Although it is clear that adult education has existed much longer as a field of practice than as a field of study, little research exists to identify the contribution that an understanding of the field of adult education, particularly adult learning and techniques for teaching adult students, makes to the effectiveness of an adult educator. To study the gap that exists between the beliefs underlying the field of adult education and actual practice, 318 articles from 48 professional journals for adult educators and three texts that are required reading in a course in the theory and practice of adult education methodology were compared with respect to their treatment of the following four topics: continuing education, the adult learner, teaching methods, and adult educators. The review indicated that although the professional literature promotes a belief structure to the field, the professional journals do not carry that message to the practitioner. Rather, the journals devote more energy to the management and administration of programs, and, therefore, the practitioner is not able to look to the professional journals as a prime source of support. Thus, while the field of adult education is growing, the support systems to keep it healthy are diminishing. The challenge then is to provide for the support and dissemination of a working philosophy to the field. The promotion of the ideas and concepts of adult education is as vital a part of the chain by which adult education organizes and maintains itself as is training in how to carry out these beliefs. (MN)