hong Kong. In more specific terms, the study has investigated how this group of older people understood the meaning of successful ageing and elder learning in the context of their later lives. Based on…

The lifelong learning system in the Czech Republic and Slovakia share some common traits: traditional model with the dominant role of the initial education, low participation rates, lack of incentives and fragmentation. The results of the narrative research on 15 low-skilled persons demonstrated that negative attitudes towards education are often…

The Volunteer UCF Community Connectors and Community Builders Program provides a connection between students and their community. The goal is to develop meaningful service opportunities for UCF students that contribute measurable results and systemic change through capacity building among adult learners. The ongoing, sustainable service experience…