At first sight, participation rates in adult learning do not differ strongly between men and women. Further exploration, however, makes clear that differences exist at the level of the type of learning. Men participate more in work-related learning and experience more job-related motives to participate. Women take on the main responsibilities in…

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…

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…

This comprehensive exploration of theoretical and practical aspects of out-of-class teaching and learning, from a variety of perspectives and in various settings around the world, includes a theoretical overview of the field, 11 data-based case studies, and practical advice on materials development for independent learning. Contents of this book…

The taking up of an "educative" mantle has proven to be a complex task for museums, filled with many unknown and/or misunderstood factors. Of the vast assortment of educational opportunities museums afford their adult patrons and staff, the majority fall into one or two learning categories: either they are nonformal or informal. In effort to…

In this article, the authors share their experiences facilitating a series of mathematics for parents' workshops (MFP) throughout two and a half years and address the structure, history and development of these workshops. They then analyze how this experiment fits the concept of nonformal adult education and explain how the model of adult…

The research reported in this study concerns older adults from Australia who voluntarily chose to learn the craft of woodturning. Semi-structured interviews and a survey questionnaire were distributed to members of a woodturning club to explore their motivations and the processes by which they learned how to woodturn. The findings indicated that…

In this article, the authors set the scene for this research volume. They sought to emphasize and broaden their interest and concern about their "Learning to be drier" theme in this edition to the 77 per cent of Australians who live within 50 km of the Australian coast, the majority of whom also live in major cities and urban complexes.…

This article aims to develop a paradigm of lifelong learning situations. The starting point is the EU-Commission policy document where three kinds of learning situations are identified: formal, non-formal and informal. The article tries to deepen this categorisation by searching for the underlying ontological and epistemological dimensions. The…

This paper investigates learning related to the phenomena of drying over the past decade in the southern Murray-Darling Basin in Australia, as perceived in a mid-river site within the western Riverina of New South Wales, Australia. The insights from audio-recorded interviews, with a wide range of adults across the water-dependent community, mostly…

Beginning in the summer of 2002, a Queen's University arts education research team has met weekly for art-making sessions. This research paper describes how this long-term art-making practice has influenced the personal and professional lives of the team, based on semi-standardized interviews with six participants and one observer of the…

Our paper explores how and what adults living and working in the Alpine region of Victoria understand and are learning about the changes to water availability, in a time when the response to water availability is subject to extensive debate and policy attention. Interviews for this study were conducted in the towns of Bright and Mount Beauty, with…

A number of recent policy reports have suggested that Canadian universities and community colleges should play a more significant role in response to the adult education and training needs of Canada's workforce. This article discusses the results of a study that examined investment trends and the characteristics of non-formal adult learner…

In this final, collaborative paper in the "Learning to be drier" edition, we reflect on and draw together some of the key threads from the diverse narratives in our four site papers from across the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Our paper title, "Wicked learning", draws on a recent body literature (Rittel & Webber 1973)…

This article was originally presented as a position paper at the Symposium on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Social Development held in Jakarta by the ASEAN Foundation Collaboratory (May 2006). Its main premise is that, while there is growing use of open and distance learning (ODL) in formal and nonformal education and training…