To someone who has been intrigued by the role of ethics in adult education for many years, it has been heartening to see how the field has responded to calls to address the ethical dimensions of practice. Although adult education may have been a little later than some in coming to terms with ethics, these developments occurred during a time when…

This chapter serves as a review of the nature of transitions confronting adult learners and points to applications and strategies for anticipating coming changes.

This chapter reviews the literature related to the historical, philosophical, and contextual issues that frame why adult education sits at the margins of the academy and society.

Among the ecological implications of globalization are war and social instability, production and consumption, corporatization and marketing, and environmental racism and sexism. Environmental adult education provides a space to examine negative impacts from multiple perspectives and reassert a focus on democracy. (Contains 37 references.) (SK)

Language and metaphors can structure behavior and reveal beliefs about humanity's relationship to nature. Adult educators are urged to create a teaching practice that reflects awareness of the use of language and enables learners to explore environmental and spiritual issues. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

Environmental justice--equitable protection from environmental hazards for all people--may be fostered through environmental adult education. Practices from popular education, social movement learning, and activism point the way to solutions to environmental justice problems. (Contains 47 references.) (SK)

Environmental popular education helps shape indigenous social movements in India through a continual process of reflection and action that connects concerns about ecological degradation, subsistence, and marginalization. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

By applying the metaphor of literacy to environmental issues, the argument is made that critical literacy is a set of social practices involving thinking and acting upon environmental concerns. Examples of critical environmental education for adults illustrate the argument. (Contains 21 references.) (SK)

An ecological perspective on environmental lifelong learning suggests principles for educational change: environmental learning must proceed through and with the environment; focus on local problems and issues is more effective; life-rooted environmental education is inevitably lifelong and lifewide; and environmental education requires an…

Although accelerated learning is popular and increasing, it is criticized for being less rigorous and unacademic. Studies measuring accreditation, learning, and student/alumni attitudes show satisfactory learning and positive outcomes. Research has also identified characteristics needed to persist and succeed. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)

Discusses historiographic issues involved in researching learning in community and gives a brief history. Describes three types: autonomous learning groups, community development groups, and community action groups. Poses critical questions for understanding the relationship between learning and community. (Contains 54 references.) (SK)

Individual/cognitive theories of learning disregard learners' sociocultural contexts. Adult educators should adopt broader sociocultural theories that incorporate individual, social, and cultural perspectives and recognize diverse discourse communities as contexts for learning. (Contains 33 references.) (SK)

The sociocultural constructs of race, class, and gender combined with disability create a powerful influence on education and work for adults with disabilities. The emergence of disability studies, rights, and culture challenges adult educators to consider the sociocultural implications of disability. (Contains 34 references.) (SK)

Outlines demographic dimensions of the work force: aging, gender, race, sexual orientation, immigration, language, religion. Suggests a workplace pedagogy that is sensitive to sociocultural context and includes the concept of workplace learning as a lifelong process, socioculturally sensitive policies, equal opportunity development, and diversity…

Analysis of the political aspects of adult education reveals multiple ways of examining policies, programs, and practices. Five key issues form a framework for analysis: politics of diversity, whose interest, material conditions and control, accommodation and resistance, and strategic thinking. (Contains 69 references.) (SK)