Peter Jarvis is a towering figure in the study of adult and lifelong education and a leading and original theorist of learning. This paper sets out his intellectual and professional biography, maps the main contours of his work and introduces fourteen papers by leading scholars devoted to his work. Five broad phases in Jarvis' life are identified:…

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…

Self-efficacy is extensively discussed within social cognitive theory. This study aimed to explore the impact of professional development and practice on school leaders' self-efficacy in Cyprus. A quasi-experimental design involving 2 groups of novice secondary deputy head teachers was employed. All participants practised leadership at the time,…

This paper accounts for the enacted realities of curriculum reform in South Africa, in particular the mediation of curriculum change. Curriculum implementation is viewed as a complex networked process of transforming or mediating policy into classroom practice. The fact that curriculum implementation is seen as problematic requires attention for…

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 paper examines ageism among older students in U.S. higher education. Ageism involves any uncalled-for reaction to any age and does not require racism and sexism to exist. Social closure theory is the research framework used in this analysis. The theory posits that specific parties (i.e., in-groups) gain benefits by closing off favorable…

Background/Context: Traditional adult education in Spain treated the learner as a mere object that could be shaped by the educator. Although current practices of the democratic adult education movement in Spain reveals a completely opposite standpoint on adult education, there has been little analysis of the several influences converging and…

Since the 1970s, immigrant studies have taken a feminist turn. This paper takes stock of how Canadian adult educators have contributed to this field and vice versa. Through an ethnographic content analysis of [Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education] CASAE proceedings since 2000 and other related scholarly publications, the paper…

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…

The development of socio-cultural understandings of mathematics combined with policy interest in adult numeracy as a result of international studies, which compare skill levels in different countries, have impacted adult education practice in recent years. In Scotland, a "social practice approach" is espoused and adult numeracy tutors…

The project reported here served to assess a curriculum for EFNEP to ensure theory compliance and content validity. Adherence to Adult Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory tenets was determined. A curriculum assessment tool was developed and used by five reviewers to assess initial and revised versions of the curriculum. T-tests for…

In this article, I argue that a concentrated focus on everyday informal learning about unions is critical not only to re-thinking union education programs, but to the overall project of union renewal. The article offers, by way of example, an inquiry into the grievance system as a routine (and central) union practice and a key site of informal…

This paper discusses some of the issues surrounding the nature of adult play. More specifically, we explore "family play-learning", where play activities result in forms of added knowledge or insight for the adults involved. Adult play itself is an under-researched area, and play-learning even more so. We discuss related research and, in…