The purpose of this article is to share how two friends approach creativity in their professional lives in research and in the arts, and what we have learned through insights into places that impact this work. Our different approaches are reflected in our positionalities: one author is an emerging arts-informed researcher and university…

Grassroots organizations have a critical role in supporting learning within many urban communities (Sobeck, Agius, & Mayers, 2007). Unfortunately, many informal organizations are short-lived as funding disappears and volunteer participation wanes. The Unspun Heroes, an informal fibre arts group committed to learning and developing skills…

There is currently considerable interest in strengthening the connections between formal music education and informal, self-motivated music practices. Participants in this study were adults who were self-motivated to learn formal music concepts, but had encountered barriers to doing so independently. The study offered them individual online…

Like the immigrant clients they serve, service providers have been overlooked in adult education literature, yet their roles are crucial for addressing the serious concerns of refugees and refugee claimants who flee their home countries hoping to find safe refuge in another country.

This article summarizes the findings of a 2016 national survey of the formal schooling, further education, and job-related informal learning of the employed Canadian labour force and compares the results with those of prior national surveys conducted in 1998, 2004, and 2010. The major finding is an unprecedented growing gap between increasing…

The characteristics of transformative learning as a factor of life-long learning have been presented in the article. The paper offers analysis of foreign theorists and practitioners' views on transformative learning at Canadian universities. A special attention has been paid to the exploration of transformative learning methods and techniques…

This short paper will describe the details of a SSHRC/IDG-funded research program currently underway (2015-2016) that will investigate how older adults (65+) use Web 2.0 tools and Internet-based resources to establish and expand their virtual personal learning networks (PLNs) for the purposes of enriching their expertise and knowledge within the…

Conventional wisdom in adult education suggests that processes of life cycle change make for differences in the learning experiences of younger and older adults. Popular demographers argue that generational differences exist between those born in different historical periods. Outside the realm of higher education, there are relatively few…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. These papers are from the CIAE 2020 Virtual International…

This article discusses initial findings from a study exploring the pedagogical functions of popular culture. The study was framed by a neo-Gramscian theoretical framework which connects adult education and cultural studies, and asserts that culture underpins important informal adult learning. We used two television shows, "Grey's…

Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) is the practice of reviewing, evaluating, and acknowledging the information, skills, and understanding that adult learners have gained through experiential or self-directed (informal) learning rather than through formal education (Thomas, 2000). As our current economy and workplaces experience rapid…

This article discusses shopping, especially critical shopping, as a process of informal and incidental adult learning about the intersecting politics of globalization and consumption. The author uses academic skills and disciplines as a metaphor to respond to an emerging conceptual question: To what extent can formality, informality, and…

This research report investigates the links between formal, non-formal and informal learning and the differences between them. In particular, the report aims to link these notions of learning to the field of sciences and engineering in Canada and the United States, including professional development of adults working in these fields. It offers…

Policy interest in international surveys on Adult Learning (AL) has increased strongly. AL survey data are used as benchmarks for a country's educational system. However, results of key indicators like participation in learning activities often vary remarkably between different data sources. Stating that these differences are due to varying…

This report and the companion backgrounder "Supporting Persons with Disabilities in Post-Secondary Education" represent the work of the Foundational Learning and Diversity sub-committee. Within the larger context and framework of A Learning Alberta, the sub-committee focused on identifying priorities for community learning opportunities…