Given the double risk of exclusion caused for women with a low educational level, adult education can be a fundamental element that allows them to actively participate in their social, political, and cultural environments. Moreover, because educational level has been reported by the scientific literature to be a factor that directly favors…

This investigation focuses on participation and related investment patterns in job related non-formal education (NFE) in selected European countries. Broadening previous research formats of NFE are distinguished by investment including financial and time investments by employers, employees and public authorities. By this, company-sponsored and…

This research paper is one in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of how CVET is conceptualised in various international level policy documents and how it is referred to across countries. It discusses national conceptions of CVET, the…

This article focuses on evidence regarding cross-national patterns of participation in adult education and an interpretation of these patterns from an institutional and public policy perspective. The interpretation follows from the perspective that sustaining high and widely distributed levels of investment in the development and maintenance of…

During the affluent noughties it was sometimes said of government that it had "more visions than Mystic Meg and more pilots than British Airways". In 2011, the pilots, the pathfinders, the new initiatives are largely gone--implementation is the name of the game--but the visions remain. The latest one, as it affects adult learners, is in…

By the end of 2010 over 15 million euros will have been allocated in the UK through the Grundtvig adult learning programme. Over 900 organisations and thousands of staff, individuals and learners involved in adult education have benefitted. Grundtvig has helped to enhance the quality of learning provision; widen perspectives; increase motivation;…

This report reviews the engagement of older learners (defined as those aged 50 and over) in education and training with particular reference to their involvement in higher education. The ageing of populations was one of the most important trends in the 20th century and will raise major challenges in this century. Appended are: (1) Selected UK…

This article proposes lifelong learning as a socio-personal process and a personal fact. As such, it is conceptually distinct from an educational provision, which constitutes one kind of institutional fact. In making this distinction, this article seeks to elaborate a major flaw in the precepts for conceptualisation and enactment of the report…

Extramural liberal adult education (LAE), as conceived in the particular UK tradition, was doomed by its high-minded origins and its privileged status, and contributed little to the new concepts of "éducation permanente," lifelong learning, the knowledge society, the learning society and region, or to the new understandings of university…

The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) emerged from a boycott committee established in London in the summer of 1959 in response to a call from the South African liberation movements for support in their struggle against apartheid. Education was regarded as an important aspect of the movement's work from the very beginning. One of the stated objectives…

The LEARNING LINKS project was undertaken to expand opportunities for adult learning in nonformal, noneducational settings. It had the following three broad aims: stimulate student-negotiated learning, stimulate and support informal adult learning, and test the usefulness of microcomputers in an information service for adults. Over a period of 2…

Describes the growth of adult education and adult education research in Britain and outlines four government-financed educational research programs: survey of non-vocational provision, adult literacy program, new communities project, and paid educational leave. Notes the importance of international contacts in pursuing adult education research.…

Current practice in accreditation of prior and informal learning in the United Kingdom was examined through a review of literature on how the accreditation of prior and informal learning is being used to gain access to higher education or toward certification of a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) or Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ).…

This report examines access to lifelong learning opportunities on Canada's information highway. The report begins with a glossary and a learner-centered model in which the information highway links learners with learning opportunities provided through educational institutions, community organizations, government, and business and industry.…

Describes the approach to environmental education courses at Open University. Includes broad course content, team teaching approach, and philosophy of reorienting education towards sustainable development. Course material for open learning includes self-contained study packs as well as course texts, video, audio, and computer software. Nonformal…