Continuing education has followed the model legitimizing formal, abstract knowledge. Three propositions for developing wise practitioners build on the importance of knowledge gained from practice: (1) the goal of professional practice is wise action; (2) practice knowledge is necessary to achieve this goal; and (3) continuing professional…

Britain's response to unemployment includes initiatives for 16- to 19-year-old school leavers and Open University/Colleges for adults. Although open learning principles underlie these programs, it is essential that continuing education be viewed more broadly than through its work-based aspects alone. (SK)

An unnecessary bias toward separate programing for younger and older adults precludes intergenerational learning and reinforces age stereotypes. Recent gerontological research supports common learning themes for young and old: self-sufficiency, adaptation, and class and gender concerns. (SK)

Trends in treatment of women and gender differences were analyzed in four adult education journals from 1966-88; detailed content analysis of six journals was performed for 1987-88. Only the British "Adult Education" showed an increase in articles on women and gender. General articles in all journals showed few signs of feminist…

A nominal group of 21 policymakers and training practitioners ranked research questions in three categories: strategic, applied, and fundamental. Twenty-six of the 35 questions appeared to be of high priority. Promising research issues include organizational effectiveness, cost/benefit concerns, human resource planning, and the mobility of special…

Describes four tensions in postmodern continuing education practice: aggregation versus fragmentation, consistency versus flexibility, description versus evaluation, and associationality versus immediacy. Explains the two opposing inclinations in these concepts: there are good reasons following each one, but doing so limits the possibility of…

Uses an imaginary dialogue involving a critical theorist to explore propositions about the modern practice of adult education: (1) it has ceased to foster democratic social action; (2) its foundation is shaky; (3) it is governed by technical rationality, which favors the interests of business; and (4) self-directed learning is conceptually…

Fourteen adults who participated in planning their course were compared with 15 controls in a teacher-planned course. Findings suggest that participation in planning does not significantly influence achievement, satisfaction, or classroom environment, nor does environment influence satisfaction or achievement. (SK)

Research in Canada and New Zealand examined the experience of adults returning to secondary education. The study uncovered a dynamic process in which the adult is both integrated into school culture and differentiated as part of adult student subculture. (SK)

Lack of a strong central system has resulted in flexibility in adult education in the United Kingdom but has also caused uneven provision across the country. Recent changes in government policy toward local government may have long-term effects on adult education. (SK)

Interviews with 24 women change agents who experienced feminist consciousness raising led to these findings: (1) emancipatory learning involved a transformation from alienation to agency in knowing; (2) knowing centered in authenticity was essential to critical reflection; and (3) the knowledge they constructed motivated their action for social…

Traditionally conceived, mentoring has a male orientation that ignores women's experience as "same" and "other" in academia and the problems of men mentoring women and of women mentors socializing mentees into acceptance of the patriarchal system. An alternative view values women's unique position and critiques existing power structures. (SK)

Data from 72 adults in British university preparation (access) courses showed extreme levels of trait anxiety associated with lower final examination performance. Certain study and coping methods were correlated with final exam scores. Test anxiety was significantly correlated with trait anxiety but not with exam performance. (SK)

Autobiography is the imaginative construction of one's life story and the creative expression of lifelong transformative learning. Its use in studying adult transformation raises political and ethical questions and concerns about qualitative methods; it demonstrates the usefulness of conversation as a research process. (SK)

Staff in British further education colleges need training in responding more flexibly to the needs of diverse adult learners. Staff development should focus on four stages of flexible teaching/learning: material and resource preparation, tutorials, study, and assessment, review, and reflection. (SK)