A survey of 405 adults and interviews with 19 showed the majority of learning experiences were informal. For learning to be significant, it must personally affect the learner by expanding skills or causing a transformation, and it must be subjectively valued by the learner. (SK)

Comparative adult education research must take into account the role of beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in determining actions. Comparison of adult education practices should use a cultural rather than a political perspective. (SK)

A path model of lifelong education was developed using longitudinal data from a cohort of 671 Swedish men. Instead of a reduced gap between initially poorly and well-educated people, a cycle of accumulation exists, in which the quality of earlier educational experience predicts the quality and quantity of subsequent participation in adult…

A model of critical thinking is developed, encompassing problem solving and creative thinking. The central role of critical thinking in adult education is explored, concluding that development of the concept and how to teach it need attention. (SK)

A metatheory of adult education is based on the knowledge found in practice. The relationship of practical knowledge to hermeneutic understanding and the limitations of "informal" theory are discussed. The conclusion is that an adult education curriculum can be theorized, but this depends on a metatheory of the curriculum. (SK)

The long history of metaphorical teaching and examples of the use of metaphors are presented. The effectiveness of metaphors in helping students adapt to change and continual learning and process increasingly large amounts of information is explored. (SK)

Features of the Australian educational system are examined: the evolution of postcompulsory education, continuing education and training within employment from 1950-80, issues and options faced in the mid-1980s, and decisive changes in the structure of higher education at the end of the 1980s. (SK)

The recommendations of Scotland's 1975 Alexander Report for increasing adult education participation and Tom Lovett's development of a social action model with working class adults in Liverpool and Ireland are used as background to an examination of Scottish projects that use a community work approach to involve nonparticipating adults in…

Respondents to a survey of Turkish adult educators in People Education Centres (483 of 795) reported unsatisfactory working conditions and insufficient program offerings. Problems cited were the need for space, more full-time teachers, staff development, better salaries, and courses to attract the elderly, the less educated, working people, and…

As the life span in Japan lengthens, the gap in education between older and younger people widens. Courses offered to older adults are often short and include too many subjects. Successful courses, such as those offered in "kominkans" (citizens' public halls), help the elderly learn about modern society in relation to their personal…

Strategic issues in the development of a learning society are (1) broadening the definition of learning; (2) making the goal of learning growth toward completeness; (3) increasing collective competence; (4) fostering autonomy in learners; and (5) stressing a political approach to learning (the right to learn as a civil right). (SK)

Fundamental changes in Eastern Europe are changing adult education. The East German folk high schools are striving to revive their democratic tradition. Educators in the USSR are applying "perestroika" to adult education principles. (SK)

Mutual improvement societies were at the forefront of adult education in New Zealand from 1870-1915. Although university extension and technical education were major contributors to adult education in Britain and Australia, they were less successful in New Zealand; thus the mutual improvement societies were predominant. (SK)

Proposes a political sociology of adult and popular education in Latin America as a basis for a radical comparative approach. Discusses four problems associated with adult and popular education: definition, the political nature of education, quality of comparative research data, and the need for good theories. (SK)

A shortcoming of adult education theories is lack of attention to social, historical, and institutional contexts. A case study of language education programs for adult immigrants in Sweden illustrates how assumptions about participant-centered, needs-based education justified and legitimated the use of these programs as a tool for employment…