This article critiques international assessment of adult literacy using research findings from students completing a Maori tourism certificate who achieved significant gains in assessment. It is argued that the focus of literacy assessments potentially forces educators to narrow their teaching and learning approaches, manoeuvring them into…

This article is concerned with how learning in later life has been constructed and practised by the two most numerous ethnic groups in Aotearoa/New Zealand, "Pakeha" (Europeans) and "Maori" (Indigenous people). It is argued that learning is heavily influenced by historic features of interaction between these two groups; Pakeha…

Natural disasters are frequently exacerbated by anthropogenic mechanisms and have social and political consequences for communities. The role of community learning in disasters is seen to be increasingly important. However, the ways in which such learning unfolds in a disaster can differ substantially from case to case. This article uses a…

Recent developments in digital scholarship point out that academic practices supported by technologies may not only be transformed through the obvious process of digitization, but also renovated through distributed knowledge networks that digital technologies enable, and the practices of openness that such networks develop. Yet, this apparent…

Changes in tertiary education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand in the last decade have impacted on adult and community education (ACE). Marginalized and understood as non-formal education at the turn of the century, ACE is now part of the "tertiary landscape". It is explicitly steered by education policy, its role severely narrowed, its…

Student engagement, a student's emotional, behavioural and cognitive connection to their study, is widely recognized as important for student achievement. Influenced by a wide range of personal, structural and sociocultural factors, engagement is both unique and subjective. One important structural factor shown in past research to be a barrier for…

This article addresses the question: how can lifelong education contribute to subjective well-being by engaging learners and fostering active citizenship? The question arises due to the fact that governments in the western world have identified well-being as an important policy driver. Well-being research suggests that subjective well-being,…

This is a discussion paper about access to, and participation in learning opportunities for Maori learners in New Zealand, and Indigenous learners in Australia. Teaching and learning practice in three separate institutional education programmes--one in New Zealand and two in Australia--highlight the problematic nature of inclusion based on…

This paper explores the impact of changing higher education policies and funding on university adult and continuing education in England and Aotearoa New Zealand. It discusses some of the contextual factors contributing to sustaining continuing education in New Zealand, against the tide of developments elsewhere, and in spite of its subjection to…

This paper sets out to answer two questions "Given the policy settings for lifelong learning for adults in Europe and much of the western world, what are the policy settings and experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand?" and "Will the future of adult lifelong education there be neoliberal or cosmopolitan?" The article first examines…

This article explores how far research findings about successful pedagogies in formal post-school education might be used in non-formal learning contexts--settings where learning may not lead to formal qualifications. It does this by examining a learner outcomes model adapted from a synthesis of research into retention. The article first…

In today's post-modern world of difference, and amidst globalising forces of insidious convergence, this paper explores how far the concepts of lifelong learning and learning society embrace international worldviews. It conducts a brief excursion into literature that has explored learning society models. It also looks at an increasing number of…

Analysis of data on adults who left school before age 17 and later enrolled in university (New Zealand, n=953; England, n=762) identified factors that influenced reentry. A typology emerged: (1) academically able with financial or other constraints; (2) those uncertain about academic abilities or usefulness of schooling; and (3) alienated,…

Describes the "marketization" of New Zealand higher education since 1984 and its core conceptualization of lifelong learning as vocationalism. Discusses the consequences for universities of the market emphasis. Illustrates how such policies have widened the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged groups. (Contains 40 references.) (SK)