Newly revised to include new data and information on the Internet, this guide for GED instructors offers lesson plans and helps teachers develop as professionals. It also gives adult learners an opportunity to practice writing, use graphs, read charts, and analyze research findings on the economic impact of the GED. The original version of this…

"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. Articles appearing in this issue are: (1)…

This monograph describes program models as having a program quality support component and three chronological program components: entrance into a program, participation in a program, and re-engagement in learning. The four components that make up a program model are defined by principles. A principle describes a guiding assumption about how to…

"Focus on Basics" is the quarterly publication of the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy. It presents best practices, current research on adult learning and literacy, and how research is used by adult basic education teachers, counselors, program administrators, and policymakers. "Focus on Basics" is dedicated to…

This study is about engagement in adult literacy education. Engagement is mental effort focused on learning. It is important to understand how and why adult learners engage in literacy instruction because engagement is a precondition to learning progress. Researchers who study engagement conceive of it in different ways. Some focus on engagement…

This research brief highlights findings from a qualitative study of the contextual factors that shape engagement in adult literacy education. Engagement is mental effort focused on learning and is a precondition to learning progress. Some researchers focus on engagement as a cognitive, or mental, process closely related to such things as…

Human and social capital discourses attempt to explain New Zealand's brain drain. Solutions related to each discourse involve offering incentives for returning or creating links so that expatriates can contribute to their homeland from abroad. Establishing such "diaspora networks" might be the role of adult education. (Contains 43 references.) (SK)

Interviews with 28 New Zealand adults aged 42-82 who had left school with less than 4 years of secondary education identified contextual (social and familial) factors that did not encourage further education. Return to education was influenced by changed work and family contexts. Gender-based expectations hindered women's choices. Educational…

Examines how older adults are defined in the literature; reviews the concept of lifelong learning and perspectives on the purpose of older adult education. Looks at the extent of participation and barriers. Proposes critical educational gerontology, derived from Freire, as an emancipatory learning strategy through which older adults can contribute…

Case studies of six adult literacy students revealed factors that had influenced them to stop and restart formal education: family conditions, traumatic events, initial schooling experiences, social networks, personal motivations, and informal learning experiences. The influence of contextual factors on literacy learning and characteristics of…

Gives an overview of New Zealand politics as background for the development of the Kotare Research and Educational Centre, which features radical, participatory adult education. Suggests that radical programs can help push boundaries, enabling social change in the mainstream. (SK)

Interviews with chief executive officers of three New Zealand polytechnics elicited themes regarding polytechnics' role in a "postmarket" environment: (1) collaboration is possible amidst fierce competition; (2) change is slow, externally driven, and complex; and (3) the polytechnic sector is in disarray. (Contains 27 references.) (SK)

Appropriate cartoons in adult education can help learners relax and encourage flexible thinking. Cartoons must be carefully selected and should not be overused. (Contains 16 references.) (SK)

Although medical curricula are perceived as scientifically based, much discipline-based material is used as procedural knowledge. Educators must ensure that students have both enough certainty to be effective diagnosticians and enough doubt to question assumptions about the nature of scientific knowledge. (Contains 60 references.) (SK)

During the spring of 2006, CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) conducted a national Career Advising Survey (CAS) to better understand the current state of employer-provided education and career advising or coaching benefits. The CAS research gleaned detailed information about the design, administration, use and effectiveness of…