From 1912 to 1975 the Department of Extension at the University of Alberta provided an impressive range of programmes and services to people across the Canadian province of Alberta. The four Directors of Extension at the University of Alberta during this period became leading figures in the history of adult education in Canada. They positioned…

This paper critically examines popular discourses of pedagogy circulating in adult education theory and practice: pedagogy as (heroic or nurturing) person, as prescriptive strategy, as political purpose, and as situated practices. I argue that problematic conceptions and desires can be identified across these discourses that lead to orientations…

This article explores the question of what we might understand to be a learning context within discourses of lifelong learning. If we identify learning as both lifelong and lifewide, how then can we frame a meaningful notion of context and what is its relationship to learning? These are important questions that have been explored within work on…

In this article, the thesis is posited that Bourdieu's concept of habitus, if used in the analysis of lifelong (biographical) learning and training processes, requires reformulation in terms of biographical theory. In the light of this suggestion, the author presents her own concept of a biographical learning habitus. In an intergenerational study…

This case study examines a group of archaeologists working at a new project that strives to be more environmentally friendly and community inclusive, and positions these archaeologists as adult learners who are simultaneously creating a new vision of archaeology and learning to enact new forms of archaeological practice. Using the framework of…

This paper about consumption as a metaphor for learning follows from some ideas about learning and space that emerged from a research project concerned with everyday learning at work. These learning/work spaces have drawn our attention to the significant consumption (eating and drinking) occurring within them. We suggest that linking everyday…

Both lifelong learning and community are central to the mission of the National Federation of Women's Institutes (WI). Their website, for example, states that the WI aims to educate women to enable them to provide an effective role in the community, to expand their horizons and to develop and pass on important skills--key elements of lifelong…

This paper considers how Hegel's philosophical idealism influenced the thinking and practical activities of four successive holders of the Chair of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow between 1866 and 1927. It argues that their activities were shaped by Hegelian concepts of citizenship, which engendered a commitment to encouraging the…

This paper introduces the significant body of research on everyday literacies that has developed over the last 20 years and links it with the concerns of those working in the field of lifelong learning. It starts by briefly introducing debates about adult informal learning. It goes on to discuss ethnographic and interview studies of everyday…

This paper explores the varied use of information technologies (ITs) such as the computer and Internet for self-education, highlighting how these technologies can facilitate and suppress such learning opportunities throughout the adult population. Based on data drawn from a large-scale study of adults in the West of England and South Wales, the…

This paper arises out of recognition of the shared importance of psychodynamic theory in our approaches to teaching and research. We demonstrate how psychodynamic ideas--broadly defined as encouraging people to engage more closely with thoughts and feelings that may be hidden from the conscious mind--can be applied in many, diverse, and radical…

This article aims to develop understanding of the impact of the experiences of the queer learner and teacher upon their need for safe spaces within adult education. From the perspective of learning and teaching within science, I discuss the relations between the perceived relevance of queer issues in the "classroom" and the distance of the…

This article discusses the relationship between sound broadcasting and adult education, looking at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during the period of postwar reconstruction and austerity of the 1950s. It considers in particular one of the Corporation's most innovative educative programmes of the period, "The Fifty-One Society". This…

The notion of learning community has assumed an important position in discussions about the education of adults. The vision of a network of learning communities each producing forms of social capital is actively promoted as the key to lifelong learning. Universities are increasingly being positioned within this network. This article explores and…

Family and community capacity building projects in Tasmania are attempting to address the disadvantage of communities marginalised by socio-economic and other influences. Collaborations between the projects, community members and groups, and education and training organisations, have resulted in a leadership process which has fostered reengagement…