To date a significant share of the European population can be considered at risk of social exclusion. It has been argued that adult education programmes are a powerful tool to support vulnerable adults increasing their social inclusion. This study aims to answer the question if and which subgroups of vulnerable adults experience an increase in…

This paper provides a self-ethnographic investigation of a continuing education program in engineering in Central Finland. The program was initiated as a response to local economic structural change, in order to offer re-education possibilities for a higher educated workforce currently under unemployment threat. We encountered considerable…

Adult learning is seen as a key factor for enhancing employment, innovation and growth. The aim of this paper is to understand the points in the life cycle at which adult learning takes place and whether it leads to reaching a medium or high level of educational attainment. We perform a synthetic panel analysis of adult learning for cohorts aged…

This paper draws upon a small-scale investigation to shed light on the perceptions of successful ageing by a group of senior adults in Hong Kong. It also identifies attributes that are associated with ageing well and examines the extent to which education or learning is perceived as important in the ageing process. To this end, the research has…

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy's work related to andragogy is insufficiently discussed in adult pedagogical literature, although most of his work deals with this field, if we employ his own definition of andragogy. This paper makes visible his role as an andragogical pioneer, and clarifies his understanding of andragogy and basic perspectives in his…

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of the credit transfer phenomenon in the UK, specifically how students draw on a credit as a form of institutional cultural capital. Drawing on interviews with 26 part-time mature learners, this paper examines the progressive and retrospective orientations to study that surfaced in students' accounts…

The study described here is based on the work of creative writing students engaged in life writing for a piece of assessment in a distance-learning course. Using the finished assignment pieces themselves, the students' reflective commentaries on their completed task, and a follow-up questionnaire, the analysis was designed to explore the…

Actor network theory (ANT) is used to explore how work-learning is enacted in informal online communities and illustrates how researchers might use sociomaterial approaches to uncover complexities, uncertainties, and specificities of work-learning practices. Participants in this study were self-employed workers. The relational and material aspects…

According to the increasing rates of unemployment and poverty a significant share of the European population can be considered at-risk-of-social exclusion. In order to combat social exclusion adult education seemed to be a possible tool, which can increase social inclusion among adult learners. This study explores factors relating to training…

This paper discusses the relationship between ageing and learning, previous literature having confirmed that participation in continued learning in old age contributes to good health, satisfaction with life, independence and self-esteem. Realizing that learning is vital to active ageing, the Hong Kong government has implemented policies and…

At first sight, participation rates in adult learning do not differ strongly between men and women. Further exploration, however, makes clear that differences exist at the level of the type of learning. Men participate more in work-related learning and experience more job-related motives to participate. Women take on the main responsibilities in…

In a previous study it has been suggested that there are six stages that adults move through before they feel ready to participate in higher education, and proposed a chain-of-response (COR) model to describe the process. In this study we examine the reported experiences of nine adult entrants during the second year of a work-related degree…

When adult students write their life story, they gather selected life experiences and transform these onto the written page. In the course of this literary process they revisit sites of the past and reflect on the meaning of past events; many reconstruct these events from the point of view of the present, and most close their narrative by…

Kolb's experiential learning theory has been widely influential in adult learning. The theory and associated instruments continue to be criticized, but rarely is the graphical model itself examined. This is significant because models can aid scientific understanding and progress, as well as theory development and research. Applying accepted…

This paper develops a critical feminist theoretical analysis of the significance of the homeplace in explaining the experiences of adult women learners. It argues that current discourses in lifelong learning are shaped by neoliberal influences that emphasize individualism, competition, and connections to the marketplace. Critical educators,…