The paper reports the outcome of a funded non-formal, functional adult literacy project embarked upon in the university-based "Isoya" rural development programme area in south-western Nigeria from 2005-2007. It specifically presents the approaches used in legitimising the literacy project amongst community people; and reports the positive impact…

In Belgium, the Exam Board (EB) and the Secondary School for Adults (SSA) are two different ways to attain a secondary diploma after leaving secondary school without a diploma. The SSA is part of the regular educational system and organises courses with an adult approach. The EB is a flexible system in which students prepare themselves to do…

This is a discussion paper about access to, and participation in learning opportunities for Maori learners in New Zealand, and Indigenous learners in Australia. Teaching and learning practice in three separate institutional education programmes--one in New Zealand and two in Australia--highlight the problematic nature of inclusion based on…

This paper examines the motivations and outcomes for mature students who study part-time in higher education (HE) in the UK. Although many students in HE are mature part-time learners, they have not been the specific focus of much research or policy interest. In-depth narrative interviews were carried out with 18 graduates who had studied…

This article explores the role of informal learning from television as it is anchored within the ordinariness of daily life. It examines the consequences for pedagogy and civic engagement, questioning how informal learning from television can enhance civic engagement. For many, this learning was localised through personalised and interpersonal…

The use of collaborative learning strategies continues to grow in online environments. The ability to collaborate may, therefore, present epistemic challenges for the students and hinder their capacity to trust their own and their fellow students' ability to help them learn, and the capacity of the group (as a whole) to grow and develop. The…

As more and more mature women return to vocational learning, the issues facing this group of learners are being acknowledged and attempts made to address these concerns. Many existing strategies, developed to address the needs of other groups of learners, are applied to mature women. These women are drawn into a formal learning environment in…

Wilma Donahue's book in 1955, "Education for Later Maturity", was considered the first major work to identify the educational needs of the aging person. Peterson considers it one of the earliest comprehensive surveys of older learners. However, the idea of educational gerontology was probably first used in 1970 at the University of Michigan, as…

This study explores what it means for academic leaders to work in post-secondary institutional contexts. Four themes emerge: balancing daily dissonance; learning experientially to lead; creating learning spaces; and needing moments of grace. The research reveals that leaders seek deeper understandings of their work and their characterization.

This paper is concerned with the relationship between authenticity and adult learning and prompted by some studies in which adult "authentic learning" is a central concept. The implication revealed by them is that real-worldness of learning contexts, learning content and learning tasks is perceived as conferring authenticity on learning. Here,…

The European Union has set a goal that by 2010, 12.5% of the working age population should be taking part in lifelong learning. This participation rate has not yet been achieved in many countries. A partial explanation is the fact that the decision to participate depends on a variety of factors at three levels: the individual; the educational…

A number of countries in Europe, including the UK, have adopted language and citizenship tests or courses as a requirement for granting citizenship to immigrants. To acquire citizenship, immigrants to the UK must pass a test on British society and culture, or demonstrate progress in the English language. For those with an insufficient command of…

Citizenship and belonging was identified as one of the nine progressive themes of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) inquiry into the future of lifelong learning in the United Kingdom. It was used to inform the inquiry's recommendations on the desired form of that future. This paper articulates a critique of the report…

This paper explores how the report "Learning through Life" exemplifies the dominant policy discourse on lifelong learning emphasizing strongly individual social mobility. The paper explores further how this functionalist and reductionist turn in (adult) education has come about and how concepts of democratic citizenship and education may create…

The modernisation of the Western world during the last two centuries has been a mix of industrialisation/computerisation and urbanisation. Consequently, reports on the future of adult learning and adult education have been a mix on the one hand of the learning requirements that follow from industrialisation/computerisation and on the other hand,…