Funded by the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant, this national study examines arts-based adult education organizations involved in dance, music, drama, and visual arts with a philosophical perspective aligned with a multiliteracies theoretical framework. Multiliteracies considers how cultural and linguistic diversity…

Participedia is a collaborative, digital learning tool for the co-production of knowledge about new forms of citizen participation across the world (www.participedia.net). In this paper, we analyse using the platform as a learning resource for adult learners who are democracy practitioners and for undergraduate students. We examine Participedia's…

This chapter focuses on the role of religiously based spirituality in cultivating environmental awareness and citizenship by examining an adult environmental education program offered at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, a religious retreat center in Guelph, Canada.

In 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) implemented a requirement that all aspiring Canadians who wish to take the citizenship test must have an adequate level of English- or French-language skills, defined as Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4. The CLB 4 language policy directly and, we argue, problematically links language abilities…

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has called on federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments of Canada to educate public servants about the history and legacy of Indian residential schools and related topics, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This article advances this call…

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 Ministry for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada includes employment-related language training in its current initiatives. This article aims to contribute to the topic of teaching soft skills for job interviews and job retention, as informed by research from the fields of business and applied linguistics, including pragmatics, as well…

Do spiritual retreat centres have a role to play in fostering environmental awareness and action? Using an interpretive case study methodology, this research study explored the perspectives of staff members working at two religiously based spiritual retreat centres in Western Canada to explore this question and to determine how this is translated…

This article presents an interview with John Ralston Saul, one of Canada's pre-eminent thinkers. In the interview, Mr. Saul shares his provocative and compelling thoughts on the state of Canada's public education systems.

Most societies today are culturally diverse. Increasingly, minority groups are demanding recognition and self-governing rights to protect their ways of life against that of the majority. These demands represent a serious challenge for the state: how is it to balance between the equally legitimate claims of the many cultures inhabiting its…

This article explores the links between citizenship and race in second-language education through an examination of the ways in which citizenship is linked to English language proficiency within a key Canadian federal adult English as a Second Language assessment document, the "Canadian Language Benchmarks" ("CLB"). It uses…

The BC Student Outcomes Survey Project collects information from approximately 30,000 former post-secondary students annually. In 2012, four surveys were conducted with students who completed the following studies: (1) diploma, associate degree, and certificate programs; (2) baccalaureate programs; (3) apprenticeship technical training; and (4)…

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?…

Educators call for more creative means to combat the moribund narratives of contemporary environmentalism. Using visual methodology and environmental adult education theory, this article discusses how a documentary film titled "You've Got the Power" works to pose questions about complex environmental issues and develop critical thinking…

Despite decades of efforts to achieve gender equity in political life, women remain underrepresented in nearly all levels of government. In this paper, we explore the experiences offered by women who have been elected to local government in the province of British Columbia, Canada, to illustrate the persistence of gendered discourses and…