In this chapter, we provide a snapshot of critical theories with salience for adult education to illuminate their enduring efficacy within the discipline, including critical feminism, queer theory, and race-based critical theories. Critical theories seek to make individual change while dismantling the structures that suppress freedom and…

Concerns about racism and race equality have been widely reported in the first decades of the 21st century, following the Black Lives Matter protests and campaigns such as 'Rhodes Must Fall'. Yet 'race' remains largely absent from policy debate and research concerning further education colleges in the four countries of the UK, particularly in…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Adult and Community Learning Services Unit and UPD Consulting engaged in a multiyear partnership to provide adult education providers across the state with people-centered, action-oriented training opportunities focused on antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI). This…

Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)--or sometimes styled EDID by including decolonization--is an institutionalized response to demands for access, inclusion, recognition, and redistribution by communities of people excluded from traditional centres of power. Under the banner of EDI(D), educational institutions have launched an extensive program…

In this article, we share the stories of three inspirational Black women who were pioneers in adult literacy: Harriet Jacobs, Susie King Taylor, and Septima Poinsette Clark. Their stories, connected to the struggle for Black literacy and the Civil Rights movement, remain relevant as we continue to strive for social justice and equity for all…

The 2020 COABE Digital Literacy and Technology Integration Strand Meeting convened in highly unusual times. Firstly, adult basic skills programs across the country were in the midst of operating completely remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, additionally, the country was searching for a path forward after a national racial reckoning…