Problem: With a few notable exceptions, the history of adult education in British Columbia has received relatively little attention. What information there is, is often confined to somewhat narrow time frames, locations, or topics. A general overview of the history of adult education in British Columbia during the 20th century seems to be lacking. This study is a modest attempt to begin adding voice to this important but largely overlooked area. Conceptual Approach: The approach taken is one of historical review. The study, while to some degree quantitative, is much more interested in the qualitative aspects of the material examined. Newspapers, which the author suggests provide a unique historical record, serve as the sole source of data. Methodology: The B.C. Legislative Library Newspaper Index from 1900 -1999 is the source of documents for this study. A thorough reading of all newspaper articles (550+), cited as being related to adult education, was undertaken. Articles were grouped by decade and recorded. Within the decades certain themes were identified and also recorded. Two specific themes (lifelong learning and distance education) received special attention and were examined and recorded separately. Findings: There are a number of reoccurring themes that arise during the period examined. Many of these themes have a direct correlation to issues facing adult education today. These issues include, but are not limited to: • lifelong learning • distance education and related educational technology • duplication of services • libraries and adult education • defining/purpose(s) adult education. Since these and other issues are part of the current discourse about adult education, it seems reasonable that lessons learned/not learned in the past not be forgotten. With the benefit of historical hindsight, which includes sources that are not confined to potentially narrow interests, adult educators may become better informed by considering these issues.

The purposes of the study were: (1) to operationalize Pratt’s five conceptions of teaching (Engineering, Apprenticeship, Developmental, Nurturing and Social Reform), (2) to predict conception of teaching scores, (3) to determine the existence of dominant conceptions of teaching, and (4) to determine the extent to which personal, socio— cultural/educational and program variables predict dominant conceptions of teaching. A 75-item instrument, Conception of Teaching Scales (CTS) was developed to operationalize Pratt’s five conceptions of teaching. A pilot study revealed that the instrument had good face, content, and convergent validities as well as acceptable test-retest reliability and internal consistency. A sample of 471 Vancouver School Board and New Westminster School Board adult education instructors responded to a mailed questionnaire survey conducted in the Fall of 1993. Responses to the CTS were evaluated to determine whether Pratt’s five conceptions were operationalized successfully. Factor analysis was employed to determine whether the items in the CTS were representative of Pratt’s five conceptions of teaching. Results revealed that 63 out of 75 original items in the CTS successfully operationalized five conceptions of teaching, with Pratt’s Apprenticeship conception split into Apprenticeship-Practice and Apprenticeship-Modelling. Further refinement streamlined this number to a six—scale 50—item Revised Conception of Teaching Scales (CTS—R). Personal, socio—cultural/educational and program variables were used as predictors in multiple regressions to explain variance in six conception scores. There was no single common predictor of conceptions. On the average, the significant predictors in the six regression equations accounted for 14.5% of variance in the conception scores. The only prominent predictor which accounted for most variance (2R = 17%) in the Nurturing conception was personality—nurturance measure. An instructor’s dominant conceptions were predicted by nine independent variables, namely, gender, ethnicity, personality— dominance, personality—nurturance, years of teaching adults, content upgrade, living arrangement, level of education and class size. These variables were collapsed into three significant discriminant functions which correctly classified 34.7% of the 288 eligible cases into one of the six dominant conception groups. The study concluded that: (1) Pratt’s five conceptions of teaching could be operationalized and that a Revised Conception of Teaching Scales (CTS-R) was a valid and reliable instrument to assess people’s conceptions of teaching, (2) conceptions of teaching were independent concepts having their own existence, (3) most instructors held at least one single most dominant conception of teaching, and (4) dominant conceptions of teaching were predicted by four personal variables (gender, ethnicity, personality—dominance and personality—nurturance), four socio— cultural/educational variables (living arrangement, level of education, years of teaching adults and content upgrade effort) and one program variable (class size).

Learning happens informally and incidentally in social struggle, yet it has not been the focus of many studies. When critical adult education scholars research the role of learning and education in transforming society, their analysis is centred on the role of capitalism, or the role of civil society. Critical adult education theory is caught in a debate between radical pluralist and socialist traditions---traditions that guide the role of education and educators in transforming society. Addressing this polemic, I draw on antiracist feminist scholarship to propose an analytical framework that takes into consideration the interdependence of systems of domination; namely, white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism. / In this study, I focus on young female activists' experiences and learning in social struggle. I rely on interviews and a participatory research project conducted with a group of young facilitators working with girls in an elementary school. The role of oppression and domination in social movements and in emancipatory projects is explored. Learning is found to be situated in particular historical contexts and to be influenced by underlying social dynamics inherent to social struggle. It is also found to be contradictory---it both inhibits and fosters change. / This study is my praxis. It is a back and forth between grassroots practice and research. It engages activists in thinking critically about their actions and uses various written texts to reflect their stories back to them, and to broader audiences. In the tradition of feminist and participatory research, I use this study as a catalyst for learning and for transforming practice.

