By the early nineteenth century, religion and social necessity had driven literacy in western Europe and in the United States from an overall level below 20% to about 50% of all men in a little more than two centuries; women had benefited as well. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the state entered the business of education on a large…

Describes the Colonial Junto organized by Benjamin Franklin in 1727 as a discussion club to debate politics, morals, and natural philosophy, and the later American Philosophical Society which extended (and continues) the subject knowledge. The present-day Junto Center for Continuing Education in Philadelphia is an adult education information…

The past 25 years have shown an international trend toward destructuring in education: creation of new nonformal options; outreach to unserved groups; less rigid curriculum; more inductive pedagogy; and new student assessment methods. Despite this, formal schooling and traditional methods remain strong and may be beginning a cyclical resurgence.…