The role of education in citizen training has been well mapped out in youth education. What has been less studied is how this role comes into being in adult education. By providing illustrative empirical examples from a recently completed study of adult students enrolled in adult education, this article aims to offer a theoretical response to the…

The arrival of newcomers in our societies "impinges upon us" (Peter Jarvis). Adult and continuing education are invited to take a stance. In response to this, I explore how relevant citizenship education for and with newcomers can be conceived of. In the first place, I explore how the arrival of newcomers triggers ambivalent reactions…

In this article I discuss the vision of education for liberation during the antiapartheid struggle in South Africa. The article focuses specifically on "People's Education" and "Workers' Education". Instead of an instrumental role for education reduced solely to the labour market requirements of business, economic growth and…

Types of non-formal adult education in the USA and Canada are singled out. Non-formal adult education in the United States and Canada is subdivided into basic adult education, education for professional development, education for personal development, specialized adult education, education for the development of civil society (constituents of…

The third "Global Report on Adult Learning and Education" ("GRALE III") draws on monitoring surveys completed by 139 UNESCO Member States to develop a differentiated picture of the global state of adult learning and education (ALE). It evaluates countries' progress in fulfilling the commitments they made in the Belém Framework…

This paper explores how the report "Learning through Life" exemplifies the dominant policy discourse on lifelong learning emphasizing strongly individual social mobility. The paper explores further how this functionalist and reductionist turn in (adult) education has come about and how concepts of democratic citizenship and education may create…

This paper examines the mediating role that education plays between religion and democratic community. The paper is situated in the Canadian context and examines this mediation through two questions: First, what is the relationship between religion and education and what is the contribution of this relationship to and within a pluralist society?…

Purpose: This paper aims to encourage "discourse concerning a 'sustainable societal system'", proposing S.E.E.D. (=Secure-base Earth Equilibrium Development). S.E.E.D. outlines a possible transition to a viable future civilisation, a realistic eco-social turnaround, a "taming" (i.e. a cultivation) of the market with regard to…

From 2008-2009 the author was commissioned by AONTAS in partnership with Irish Aid to carry out a piece of research which aimed to examine how there could be a strategic focus on the integration of development education, or incorporating a global dimension to learning, into adult and community education in Ireland. It also examined whether or not…

Citizenship and belonging was identified as one of the nine progressive themes of the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) inquiry into the future of lifelong learning in the United Kingdom. It was used to inform the inquiry's recommendations on the desired form of that future. This paper articulates a critique of the report…

This study is based on the creation of a theoretical tool for determining competencies and knowledge in science education which stakeholders value as necessary for students to become productive members of the future work force as well as responsible citizens. Stakeholders' opinions (N = 85) were gathered from persons in different walks of life by…

Six young deafblind adults took a 1-week course on civic engagement and advocacy, which provided the focus for a participatory action research study with a collective case study design. They selected advocacy topics, were briefed on these policy issues, and were paired with experienced mentors for meetings with legislators in Washington, DC. Eight…

Citizenship and its education is again gaining importance in many countries. This paper uses England as its primary example to develop a Habermasian perspective on this issue. The statutory requirements for citizenship education in England imply that significant attention be given to the moral and social development of the learner over time, to…

This commentary article focuses on the theme of "migration and communities." It raises a number of important concerns inherent in the report. The report mistakenly adopts the "sameness" approach, thus negating Britain's unprecedented super-diversity that is the result of increasing migration. It wrongly assumes that all migrants are the same and…

A key aim of democratic public policy should be the provision of hope. It is often argued that a key element of hope is not only a drive for equity in the face of neo-liberal marketization, but also the opportunity for the practice of agency by (especially disadvantaged) citizens. Here we examine the relationship between democracy and hope in an…