The study focused on adult learners in the Bachelor of Technology: Somatology degree (B. Tech) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). It served to establish the characteristics and experiences of part-time, predominantly adult women learners in order to facilitate their and future generations of formal higher education life-long learners retention , throughput and success rates at DUT. This is in response to national policy directives from the Department of Education and communiques from various non-profit organisations (NPO's) and political groups . The aim of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that motivate, facilitate and detract from part-time learner's formal learning experience in order for the Department of Somatology at DUT to consider ways to address these needs. A questionnaire and focus group discussion were used to acquire data from the current cohort of B. Tech. Somatology learners. The taped discussion was subsequently transcribed and the data obtained was analysed and interpreted by means of thematic analysis. Three major themes that related to the literature, the conceptual framework and the title of the study emerged as descriptions of the adult women learners' characteristics and experiences within their communities, their work and DUT. The dissertation concluded with a summary of the findings which directly related to the testimony of the adult learners' experiences as continuing formal higher education part-time learners. Recommendations which were recognised as facilitating successful lifelong learning in institutions of higher learning and which could be adopted by DUT's academic and administrative sectors were suggested . / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Definitions and concepts of learning in the workplace have evolved considerably in the last two decades in response to significant changes impacting most workplace environments throughout the industrialized world. Comprehensive definitions of learning at work go beyond an emphasis on improving performance to consider the workplace as a social environment which can be structured to enhance or thwart adult learning and development. A wider and more socially relevant range of approaches to workplace learning are emerging. / By focusing on learning as a process rather than a product, this study attempts to gain a deeper understanding of the daily informal learning experiences among a group of clerical and secretarial workers. Through interviews and a qualitative research approach it examines the meanings these women attribute to their workplace learning experiences. It explores some of the ways in which women's unique learning capabilities interface with a particular environment.

This study was concerned with the learning that takes place in the adult learning context of adult Sunday school classes in Southern Baptist churches. Using Lev Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), a test of learning was created and administered to adults from ages 18 to over 65 in four geographically and socio-economically diverse areas of the United States who attended Sunday school at a Southern Baptist church between January and May 2011. Using descriptive and inferential statistics, the data gathered through the experimental protocol was analyzed to test for differences in the learning measured for control and test groups at each sample site. The results at two sample sites showed significantly higher posttest scores for the participants who took part in small group activities rather than attempting to learn alone. For the other sites, small sample sizes prevented significant results however, the data indicated that results were likely to match those of the other sites if sufficient sample data had been collected. Through multiple regression, the data was tested for a continuation of the relationship when age, gender, and education level were considered. Upon analysis it was found that only education level had a significant impact on the learning that took place. Participants who were more highly educated scored higher than those at lower education levels on the posttest. The variation is sample site was found not to be a significant factor in the scores. The study shows that the ZPD is applicable for adults, at least in the learning context of Sunday school. Additional research should consider adult learning in the ZPD in other learning contexts as well as testing other learning theories for adult learners.

No description available.

The dawn of the new era in 1994, in South Africa, brought with it a number of changes, one of which is education. Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) was seen as a vehicle to address the alarming rate of illiteracy. This made ABET to become a matter of great concern in South Africa. Limpopo as one of South Africa's provinces was earmarked as one of the regions that need thorough redressing and restitution of equality. This study investigated the type of ABET programmes that are offered . in Limpopo. It was specifically aimed at establishing the quality criteria that should characterise adult education programmes in the rural areas of the Limpopo Province. 40 adult educators, 152 adult learners and 12 area coordinators from the Greater Sekhukhune and Vhembe Districts, in Limpopo, participated in this study. Data was collected through questionnaires, individual and focus group interviews. It emerged from this study that the focus of the ABET programme, in the Limpopo Province, is basic read.in g, writing and numeracy skills. The missing element in the design of relevant adult education is a balance between basic literacy and numeracy skills and the provision of income-generation programmes and other programmes that equip adult learners with knowledge, skills, values and competencies that are relevant for the challenges of the 21 51 century. On the basis of these findings, it was recommended that an effective needs analysis procedure should form the basis for the design of relevant adult education programmes in the rural areas of Limpopo. / (Ph.D) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2006

The purpose of the study was to investigate the construct validity of the Total Individual Progress Level I Pre-kindergarten Screen (TIP) for males and females. Exploratory factor analysis of the items was used to determine the underlying dimensions of TIP.The subjects were 799 students from a rural and suburban school district adjacent to a larger city in east-central Indiana who were screened prior to kindergarten entrance during the years 1977 to 1984. The sample was split to allow for cross-validation of the exploratory factor analysis results.The covariance structures of males and females were judged to be similar. Therefore, a principal components analysis using SPSS-X (Nie, 1983) was used to determine the optional number of factors to retain for males and females together in two separate samples. Judgements regarding the number of factors to retain was based on the scree plot and eigenvalue greater than one criteria (Reynolds & Paget, 1981). Both orthogonal and oblique rotations were exploredfor 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-factor solutions using principal axis factoring with iterations.The four-factor varimax solutions for Sample 1 and Sample 2 were found to provide the best solution of TIP. The same four constructs were found in both samples and were extracted in the same order, indicating reliability of this factor solution of TIP. The factors were named, in order, Language, Visual, Gross Motor, and Speech Mechanics.The results obtained in the two samples were compared in regard to Rummel's (1970) considerations. Similarities were found in number of retained factors, configuration of the variables, complexity of the solution, variance accounted for by the factors, and communalities. In addition, results of Tucker's congruence coefficient and Cattell's salient variable similarity index indicated factorial similarity for all four factors across both samples.The four derived factors did not completely resemble the four pre-established subscales of TIP.The Concepts subscale did not emerge as a separate construct and the Hearing and communication subscale was broken into two different factors. Fewer items comprised the four-factor varimax solution. Only two of the extracted factors, Gross Motor and Visual, resembled the pre-established subscales of Motor and Vision and Visual, respectively.

Thesis (MEd (Human Resource Studies)) -- University of South Australia, 1993