Reconceptualizes local, national, and transnational adult education practices in light of neoliberalism and globalization. This groundbreaking book critiques the boundaries of where adult education takes place through a candid examination of teaching, learning, and working practices in the social periphery. Lives in this context are diverse and made through complex practices that take place in the shadows of formal systems: on streetscapes and farms, in vehicles and homes, and through underground networks. Educators may be family members, friends, or colleagues, and the curriculum may be based on needs, interests, histories, and cultural practices. The case studies presented here analyze adult education in the lives of sex workers, LGBTQ activists, undocumented migrants, disabled workers, homeless youth, immigrants, inmates, and others. Focusing on learning at the social margins, this book challenges readers to reconceptualize local, national, and transnational adult education practices in light of neoliberalism and globalization.

Take an in-depth look at adult learning and education for citizenship and civic engagement. This issue presents the foundational connections between the adult education and civic engagement movements. It’s filled with studies on adult learning for participatory or deliberate democratic change and engagement at the local grassroots level. Contributors consider civic engagement in their areas of research and practice and explore the formal and informal ways that citizens come to learn, to deliberate, and to act on the social issues they find important locally and globally. As a result, the volume offers broad examples of different types of formal and informal adult learning for civic engagement. This is 135th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.

Due to continuing immigration and increasing racial and ethnic inclusiveness, higher education institutions in the United States are likely to grow ever more diverse in the 21st century. This shift holds both promise and peril: Increased inter-ethnic contact could lead to a more fruitful learning environment that encourages collaboration. On the other hand, social identity and on-campus diversity remain hotly contested issues that often raise intergroup tensions and inhibit discussion. How can we help diverse students learn from each other and gain the competencies they will need in an increasingly multicultural America? Dialogue Across Difference synthesizes three years’ worth of research from an innovative field experiment focused on improving intergroup understanding, relationships and collaboration. The result is a fascinating study of the potential of intergroup dialogue to improve relations across race and gender. First developed in the late 1980s, intergroup dialogues bring together an equal number of students from two different groups – such as people of color and white people, or women and men – to share their perspectives and learn from each other. To test the possible impact of such courses and to develop a standard of best practice, the authors of Dialogue Across Difference incorporated various theories of social psychology, higher education, communication studies and social work to design and implement a uniform curriculum in nine universities across the country. Unlike most studies on intergroup dialogue, this project employed random assignment to enroll more than 1,450 students in experimental and control groups, including in 26 dialogue courses and control groups on race and gender each. Students admitted to the dialogue courses learned about racial and gender inequalities through readings, role-play activities and personal reflections. The authors tracked students’ progress using a mixed-method approach, including longitudinal surveys, content analyses of student papers, interviews of students, and videotapes of sessions. The results are heartening: Over the course of a term, students who participated in intergroup dialogues developed more insight into how members of other groups perceive the world. They also became more thoughtful about the structural underpinnings of inequality, increased their motivation to bridge differences and intergroup empathy, and placed a greater value on diversity and collaborative action. The authors also note that the effects of such courses were evident on nearly all measures. While students did report an initial increase in negative emotions – a possible indication of the difficulty of openly addressing race and gender – that effect was no longer present a year after the course. Overall, the results are remarkably consistent and point to an optimistic conclusion: intergroup dialogue is more than mere talk. It fosters productive communication about and across differences in the service of greater collaboration for equity and justice. Ambitious and timely, Dialogue Across Difference presents a persuasive practical, theoretical and empirical account of the benefits of intergroup dialogue. The data and research presented in this volume offer a useful model for improving relations among different groups not just in the college setting but in the United States as well.

This book promotes the development of nontraditional literacies in adult education, especially as these critical literacies relate to global citizenship, equity, and social justice. As this edited collection argues, a rapidly changing global environment and proliferation of new media technologies have greatly expanded the kinds of literacies that one requires in order to be an engaged global citizen. It is imperative for adult educators and learners to understand systems, organizations, and relationships that influence our lives as citizens of the world. By compiling a comprehensive list of foundational, sociocultural, technological and informational, psychosocial and environmental, and social justice literacies, this volume offers readers theoretical foundations, practical strategies, and additional resources.

In today’s globalized world, professional fields are continually transforming to keep pace with advancing methods of practice. The theory of adult learning, specifically, is a subject that has seen new innovations and insights with the advancement of online and blended learning. Examining new principles and characteristics in adult learning is imperative, as emerging technologies are rapidly shifting the standards of higher education. The Handbook of Research on Adult Learning in Higher Education is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of adult education in residential, online, and blended course delivery formats. This book will focus on the impact that culture, globalization, and emerging technology currently has on adult education. While highlighting topics including andragogical principles, professional development, and artificial intelligence, this book is ideally designed for teachers, program developers, instructional designers, technologists, educational practitioners, deans, researchers, higher education faculty, and students seeking current research on new methodologies in adult education.

How do you tailor education to the learning needs of adults? Do they learn differently from children? How does their life experience inform their learning processes? These were the questions at the heart of Malcolm Knowles’ pioneering theory of andragogy which transformed education theory in the 1970s. The resulting principles of a self-directed, experiential, problem-centred approach to learning have been hugely influential and are still the basis of the learning practices we use today. Understanding these principles is the cornerstone of increasing motivation and enabling adult learners to achieve. The 9th edition of The Adult Learner has been revised to include: Updates to the book to reflect the very latest advancements in the field. The addition of two new chapters on diversity and inclusion in adult learning, and andragogy and the online adult learner. An updated supporting website. This website for the 9th edition of The Adult Learner will provide basic instructor aids including a PowerPoint presentation for each chapter. Revisions throughout to make it more readable and relevant to your practices. If you are a researcher, practitioner, or student in education, an adult learning practitioner, training manager, or involved in human resource development, this is the definitive book in adult learning you should not be without.

The Spring of 2020 saw educational institutions around the world abruptly convert to online teaching formats. While this transition may be unfamiliar—and even uncomfortable—the skills and techniques needed to engage and empower online learners can be learned and mastered to serve the current and ever-expanding need. This indispensable resource focuses on combining thoughtful teaching strategies with innovative technology to help learners engage more meaningfully and learn more effectively. The book distills decades of research in adult learning and education to provide evidence-based strategies that directly and practically apply to online environments. The author identifies five core areas for focus: principles of adult learning (how people learn), engagement through presence, diversity and inclusion, community, and learner empowerment; thereby demonstrating how to prepare for the online learning environment, design and develop suitable course materials, deliver instruction, and evaluate the learning experience. Book Features: A holistic approach that addresses and integrates every key dynamic to ensure the design, development, and delivery of optimal online learning experiences. Appropriate for instructors and course designers as they manage blended or fully online teaching models.Content is readily applicable across disciplines and institutional types. Grounded firmly in research, theory, and best practices related to social presence, engagement, inclusive pedagogy, Understanding by Design (UBD), Universal Design framework for Learning (UDL), reflective practice, and principles of adult learning and development. Comprehensive checklists provide overviews of key action items and associated steps involved in course design, development, and delivery. Reflection is a cornerstone of deep learning, and reflective questions are included in each chapter.