This article sheds light on adult engagement in a learning activity during and after online coaching on piano, guitar, or songwriting. Data was collected from the participants using thematic semi-structured interviews and experience sampling. To investigate the extent to which adult learners are involved in learning during and after online music…

The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on nonformal adult education has become a frequently discussed issue in lifelong learning. Nonformal adult education is understood here as all organised adult learning outside formal education that usually does not result in official certification. Many scholars have considered the pandemic as the…

We apply cumulative advantage (CA) theory to understand the social hierarchies behind the accumulation of skills and rewards through Adult Learning and Education (ALE) -- formal, informal, and non-formal. Using representative data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE), we confirm the assumption of CA theory that advantages are…

Despite increasing demand in distance education, relatively little is known about the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as basic skill levels of adult distance education participants at the national level in the US. This study analyzed the US data from the 2012/2014 and 2017 Program for International Assessment of Adult…

This survey paper examines selected issues related to the intersection of three broad scholarly areas: "numeracy," "adult education," and "vulnerability." Numeracy encompasses the ways in which people cope with the mathematical, quantitative, and statistical demands of adult life, and is viewed as an important outcome…

This quantitative study examined the current level of literacy skills of three cohorts of learners after they completed a non-formal basic literacy programme in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The purpose of the study, conducted in late 2019, was to identify major factors that influenced the maintenance of their levels of reading and calculating skills. The…

Participatory learning and online learning are increasingly appealing as educational approaches which can positively affect learners. Participatory learning engages students as active participants in the full educational programme, including homework and exercises, whilst online learning offers tools that facilitate learners' collaboration and…

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine a group of adult students' learning world languages, literacies, and cultures and their experiences in the World Language and Culture Program (WLCP) at a large western land-grant university in the United States during the spring of 2019. I (the author and primary investigator) am the developer and…

The current Information Society requires new skills for personal, labor and social inclusion. Among the so-called Twenty-First Century Skills (Care et al. (eds) in Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills, Springer, New York, 2018) is Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments (PS-TRE) competence evaluated in PISA and PIAAC tests (OECD…

Self-directed learning is a fundamental competence for adults living in our modern world, where social contextual conditions are changing rapidly, especially in a digital age. The purpose of the present article is to review key issues concerning self-directed learning in terms of (1) what are the historical foundations of the self-directed…

This article analyses the perceptions of adult learners towards the use of constructivist approach in teaching and learning in non-formal education (NFE) centres of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The analysis is based on five principles of the constructivist theory of learning-interactive learning, collaborative learning, facilitating learning,…

Rapid development of digital technologies affects the lives of all people and often leads to people being in unequal positions regarding digital skills training opportunities. Older adults' motivations for learning digital skills vary, but they are generally connected with expectations of upcoming benefits. This study investigates the…

In Zambia, adult literacy education is mainly provided in the form of non-formal literacy classes, with a general emphasis on the economic purpose of alleviating poverty. The aim is to increase the number of skilled citizens who are literate. Exploring (1) the pedagogical practices used in this context and (2) facilitators' choices of certain…

Adult education is a wide field which is dealing with the educational needs of adult learners from a diversity of groups, including people with special needs, women, refugees and asylum seekers. The aim of this study is to understand and analyse the opinions of the educators regarding their understanding of the participatory video method, the…

Feminist educators often encounter different forms of resistance from both male and female participants. This article uses a neo-Gramscian theoretical perspective to discuss the importance of considering this resistance when analyzing the relationship between pedagogical design and outcomes. The study draws on survey data and participant…