The doctoral thesis explores accessibility of adult learning in the context of education policy of the European Union. On the political level, both in the European Union and Lithuania it has been increasingly recognized that in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Lisbon strategy lifelong learning is to become a reality only if the increasing demands of a multicultural society are taken into consideration. The thesis seeks to provide answers to the following research questions: How does accessibility of adult learning influence involvement in adult learning activities? What is the political context in the EU and Lithuania as regards accessibility of adult learning? To what extent factors of accessibility are influenced by cultural differences? Answers to these and other related questions highlight the basic guidelines of adult learning policies as reflected in the relevant legal documents of the EU and Lithuania. The thesis also analyzes interaction between adult learning and socio-economic environment. A thorough investigation of the literature in the field has served as a reliable means for singling out basic factors determining accessibility of adult learning. These factors are classified into subjective and objective, with further division of the latter group into socio-economic, individual, exclusion and cultural factors. / Disertacijoje analizuojamas suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) prieinamumas Europos Sąjungos politikos kontekste. Europos Sąjungos ir Lietuvos politiniame lygmenyje pradedama aiškiai suvokti, kad norėdami pasiekti Lisabonoje užsibrėžtų tikslų turime mokymąsi visą gyvenimą paversti tikrove įvertindami šį procesą įtakojančių veiksnių raišką daugiakultūrėje visuomenėje. Disertacijoje ieškoma atsakymų į tokius klausimus: kaip suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) prieinamumas įtakoja jų dalyvavimą švietime; koks yra politinis Europos Sąjungos ir Lietuvos kontekstas suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) prieinamumo atžvilgiu; kaip suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) prieinamumo veiksnius įtakoja kultūriniai skirtumai. Disertacijoje, remiantis išsamia tiek Europos Sąjungos, tiek Lietuvos teisinių dokumentų analize yra išryškinamos pagrindinės suaugusiųjų švietimo politikos gairės. Disertacijoje nagrinėjama suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) ir socioekonominės aplinkos sąveika. Remiantis moksline literatūra išskiriami veiksniai, lemiantys suaugusiųjų mokymosi prieinamumą. Jie skirstomi i subjektyviuosius ir objektyviuosius, o pastarieji į politinį, socioekonominį, individualųjį, atskirties ir kultūrinį veiksnius. Atlikti empiriniai tyrimai parodo kokią svarbą vienam ar kitam veiksniui suteikia Lietuvos gyventojai bei pagrindžia kultūrinio veiksnio būtinybę. Pateikiamos išvados apibendrinančios suaugusiųjų mokymo(si) prieinamumą lemiančius veiksnius.

Adult educators talk frequently about learning which occurs during daily living; however, relatively few explore the breadth and depth of such learning. I contend that shopping, as it is commonly understood and practiced in Western societies, is a site of everyday learning. Among people concerned about globalisation, this learning connects shopping to the politics of consumption, identity and resistance. Central to this inquiry are Antonio Gramsci's (1971) concepts of hegemony, ideology, common sense and dialectic. These are useful in understanding the irresolvable tensions between the political, economic and cultural arenas of social life. Informed by critical, feminist and critical race scholarship, I proceed to conceptualize adult learning as “incidental” (Foley, 1999, 2001) and holistic. I then conceptualize “consumer-citizenship.” Social relations of gender, race and class are central in the construction of identity which influences experiences and understandings of consumption and citizenship in the context of Canadian society and global development. My over-arching methodology, which I call “case study bricolage,” incorporates qualitative case study methods of interviews, focus groups and participant observation with 32 self-identified “radical shoppers” in Vancouver, British Columbia. As well, I employ cultural studies' intertextuality, and include an analysis of popular fiction to further expose discourses of shopping, consumption and consumerism. Drawing on Laurel Richardson's (2000) “crystallization,” I use various analytical “facets” to respond to three questions about shopping-as-learning: What do participants learn to do? Who do participants learn to be? How do participants learn to make change? Critical media literacy theory illuminates the function of popular culture in constructing a discursive web which shoppers navigate. Through shopping, participants learn how to learn and to conduct research, and how to develop a shopping-related values system, literacy and geography. Benedict Anderson's (1991) concept of “imagined community” helps explicate how participants' affiliations with shopping-related movements provide a sense of purpose and belonging. Finally, Jo Littler's (2005) notions of “narcissistic” and “relational” reflexivity clarify that different processes of reflexivity lead to different perspectives on societal change. This inquiry has implications for research and theorizing in adult learning, and the practice of critical adult education.

Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in the role of museums and cultural festivals in adult learning. Once considered the keepers of physical and cultural history, there was only limited concern for if and how adults learned from these settings. The conventional view held that museums provided knowledge, and it was an individual’s prerogative whether or not to seek it out. The past few decades, however, have seen both a resurgence of interest in visiting museums and festivals and a more concerted effort to understand their value in a rapidly evolving society. This study considers visitor experiences at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a free two-week festival held each summer in Washington, D.C. Specific research questions addressed are: (a) what are study participants’ perceptions of their experiences during their festival visit? and (b) what do study participants perceive as outcomes of their visit? Data for this phenomenological study were gathered through in-depth interviews with five participants and researcher observations. Participants were asked to take photographs during their visit and these images were used to stimulate post visit interview recall and discussion. Study participants’ experiences and researcher observations are presented through individual and social themes. Individual themes include the role of sensory perceptions and of participant-specific characteristics and autobiography in visit behavior and meaning-making. Socially-oriented themes include the role of official festival demonstrators, fellow visitors, and the voice of the museum as communicated through interpretive signage. Comparisons are drawn to current museum visit theory with analysis suggesting that the Smithsonian Folklife Festival offers more than museum visits; it provides dynamic and authentic opportunities for cultural contact and socially situated cognition.

Karjera yra labai svarbus žmogaus ateities elementas. Ji nėra svarbi tik siauram ratui perspektyvių žmonių. Dažnai suaugęs žmogus mokosi dėl keleto priežasčių, t.y. nori išlikti darbo vietoje ir turi neatsilikti nuo jaunų specialistų, kurie turi platesnį išsilavinimą; nori padaryti karjerą toje srityje, kurioje dirba; yra verčiami mokytis, nes direktorius/ viršininkas liepia tai daryti dėl organizacijos bendrų tikslų siekimo ar pan. Problema: Organizacijų vadovai nepakankamai sudaro sąlygas besimokančių darbuotojų karjeros kėlimui, karjeros planavimui toje pačioje organizacijoje. Objektas. Besimokančių darbuotojų karjeros planavimo sąlygos švietimo organizacijose. Klausimas. Kokias sąlygas karjeros planavimui turi besimokantis darbuotojas, dirbantis švietimo organizacijoje? Tikslas – Atskleisti ar besimokantiems darbuotojams sudaromos sąlygos karjeros planavimui, dirbant švietimo organizacijoje. Uždaviniai: 1. Apibrėžti profesinės ir asmeninės karjeros sampratą. 2. Pagrįsti personalo kvalifikacijos tobulinimo vietą personalo vadyboje. 3. Aprašyti suaugusiųjų mokymosi reikšmę karjerai. 4. Atskleisti besimokančių darbuotojų karjeros planavimo sąlygų visumą. Aprašant besimokančių darbuotojų karjeros planavimui sudaromas sąlygas švietimo organizacijose galima teigti, jog pagrindinėmis darbuotojų norą mokytis priežastimis galima laikyti pačių darbuotojų asmeninį norą tobulėti bei profesinės kvalifikacijos kėlimą. Organizacija iš besimokančių darbuotojų visada gauna naudos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Career is very important element in human’s future because it is important not only for in-group of perspective people. Usually, grown up people learn for several reasons: people want to remain at work and do not want to stay away from young specialists who have higher education. People want to succeed in their work and, for this reason, they are forced to learn because the manager enquires to do this for general aims of organization. Problem: Are there sufficient conditions in educational system for learning employee in career planning in the same organization? What they are? Does learning employee have wider possibilities of career in educational system than the one who is not studying? Object: Career planning conditions of learning employee in educational system. Question: What career planning conditions learning employee, who works in educational system, have? Purpose: To reveal conditions of career planning to learning employees while working in educational system. Tasks: 1. To define the concept of professional and personal career. 2. To justify the place of qualification improvement in human resources. 3. To reveal the meaning of adult learning in their career. 4. To describe the totality of career planning conditions of learning employees. While describing career planning conditions of learning employee in educational system, we can affirm that the main reason, why employees want to improve, is their own wish to become better workers and gain higher professional... [to full text]

