This book explores the realities of adult education practice in the current political and economic climate. With a particular focus on examining the effect of the multitude of changes in policy and philosophy over the past 30 years, the book explores how the values and career expectations of adult educators have been affected, and considers the implications for adult education as a field of professional practice. As well as exploring the broader international picture, the book draws on the findings of recent research into adult and community education practitioners’ perspectives in two case study countries – England and Aotearoa/New Zealand – to illustrate how local contexts and cultures, as well as global trends, impact on the structure and organisation of adult education. By presenting the perspectives of adult educators, whose voices have been relatively absent from the recent literature, this book gives a unique insight into how their work has been adversely affected by funding and policy pressures in an increasingly insecure educational environment, and analyses their responses to the contradictions between their professional values and the expectations placed upon them by policy and funding changes. It will be of great interest to students and researchers working in Education and Sociology, and will also make compelling reading for policy-makers.

This book explores community education in Ireland and argues that neoliberalism has had a profound effect on community education. Rather than retain its foundational characteristics of collective, equality-led principles and practices, community education has lost much of its independence and has been reshaped into spaces characterised by labour-market activation, vocationalisation and marketisation. These changes have often, though not always, run contrary to the wishes of those involved in community education creating enormous tensions for practitioners, course providers and participants.

This book is written at a time when our own field of adult education is under assault from a variety of capitalist and neoconservative forces pressuring us... to turn away from the causes of criticality, lifelong learning, and education for freedom. Rather than succumb to these pressures, we have hope that our long term goals of education for life and living can and will be accomplished alongside professional and vocational education. This book offers new insight into what is a very dark moment of our human civilization. From the preface by Dr Carlos Alberto Torres, Professor, GSEIS, Director, Paulo Freire Institute, University of California at Los Angeles The book offers decidedly critical and international perspectives on various aspects of adult education, especially on state, citizenship and neoliberal policies. Critical in both content and method, it is at the same time the part of the collective work needed to advance the Belém call to action by furthering awareness and capacity in the field of adult education. Dr Katarina Popovic, Professor,Universität Duisburg-Essen, University of Belgrade & DBB International, In the midst of diminishing resources and growing inequalities, English and Mayo provide an incisive and much needed critique of adult education in ways that highlight not only its historical and philosophical roots but also its major significance to the practice of democracy. In a direct challenge to the neoliberal accountability craze, Learning with Adults offers a rigorous political reading of the field—one that systematically challenges oppressive educational policies and practices, while affirming an emancipatory vision of civic engagement. Truly an informative treatise that sheds new light on the education of adults. Dr Antonia Darder Professor & Leavey Presidential Endowed Chair in Education Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles Leona English and Peter Mayo challenge hegemonic assumptions and ideas, while offering a constructive alternative based on the principle of working with learners and not just for them. Their analysis is accessible enough for newcomers to the field, while the authors’ wide-ranging coverage and radical approach provide refreshing and challenging messages for the most experienced adult educator. Up-to-date, genuinely international and passionately committed, Learning with Adults is a great book. Dr John Field, Professor,University of Stirling Cover design by Annemarie Mayo

This book investigates origins, meanings, uses and effects of student engagement in higher education, and addresses three core questions: (1) Why is student engagement so visible in higher education today? (2) What are its dominant characteristics? (3) What is missing in the popular view of student engagement? These questions pave the way for a fresh approach to student engagement. The book argues that an elective affinity between student engagement and policies embedded in neoliberalism, the dominant ideology of the early 21st century, enables student engagement to transcend diverse intellectual and practice contexts. This affinity encourages quality learning and teaching that enables student to succeed in their studies and future careers. The book shows that focusing on neoliberal objectives for learning and teaching limits the potential of student engagement in higher education. This conclusion leads to a critical and practical social-ecological perspective that approaches engagement more as a pathway to social justice than as a list of techniques. This book is a work of critical scholarship backed by empirical research. It questions accepted theories and practices and offers fresh insights into student engagement in higher education, including how engagement could promote social justice.

Neoliberalism is having a detrimental impact on wider social and ethical goals in the field of education. Using an international range of contexts, this book provides practical examples that demonstrate how neoliberalism can be challenged and changed at the local, national and transnational level.

Honorable Mention, 2017 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature in the Field of Professional, Continuing, and/or Online Education presented by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association 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.

This book examines the experiences of adult learners in times of austerity. The power of adult education to transform lives is well known, and it is especially powerful for those who missed out on educational opportunities earlier in life. Those who have been successful learners in the past are more likely to continue their education and training, making extra support and funding ever-more important: however, in the current economic and political climate, support for adult learning is significantly decreasing. This book sheds light on the experiences of adult learners, despite the difficulties facing the sector: interweaving empirical discussions with theoretical debates, the editors and contributors demonstrate the challenges and struggles of adult learners in higher, further and community education. This enlightening edited collection will be of interest to all those involved in adult education as well as policy makers and funders.