Institutionalised forms of adult learning and education (ALE) such as community learning centres (CLCs) and related models are found in most parts of the world. These are spaces offering opportunities for literacy and skills training, health and citizenship, general, liberal and vocational education, in line with fuller recognition of the meaning…

The impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on nonformal adult education has become a frequently discussed issue in lifelong learning. Nonformal adult education is understood here as all organised adult learning outside formal education that usually does not result in official certification. Many scholars have considered the pandemic as the…

SELFIE is developed in reference to educational organisations or institutions. According to the foundational publication on SELFIE, Promoting Effective Digital-Age Learning, "the term educational organisation refers primarily to primary, secondary and vocational education and training (VET) schools as well as higher education institutions…

The Adult Participation in Learning Survey provides unique insights into adult learning across the UK. It adopts a deliberately broad definition of learning, reflecting the fact that learning is about much more than formal courses and qualifications. The 2024 survey shows just over one half (52%) of adults have taken part in learning in the last…

No undergraduate or postgraduate programmes currently exist for the professional education of informal educators. The authors outline the development of previous programmes and consider the emergence of informal education as a discrete concept. The article then highlights some key failings in the professional education of informal educators and…

This qualitative research explored why older people do not participate in formal and nonformal education. This study focused on older adults who have not participated in formal or nonformal education since their retirement. Recent studies have shown that participation in formal and nonformal educational activities is an effective way to maintain…

This article contextualizes and reviews the third global report on adult learning and education (ALE) released by UNESCO in 2016. The authors suggest that it is a visionary document, which is articulated through the bringing together of data from a range of areas that are usually kept apart. They recognize the report as a bold attempt to project…

The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) assessed literacy, numeracy, and technology-related skills of adults and found skill levels of US adults are well below the international average. In a world where advanced skills are requisite to workplace competitiveness, low skills are a danger sign. An initial PIAAC…

Culturally diverse older adult learners are among the fastest growing age groups for which public libraries promote the needs of lifelong learning today. This article explores the past, present, and future of informal and non-formal public learning environments as safe and welcoming, with supportive educational programming provided by librarians…

The article describes importance of education, not only as an initial education for kids, pupils and students, but also as a part of LLL (lifelong learning) and development for adult. People are constantly learning everywhere and at all times. Especially for teachers, in recent years, there has been an increasing appreciation of the importance of…

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…

Adult learning has benefited from the visibility and profile of lifelong learning across a range of European policy areas. The overall profile of adult learning benefited enormously from the European Commission's decision to group all its education and training programmes together under the brand of the "Lifelong Learning Programme." The…

This article focuses on the issue of policy development for adult learning in Mali, West Africa. On January 2007, the Malian government adopted the "Adult Non-formal Education Policy Document," which was intended to regulate the adult learning sector and federate the actions of policy makers, adult education providers, and adult…

Learning is a lifelong process. Many countries in the world, basically the European and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, have adopted it as an important vehicle for human development. They have also made it a policy agenda for meeting the human capital need for twenty first century for economic prosperity.…

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;…