Understanding why, when, and with whom women engage in opportunities for HIV & AIDS education is critical in exploring the extent to which popular education strategies promote transformational learning among women in Malindi, Kenya. Three central questions animate this research: a) What do rural women who participate in HIV & AIDS popular education programs learn about HIV & AIDS, b) through what range of pedagogical practices and theories does their learning occur, and c) how does this learning contribute to transformative changes that improve women's health, at both individual (e.g., beliefs, behaviour) and communal levels (e.g., group actions)? Employing a qualitative research design, face-to-face interviews, and document analysis of secondary sources enabled a rich and in-depth exploration of specific learnings and actions among Kenyan women. Qualitative analysis of eight semi-structured interviews reveals three dimensions of transformative learning among adult women in Malindi, including a) striving towards openness, b) culture of support, and c) connected knowing. These inter-related themes outline the potential for Kenyan women's HIV & AIDS education to move beyond instrumental, and communicative, to more empowering transformative learning. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-13 15:18:43.535

This study explores the relationships among technology, language literacy and instruction in University Continuing Education Institutions. Adult second language education strives to update media resources in an information era in which literacy encompasses the abilities to communicate both in different languages and in a variety of media across disciplines. / The main assumption underlying this study is that teaching adults to use language in an era in which networks and multimedia are major components, is a challenging task and responsibility. Instructional implications of literature regarding the implementation of new technologies in language learning suggest a persistent disagreement on the merits of new technologies as learning tools and a mismatch between expectations and applications of new media. I interview four teachers of second or foreign languages to adults to explore the challenges embedded in mediating adults' literacy in using multiple representations of second language knowledge within technology enhanced classroom environments. / Teachers are shown to integrate digital technologies into traditional print and audiovisual tools to advance three main literacies: Cultural literacy relates to the ability to make socioculturally appropriate links of language and media. Disciplinary literacy denotes the ability to effectively identify, analyze, evaluate and apply language resources in various contexts. Media literacy denotes the ability to make informed choices among the various language representations. Integrated media applications are challenging for teachers who need to be aware of media benefits and constraints. The ongoing development of teachers' media literacy is a prerequisite for meaningful and constructive uses of the instructional resources available that will enable adults to apply second language knowledge within and beyond linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary contexts.

<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left"><font face="Arial">The study analyses the relationship between experience, participation and learning and seeks to establish how the experience of adult learners can be mobilised through active participation and how situational conditions can either facilitate or inhibit participation and learning amongst the learners. Another dimension of the study seeks to establish what caregivers learn and the processes through which they learn and how such learning contributes to changes in behaviour and relationships. In this study, the nature and dynamics of learning amongst adult learners in the NCTP programme at community level is explored as an example of socio-cultural theory and situated learning which hold that learning results from participation in various socio-cultural situations &ndash / the act of participation is seen as crucial in the learning. The study focused on a group of 10 learners in the National Certificate Training Programme for community health workers who are also caregivers in the Nokuthembeka Home-based Care Programme in New Crossroads in the Cape Town metropole and used a qualitative research design and interpretive approach to understand the situations in which they learn. An interpretive approach allowed for deeper insight into the socio-cultural contexts that influence the social interactions of caregivers with peers as well as their learning. In the study I argue that the experience of caregivers forms a critical resource and the foundational basis for learning.</font></p> <p>&nbsp / </p> </font></p>

