Older adults ages 56-88 (n=12), some physically frail, were taught word processing and recorded their life histories. Older adults felt the same as a comparison younger group about ease of use, but were less confident in using computers without help. They were enthusiastic and demonstrated changes in general mental health and attitudes toward…

A study of police recruits in England showed significant improvement in ethnic minority performance on personnel selection tests can be achieved through access training. Such training should aim to develop underlying skills and abilities and as a consequence improve test scores. (SK)

Components of a treatment model are diagnosis of offenders' work history and training needs, in relation to labor market requirements; provision of appropriate job and entrepreneurial skills; and after care services. Focus is on vocational adjustment to ensure successful rehabilitation. (SK)

According to workplace instructors of English as a Second Language (ESL), such classes are essential if employees have little exposure to English off the job; ESL instruction enables learners to observe others' language-learning strategies and fulfills varied needs: standard English, language attack skills, and a forum for clarifying and…

Analysis of research on voluntary associations and social movements and a large-scale study of adult basic education suggest that personal influence is often an important component of an adult's decision to participate in formal education and may play a critical role in retention and instruction. (SK)

Adult education program development often takes either a positivist/functional or subjective/empowerment approach. From the tacit process and concepts used by experienced programmers emerge questions to guide development: Which conceptual model underlies one's approach to needs assessment? What are needs? Whose needs are assessed? and How are…

"New right" governments may support experiential learning because of its role in developing self-discipline and law-abiding citizens and consumers. Adult educators and trainers must understand and engage in debates about experiential learning and postmodernism to understand their own practices. (SK)

A model of adult education dropout posits psychosocial, external, and institutional integration factors as causes. Testing with data from 443 Norwegian adult students (167 dropouts) demonstrated that factors related to interaction with the institution made a more substantial contribution to explaining attrition than did external systems theory.…

After independence, adult education in India was burdened with modernization and industrialization, continued to reproduce some elitist tendencies, and was overbalanced toward higher education. In the last 2 decades, radical educators have rededicated themselves to Gandhi's cause of educating the very poor and focusing on real educational needs.…

In the first phase of nation-state development, adult education serves in the creation of nationalism and consensus. As the nation enters the world stage, adult education enforces national and cultural identity and meets professionalizing needs. As consensus loosens and pluralism emerges, adult education may become a symbol of conflict between…

Using criteria to determine whether a discipline is a science, the author defines andragogy as a technological discipline that applies principles discovered by the sciences of adult education--educational psychology, sociology, economics, and anthropology. He suggests that andragogy could become the general science of adult education by studying…

Education and training are seen as a panacea for the problems of deskilling and mass unemployment. The lack of an overarching policy suggests a need for a discourse accepting paid work as an important area for lifelong learning, but also recognizing the learning needs of people largely excluded from paid work. (SK)

Twenty-eight African American women involved in voluntary organizations reported some systematic nonformal education, but more frequent and more valuable were informal, incidental learning opportunities, resulting in changed ability to interact with others, growing self-confidence, and greater connection to group and community. They generally…

The Marquis de Condorcet proposed a progressive restructuring of French schools and colleges that has modern parallels with lifelong learning. However, his plans were thwarted by the Jacobin party, which found Rousseau's ideas more conducive to its political aims. (SK)

Teachers on sabbatical who participated in professional development had improved professional identity, greater feelings of empowerment, less job burnout, and less desire to leave their workplace or the profession. These findings resulted from survey responses from 269 of 400 Israeli elementary school teachers who took sabbaticals. (SK)