In the US fewer than 3 million students attend classes, while 90 million need basic education and English programmes. Adult education teachers and administrators are often inexperienced in community organising and leadership development. They are often even untrained in adult education. The field is regarded so poorly by government and the public, that it is assumed that anybody can teach adults. Popular education content and methodology offer ways to focus on the active role and leadership of students. It requires the educator to listen to students, to promote dialogue with students as equals and struggle with collective knowledge and analysis to understand problems and solve them. Adult students, when they are critically conscious of the world, can change the educational process and content, and they can transform adult education and the societies in which they live. In this article, the author discusses the role of adult student voice, student leadership and student organisation in social transformation. (Contains 4 notes.)