Learning & work: the challenges: facing the challenges of access and opportunity in adult education and training

The increasing need for education and training worldwide has made the ongoing issues of access and opportunity more pressing than ever. Why more adults, particularly under-represented adults, do not participate and how to increase participation are questions that have long beset the field of adult education and training. The skewed participation patterns are the result of a complex configuration of sociocultural and economic factors often beyond the control of the individual. Systematic responses that are political, educational, and technological in nature are evaluated for their effectiveness in addressing the problem. Finally, the challenges of access and opportunity are seen as but facets of the greater challenge of being reflective practitioners, of asking difficult questions, and of rising above the technology of our practice and the tyranny of economic profit.

This was a keynote speech. The conference aimed to explore the themes of curriculum contexts, workplace learning, VET delivery and management, and contemporary issues in VET. The entire collection of publications for this conference consists of three, separately bound keynote speeches (TD/TNC 50.25 to TD/TNC 50.27); four volumes of papers (TD/TNC 50.28 to TD/TNC 50.31); and a conference program, which includes abstracts of all papers (TD/TNC 50.26).

The increasing need for education and training worldwide has made the ongoing issues of access and opportunity more pressing than ever. Why more adults, particularly under-represented adults, do not participate and how to increase participation are questions that have long beset the field of adult education and training. The skewed participation patterns are the result of a complex configuration of sociocultural and economic factors often beyond the control of the individual. Systematic responses that are political, educational, and technological in nature are evaluated for their ...  [+] Show more