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Since gaining independence from South Africa in 1990, Namibia has placed considerable emphasis on education, including adult learning. As a means of improving the quality of adult learning, the Namibian Ministry of Education commissioned the development of national standards in 2010 to express competency requirements for adult educators. Particular attention was paid to the views of adult learners who participated through 30 focus groups. The participatory process revealed that the work of an adult educator is more complex and demanding than had previously been appreciated. The required competencies were categorised under four headings: (1) knowledge as an adult educator; (2) practice as an adult educator; (3) relationships as an adult educator; and (4) ethics and professionalism as an adult educator. The Namibia Qualifications Authority, acting under its legislative mandate of setting occupational standards for occupations, jobs, posts and positions, approved the national standards in 2011.

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This small scale survey report evaluates aspects of family learning and its benefits for adult participants and their children, their families and the wider community. Between September 2008 and March 2009, inspectors visited 23 local authority adult and community learning services that were receiving Learning and Skills Council funding for wider family learning, family literacy, language and numeracy, and family learning impact funding. The survey explores a range of delivery models, gives examples of good practice and makes recommendations for improvement.

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This paper explores the postmodern critique of the dominant theorisations of the self in adult education: the psychological/humanistic and the sociological/critical. The postmodern critique shows the difficulties of theorising an originary, care, true, stable, or a historical self. However, in much adult education work the pursuit of a coherent, continuous self is indispensable to transformative (and thereby resistant) adult education practice. Show less

This paper examines the meaning of the term ‘social capital’ for socially marginalised groups, particularly for adults with learning difficulties. The paper first outlines social capital theories in functionalist and Marxist traditions, and examines their implications for people with learning difficulties. Subsequently, case studies are used to examine the extent to which people with learning difficulties are able to draw on and contribute to public and private versions of social capital. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications for the practice of education with adults. Show less

This article focuses on the recognition of prior learning and the figure of thought it represents in Swedish policy on adult education. It can be seen as a technique for governing the adult learner and a way of fabricating the subject. We are tracing this thought back in time to see how it has changed and what it consists of. The material analysed consists of Swedish official documents published between 1948 and 2004. We draw on two concepts from the Foucauldian toolbox: genealogy and governmentality. The result shows that this technique for governing and fabricating the adult subject is not new. It has been present during all periods analysed. However, there is a difference in how the ideas of competence and knowledge are stressed. Today the focus is on the subject’s specific experience, which means competence. You are constructed as an adult with experiences that are to be evaluated. During the 1960s and 1970s the focus was rather on general experience. There was also discussion concerning the subject’s ability to study. During the 1950s this figure of thought focused on ability was dominant. Those with the talent/ability to study were to be accepted for adult education.

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Following a large empirical research project, conducted in France between 1997 and 1999, the author reports on the process and some of the outcomes. In the introduction Carre explains the rationale for the research, and identifies the two main aspects of the study - the theoretical model of motivation in adult education, and the summary of the main results of the survey. The summary is presented under five headings: population profile, motive analyses, motivation processes, performance, and conclusions and implications for pedagogical practice and adult education research. He notes a disappointing lack of results concerning the supposed link between initial motivation and final performance and suggests that further research is necessary into this area.

Selected papers, roundtables and symposia are indexed from TD/TNC 70.310 to TD/TNC 70.347. Volumes of papers are indexed from TD/TNC 70.306 to TD/TNC 70.309. Show less

This publication reports on a UK national survey of adult participation in formal and informal education, looking at regional, class and gender differences in take-up and demand of post-school education. The survey, undertaken in 1990, compares participation rates in London with the rest of the country and tests the question, 'Does public investment in adult learning foster a learning culture?' Some of the survey findings are: one in 10 adults are engaged in some form of studying; more men than women were engaged in current or recent study; the overall proportion studying now or recently has increased since 1980, with the proportion of men studying increasing more than that of women; younger adults dominate the formal system, both in education and training; there are significant disparities in participation in different regions of the country; the major factor affecting participation is social class; in Inner London, participation is higher among unskilled manual workers, but lower among skilled manual workers; women are particularly dependent on local, part-time learning opportunities and have traditionally been the greatest users of adult education, often as a means of re-entry to vocational opportunities; educational institutions remain the main venue for adult students, although there is increased interest and willingness to engage in home-based learning; the increase in the use of open learning for training in industry is motivated not just by the economy and effectiveness of its delivery, but by the flexibility it provides to learners and employers; people as learners do not easily differentiate between what is vocational and what is non-vocational; and finance is the main barrier to participation. Includes references and appendices. Show less

This paper describes the evolution over five years (1994-1999) of a multicultural partnership initiative in an inner city area of Teeside, United Kingdom (UK). Focusing on the principles, the partners, the projects and the people in the partnership, the paper critically explores: issues of resources and funding and the changing and dynamic nature of partnership; links between learning and community regeneration; links between education, development and enterprise; and the challenges and opportunities that community-based, collaborative and multicultural projects present to the academy.

The volume of conference proceedings is indexed at TD/TNC 62.808. Show less

This project provides an assessment of the feasibility of developing on-line course delivery for vocational education and training (VET) in the adult and community education (ACE) sector. The project examines the following issues: flexible delivery developments in related educational and training sectors; the capacity and willingness of ACE providers to supply on-line training; and the demand for on-line education from the prospective students/clients of ACE. Show less

Jobs for the Future (JFF), along with several partners, has researched the question of how workforce intermediaries might use existing or new funding sources to finance their core functions. JFF prepared these working papers for Investing in Workforce Intermediaries, a collaboration of the Annie E. Casey and Ford foundations. Since 2004, the foundations, working with JFF, have led a pilot effort to create a national support infrastructure for workforce intermediaries. In 2007, and with additional support from the Hitachi Foundation, the lessons and accomplishments of this pilot effort formed the basis for a large-scale, national initiative: The National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

The collection, edited by Heath Prince of JFF, includes contributions by Radha Roy Biswas, JFF; Victoria Choitz, FutureWorks and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning; John Colborn, The Ford Foundation; Jeff Jablow, Social Ventures; Christopher T. King, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs; Heath Prince; and Tara Carter Smith, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

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