Japan's Basic Law on Food Education (Shokuiku kihonho) was enacted in June 2005 as a response to various concerns related to food and nutrition, such as food scandals, an increase in obesity and lifestyle-related diseases and an assumed loss of traditional food culture. The Law defines food education (shokuiku) rather vaguely as the acquisition of…

This paper is based on findings from the first phase of a longitudinal project examining how a group of students from diverse backgrounds succeed in higher education. The concept of perspective transformation is used to explore students' stories about factors that influenced them on their journey to university, including socio-economic background,…

This article describes the various aspects of human resources development and highlights the intersections and the differences between what are often mistakenly viewed as interchangeable concepts. It argues that, while it is generally accepted that developing staff is fundamental to good organisational health and business outcomes, a clear…

Adult education's continuing purpose has been questioned by writers for over twenty years and today the re-organisation and closure of some University departments brings this issue to the fore. This paper takes up the theme of really useful knowledge in a changing world from the standpoint of teaching adult education history to graduate students.…

In 2010, fifty years after the establishment of the association now called Adult Learning Australia (ALA), the association still faces the dilemma about how to sell its message that adult learning matters. The dilemma is one of philosophy: in the nineteenth century, it was liberalism versus utilitarianism; in the mid-twentieth, the instrumental…

This article presents contributions that present recollections on the Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE) over five decades. In these contributions, the authors talk about the association in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s.

It may be salutary to remember that the new Australian Association had a predecessor (in the Federal Council of the W.E.A.) to acknowledge its achievements and to probe for the causes of its eventual failure. Within the first five years of its existence, the W.E.A. Series had brought out no less than seven creditable works. Most of them were…

This article presents the author's response to to W.G.K. Duncan's 1961 paper, "Agenda for a national association", in the first number of the "Australian Journal of Adult Education," the journal of the newly established Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE). The brief has been interpreted in this way. Duncan viewed AAAE as an "outsider"…

It is the author's experience that some of the most perplexing and time-consuming problems that face the chief executive of a National Association in Adult Education, arise out of international contacts. He thinks it is very wise that the Australian Association should give attention to the matter early in its existence. By so doing, the author…

Looking back fifty years is a salutary experience. There is a sense that everything changes, and everything stays the same. Whilst people now have a global non-government organisation to support national bodies in the field of adult learning, most of the national members have a fragile financial base, and the International Council for Adult…

This article presents the author's response to "An Experiment in Method" by J.L.J. Wilson. In 1960-61 Wilson was invited to give lectures on "modern techniques in adult education" as part of a training school for those involved in the work of developing "Co-operatives for Aborigines" which were sponsored by the Australian Board of Missions--the…

We question the current role of professional associations in developing a culture of learning beyond a sufficiency or competency level. This brings into question the underlying philosophy of Professional Standards legislation. This legislation mandates continuing professional development for professionals without stating what should be achieved…

In this paper I suggest that social dances and local markets are examples of resilient practices of place-making and community that involve active participation. These two activities create mobile and pliant communities of participants that involve considerable informal and incidental learning. With dances and markets in mind, I look at the two…

Government-provided services are caught in the jaws of a "cost-tax vice". On the cost side, the long-term trend of rising relative prices of services, including education, seems set to continue. The other jaw of the vice is the high efficiency cost of raising additional taxes. Recent research making the case for public provision of post-compulsory…

Universities are funny places. They have a strong sense of hierarchy and rank. They have an amazing disparity in salary levels and status between staff, are class conscious, and are run by a large bureaucracy that oils and keeps the machinery going. They operate as educational institutions and yet also are entrepreneurial, marketing themselves in…