This case study examines the pedagogy of early reading in a South African Basic Education Centre. Existing literature shows that illiteracy among adults in South Africa is a great concern. The acquisition of reading competence in adults is under - researched in South Africa and previous research has tended to focus on literacy/reading in relation to health issues or the acquisition of reading in children. This study attempts to contribute to understanding poor reading conditions in adult classes by providing a description of beliefs and practices of three Adult Basic Education and Training teachers of reading. The study captures the beliefs and practices of the teachers of reading in ABET Level 1- 4 with respect to the teaching of reading in Zulu and English. Data is examined using constructivism and dialogic space as theoretical frameworks. Data was gathered from teacher interviews and classroom observations. The findings of this paper include that these teachers lack pedagogical knowledge to inform their practice and are often influenced by their own experience of being taught to read. The dominant instructional practice was a focus on pronunciation while reading aloud as opposed to text comprehension. Recommendations are made regarding the support that could be offered to the teachers of reading in this centre. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

This interpretivist study looked at what acted as barriers and what motivated a group offive African women, aged about 30 working at a Durban school, to take up formal learning experiences. Qualitative data, through the use ofsemi structured interviews, on a one-to-one basis was collected. This involved elliciting each woman' account of her educational and work experience, as a learner and a worker. Themes like unemployment ofone or both parents; limitations imposed by the patriarchial culture they come from; gender issues like not valuing educating girls and the diverse role which women play in the lives of a family; domestic violence and abuse; adolescent pregnancy; previous learning experiences; fmancial limitations perpetuated in adult life because ofthe inability to access jobs which allow for the" luxury" ofpursuing educational courses and supporting extended family who live in the rural areas ofKwazulu-Natal or the Transkei surfaced. These themes were evaluated against the tenets ofMaslow's hierarchy ofneeds, Knowles's theory ofwhat comprises ideal adult learning situations; whether Mezirow's suggestion that learning will be precipitated by rethinking the ways people behave; and Tajfels' theory on personal and social identity. Using the perspectives offeminist writers like hooks, Hill Collins, and Magwaza this study looked at the role that culture, class and gender has played in the lives ofthese participants. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

The agricultural extension package program is initiated by the government of Ethiopia. It is initiated to reduce poverty and bring development in the country. The basic underpinning principle of this program is that, if the productivity of the farmer is increased, on the one hand it is possible to bring sustainable development in Ethiopia and on the other hand it will help to get the raw material for the industry and reduce the migration of the work force from rural to urban areas. Agriculture is the source of livelihood for over 80% of the population and the majority of the poor live in rural areas. About 59.5% of the population is illiterate. The government gives overriding primacy to the welfare of rural populace. Agriculture is also believed to be a potential source to generate primary surplus to fuel the growth of other sectors ofthe economy. The main feature of the target group is that majority of them are illiterate and their mode of production is subsistence. Of the many kinds of intervention to bring development; educating the society is the major one. Indeed the government offers training to the subsistence farmers with the intention of enhancing their productivity via development agents. DAs are there to facilitate empowerment of the farmers, lead the process of technology transfer and change the attitude of farmers. DAs work with subsistence farmers to introduce the modern system of farm and farm related activities. To do so a series ofteaching - learning processes are evident in the program. The purpose of the study is to see the kind of teaching - learning processes that are evident in the program and to see how the principles and theories of adult education relate to the program. Thus, the research tries to explore the learning approaches and practices evident in the extension package program, the perception of DAs and farmers about the training and the actual and potential role of literacy in an agricultural extension program. The research adopts an interpretivist paradigm and some aspects of critical paradigm to understand the data and the context. It is qualitative in nature. The study is conducted on a sample of 18 participants (15 farmers and 3 extension package workers). Semi structured interviews were conducted with three DAs, focus group discussions with twelve farmers, observation while the training was taking place in the field and document analysis to get factual information. The research results are reported in the form of discussion and findings. Indeed it is revealed that farmers are divided into two as the leader and follower farmers. Accordingly the types of trainings are divided into two as general and special training. Literacy ability ofthe farmers is one ofthe criteria to be eligible for special training. That resulted in the exclusion ofthe majority of farmers from the special training program. ERIC Keywords: Extension package program, Development agents, Literacy, Adult education, Follower farmers, Leader farmers / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.