Adults are continually learning outside of conventional education frameworks, acquiring new skills and knowledge in a range of community settings, Stephen Brookfield explores the extent and quality of this informal independent learning and the ways in which adult educators can work with independent adult learners to support and enhance their learning.
Originally published in 1982 this volume examines some of the themes and issues involved in the combined use of broadcasting, distance teaching methods and local tutorial or counselling provision for adult basic education. Particular emphasis is laid on identifying means of reaching groups and individuals with special needs in literacy, numeracy and social skills. Detailed case-studies are presented, drawn from the UK, France, Denmark, The Netherlands and Canary Islands.
This volume is more reportorial than scholarly. It is the product of an effort to collect and relate to one another the important facts about adult education by radio, past and present. I have had a limited time for this effort. Therefore I have attempted no research (although seeking to take account of that done by others), and have confined myself to reading, observing, interviewing, and listening to broadcasts. In the course of these activities I have spent several months in visiting radio stations in various parts of the country, from New York to Los Angeles, and have heard many hundreds of their programs. I have talked both with station and network officials, and with a large number of engineers, educators, and representatives of educational groups.
Lifelong Education for Adults: An International Handbook is the first work intended to offer international, encyclopedic coverage of research and studies in the whole field of adult education. With 127 articles written by international specialists, this work will be an invaluable reference source for all those who are engaged in educational activities for adults, either as full-time planners/administrators of educational programmes, or part-time adult educators. There are, for example, articles on education for work and for living, on population education, peace and environmental education, and on learning for personal development and role fulfilment. Conceptual frameworks, practical issues relating to instructional methods, counselling, curriculum and evaluation, and developments in distance learning, group learning, and adult learning are some of the topics discussed. Systems of adult education worldwide, as well as adult education processes and practices, are covered region by region. The problems and initiatives of the developing countries are given attention alongside those of advanced countries. The collection of articles assembled in this Handbook is unique in the range and depth of treatment given to the field of adult education. This volume will thus be of great interest to all engaged in educational activities for adults, in adult schools, community centres, institutions of higher education, as well as educationalists, planners, and decision-makers throughout the world who are involved in adult education at all levels.
