Examples of marginalized nonformal learning in Britain that is driven by a search for alternative value systems include initiatives among Kurdish refugees, Blacks seeking identity through black studies, women sharing their stories, the resurgence of Irish culture, and the green movement. (SK)

ExecutiveLink(TM) is a learning community of farm businesses engaged in nonformal education. Social capital is developed through shared language and experiences, the building of trust, self-development, and identification with the community. (SK)

People learn in many different ways and in many different places. What is learned informally or experientially is often the same or similar to what may be learned in traditional formal learning environments. There are many reasons why recognizing experiential learning is viable educational option, more so in today's economy than ever before. Prior…

Demonstrates the importance of the use of nonformal education programs for teaching basic survival skills to adults in developing countries. (Availability: Dept. of Adult Education, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506) (SK)

After decades of neglect, adult numeracy and mathematics education are coming to be recognised as worthy of serious research but the area is beset by conceptual difficulties. Adult numeracy and mathematics may at last be "on the educational research map", but where exactly are they on the map? This article explores the question of what…

The community is a natural setting for autonomous, democratic adult education. A framework for connecting the community and adult education has three mechanisms: community formal adult education, community nonformal adult education, and community informal adult education. (SK)

The author brings together the question posed in Kathryn Ecclestone's article in last month's "Adults Learning--"Where's the vision?"--and the letter from Wayne Bennett, General Manager of Dillington House, about the threat to residential colleges. The author brings out some of the connections between them and issues surrounding adult community…

This paper examines the life-wide dimensions of lifelong learning. Although the benefits of a life-wide approach to learning are well recognised, there appears to be little explicit attention given to the concept of life-wide learning in Australia. It is argued that recent pronouncements by the Australian Government about the challenges of an…

The Internet and Web technology development have opened up new ways for people to communicate, gain new information and increase their knowledge. One particular area of interest is that of using online resources to empower informal learners to increase their knowledge at their own time and space. One could look at an online resource as a public…

A qualitative analysis of interviews of 78 adults with less than high school completion who were currently engaged in a learning project supported the hypothesis that self-directed learners, rather than preplanning their projects, tend to derive their structure and direction from resources available in the environment--the organizing circumstance.…

This article explores how far research findings about successful pedagogies in formal post-school education might be used in non-formal learning contexts--settings where learning may not lead to formal qualifications. It does this by examining a learner outcomes model adapted from a synthesis of research into retention. The article first…

Presents examples of some of the educational offerings for older people in nations at three very different stages of development: Ghana, Singapore, and France. Examines traditional forms of education, family living workshops, preretirement education, self-directed learning, decentralization of older adult education, and educational programs for…

Traditional teaching methods are not appropriate for adults who have a bank of existing knowledge. Nonformal education must begin by finding out what people need to know and prepare materials and programs that are relevant to perceived needs. Improving adults' understanding of science and mathematics must proceed upon these principles. (SK)

The Women's Institutes of Great Britain and Canada have for many years been important providers of education for rural women. The author shows how the scope of this educational work has come to extend beyond rural and domestic crafts to encompass the changing needs and roles of women. (Author/CT)

Although most of adult learning is not formal, adult education focuses primarily on formal schooling. To help resolve the paradox, the author suggests an approach to nonformal adult education using interpersonal learning resources and natural learning. (MF)