Adult and continuing education are based on the assumptions that individuals control their lives; lifelong education is an essential component of adults' lives; and the enhancement of adult education resides with adult educators who provide leadership, design policy, translate policy into action, develop learning opportunities for adults, and evaluate programs. Counselors of adults should consider themselves as educators of adults in the context of lifelong learning and identify with the field of adult education. Counselors should be aware that in adult and continuing education, learning is a self-directed process. As adult educators, counselors may function in a variety of settings, e.g., business and industry, government agencies, and labor organizations and unions. To be effective as adult educators, counselors must understand the objectives of the programs they serve, and identify their special roles and tasks. The counselor has a positive, crucial, and sensitive function in mediating between the learner and the resources that are available. In their striving to counsel adults to be more effective learners, counselors must also, as self-directed learners, continue their own professional development. (MCF)