For about 30 years, the European Union has been politically active in the field of Education and Training with a broad set of aims, measures and tools. All member states were involved in these politics, creating a kind of European profile. Adult education was an important pillar. A number of adult educators involved in various organisations at…

Professionalism in the context of public sector professions is a changing concept, which is subject to different interpretations. The sociologist Julia Evetts has developed two models, occupational and organisational professionalism, which are useful conceptual tools which help us to understand from a wider theoretical perspective the changing…

The purpose of this study is to trace and document the emerging contours of a Vocational Training, Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (VTAELL) space in the EU via an examination of the policy framework built over time in this area over more than six decades, from the inception of today's European Union to the present day. Nineteen key primary…

Lifelong Learning (LLL) has become a pliable term in educational discourse running the risk of meaning both everything and nothing, making it necessary to look at how the notion of LLL has been taken up in different contexts, especially within the context of policy development. Because of the inconsistent ways LLL has been peppered throughout…

The concept of the ideal student is one that has generated much research across many disciplines across the globe and continues to stimulate debate about teaching and learning within higher education. This paper explores the concept of the ideal student in relation to the experiences of mature female students enrolled onto a Foundation Programme…

VET researchers and policy-makers have historically displayed a keen interest in the future. Two assumptions link VET to the future. The first is that there is a singular object called VET and, secondly, that it can influence a forthcoming state of reality. This relationship is investigated through a rarely utilised post-structuralist discourse…

This article analyses the governance of VET for adults and its development from a historical-institutionalist perspective. It takes a look at the collective skill formation system of Switzerland, in which the federal government and private companies (or the associations representing them) play integral roles. The article argues that the…

Adult literacy and literacy education have long been a global agenda. China's literacy education has been developing amid the backdrop of international commitments and goals of adult literacy. Since the founding of new China in 1949, adult literacy policy in China has been continuously evolved within the changing political, economic and social…

This article looks at how social movements in francophone Belgium shaped the institutional contours of adult education 'from below'. It focuses on the integral role played by progressive social movements in the creation of a regional state-based system of adult education in 1976, known as the "Service de l'Éducation Permanente" (SdEP).…

There is little evidence about the origin of the phrase una faccia, una razza (one face, one race). However, its use signifies numerous shared elements in the cultures of Italy and Greece. In both countries, adult education emerged within the critical paradigm whereas vocationalism is currently the leading force of adult education policy…

This chapter provides an overview of the history of learning and educational policies and programmes affecting older adults in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past 50 years. It builds on my previous work and draws on a wide body of primary and secondary sources including policy documents and reports from the New Zealand Government's Office for…

Adult education has the power to change lives, and in Australia has always been made up of educators and providers capable of adapting to the changing environments around them. Today, however, there is declining support for adult education at a time when there is growing public disenchantment with the political system, an uncivil public discourse,…

This article examines the purposes UNESCO, OECD and EU historically have attributed to adult education and learning. The aim is to explore changes in international adult education and learning policies from the 1970s until the present day and outline how different international organisations have pushed for specific conceptualisations of what…

The subject of this article is the right of adults to education, with a focus on the critical analysis of education policy. We discuss human rights as a framework for citizenship in two national contexts of Southern Europe with the purpose of underlining key differences and similarities in countries with diverse histories but a similarly high…

Purpose: This paper reviews changing government policy on adult education in England over the past 20 years and the funding regimes affecting adult and community learning and union-led learning, which play a major role in learning opportunities for socially excluded adults. Design/methodology/approach: A review and analysis of extant literature,…