Writing on social movement learning and environmental adult education invokes particular views on knowledge that need further examination and development in relation to food social movements. Although food social movements take different forms, the paper argues that the politics of food knowledge is at the centre of many of these movements.…

Noting the ever-increasing encroachment of discourses and practices from the private sector on public education providers, this paper argues that such organizations exist within competing sets of differences that seek to define and fix the meaning of "education" and "business". We report on fieldwork conducted in an adult…

This paper is a research-informed response to the paradigm shift that has taken place in the world of teacher education for the further education sector in England during the last few years. We begin by outlining the various changes that have taken place in terms of regulation of the sector and show how this has impacted upon the agency of those…

This paper stems from a dialogue on the subjects of learning and learners: one forged out of experiences in research and teaching, and the application of psychodynamic insights, developmental psychology and recent work in the neurosciences, to thinking about adult learning and subjectivity. We argue that some notion of the self needs to be…

This paper argues that even though there is continuous research work on participation in adult education, the current state of research is not satisfactory. It develops this assumption by discussing studies that focus on social status and social milieu as explanatory factors for adult education. The authors draw on findings from a research project…

This paper critically examines popular discourses of pedagogy circulating in adult education theory and practice: pedagogy as (heroic or nurturing) person, as prescriptive strategy, as political purpose, and as situated practices. I argue that problematic conceptions and desires can be identified across these discourses that lead to orientations…

This article explores the question of what we might understand to be a learning context within discourses of lifelong learning. If we identify learning as both lifelong and lifewide, how then can we frame a meaningful notion of context and what is its relationship to learning? These are important questions that have been explored within work on…

This paper argues that there is no other way to describe history, and particularly the personal life history of people, apart from in the form of a narrative. It also suggests that as history is not understandable, save in the form of a narrative, the narration as such "makes" history. Drawing on the findings of a research project on…

Assesses the contributions of Paulo Freire and considers whether his philosophy and approach can be applied in adult and community education today. Suggests that so-called radical education has not addressed epistemological questions, leaving the nature of knowledge unquestioned. (SK)

This neo-Marxian analysis of Britain's Further and Higher Education Act and the White Paper that preceded it shows how adult education funding was steered solely toward vocational qualifications. The impact on local education authorities and nonvocational courses is addressed. (SK)

As National Vocational Qualifications are advocated for professional development, reflective practice takes on an increasingly narrow and technical focus. The focus and purposes of reflection must be made more explicit and the range and scope of reflection much wider if emancipatory discourse is to thrive. (SK)

Elaborates on issues in reflective practice: efficient/inefficient reflection, contemplation versus reflection, knowledge and action, informal theories, inquiry and self-reflexive inquiry, error detection, and single-loop and double-loop learning. (SK)

The "official" history of Ruskin College is contrasted with events in the feminist movement and the experience of women at the college. (SK)

Economic globalization has resulted in funding cuts and a commercial orientation in university extension. Resistance to this agenda involves both looking inward at the survival of extension work and outward at community efforts to combat attempts to cut social programs. (SK)

Argues for a less rigid conception of leisure. Describes how leisure has been socially constructed and how the concept is changing in postmodern consumer culture. Suggests that adult education discourse neglects consumer culture and leisure, thus ignoring part of adults' everyday existence. (SK)