Guided tours, field trips, and other non-formal learning experiences occur in a variety of settings such as museums, parks, civic buildings, and architectural landmarks for the purpose of educating the public. This study yielded four main findings. (1) Program educational goals were visitor awareness, positive affective experience, and advocacy.…

This paper examines the adult learning dimensions of protestors as they participate in a campaign to stop coal seam gas exploration in Gippsland in Central Victoria, Australia. On a global level, the imposition of coal seam gas exploration by governments and mining companies has been the trigger for movements of resistance from environmental…

Building on narratives of students in adult education in Sweden, where the majority of the students are young adults, this paper argues that adult education has both negative and positive aspects in helping individuals to be recognised as valuable. Students, often part of the precariat class, have not always been able to survive in the job market…

This paper describes an aspect of reflective practice referred to as situated reflective practice. The overarching theory is derived from social theories of structuration and reflexivity. In particular, from Giddens' theory of structuration, which sees social life as an interplay of agency and structure. Discussion of the research reported here…

This article presents evidence of the links between human rights education and social change by analyzing the long-term effects on 88 trainers engaged in a non-formal adult training program sponsored by a women's human rights group in Turkey, Women for Women's Human Rights--New Ways. In this article, I show the transformative impacts of carrying…

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in applying actor-network theory (ANT) to educational research and analysis. This article presents an account of how an ANT analysis of socio-material practices with a focus on objects can bring informal learning and identity formation to view. It is based on a doctoral study of the everyday…

Reporting on a study of mature women training to work in childcare, this article demonstrates how some women choose to be part-time mothers, workers and students, wanting "the best of both worlds". It presents a theory of integrated lives that contrasts with customary deficit models and shows how a series of reciprocal links bind the…

Currently, little is known about the influence classroom learning has on the spiritual beliefs of students. Despite this fact, decisions on educational policy, parental home schooling, and even whether to bring legal actions against school districts, often rest on the assumption that education can induce spiritual belief change. To begin the…

Sociocultural theories consider language learning as a social practice examines students as active participants in the construction of learning processes. This study investigates sociocultural theories' central concepts, which includes peer interaction and feedback, private speech, and self-efficacy. The present study is a case study of twenty…

Beliefs about altruism and self-interest of 25 participants were examined through a grounded theory methodology. Altruism was defined as the promotion of needs of others and self-interest as the promotion of needs of self. Data sources included interviews, focus group, journal analysis, artifacts, and a measure of altruism. The relationship…

Teacher efficacy is a topic of significance in mainstream education and various instruments have been developed to measure this construct. The available instruments however, are general both in terms of their subject matter and context. To compensate for this generality, the present study aims to develop a new teacher efficacy instrument whose…

The bases of the article are the results of an empirical study about traditional work places in industry. There were made group discussions and special qualitative interviews with workers and employees of a German factory. The article tries to interpret and to integrate these subjective concepts in the actual discussion of theoretical perspectives…

Good Vibrations is a charity that runs gamelan projects with offenders in prison and on probation. A recent Birmingham City University study investigating the short-, medium- and long-term impact of the project found that participation in a Good Vibrations project acted as a catalyst for positive change. The research found that not only did…

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world most affected by HIV & AIDS, accounting for two-thirds of the global burden of the pandemic. People with disabilities are regarded as a high-risk group for HIV but have been largely neglected in programmes of education, treatment and support. This paper examines the possibilities for a learning…

Academics experience difficulty in managing competing tasks, particularly in relation to writing for publication. In a study conducted on a writing retreat, analysis of data obtained from academic writers revealed that facilitative leadership provided at a writing retreat was central to managing task complexity and writing-related anxiety. The…