Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer and her co-authors have taken an important study and turned it into an intriguing, readable, and practical book. Adult learners provide a unique opportunity for museum educators. But what are adult learners looking for? What motivates them to take a class or attend a museum-sponsored activity? What do planners and instructors need to know to maximize the experience for participants? The authors analyzed a wide variety of programs from the perspective of planners, instructors, and participants. They discovered what works and what doesn't, and they've distilled this knowledge into twelve basic steps you can use to design truly meaningful experiences for your museum's adult programs. Visit the authors' web page

As individuals and societies try to respond to fundamental economic and social transformation, the field of adult learning and education is rapidly getting increased attention and new topics for research on adult learning have emerged. This collection of articles from the International Encyclopedia of Education 3e offers practitioners and researchers in the area of adult learning and education a comprehensive summary of main developments in the field. The 45 articles provide insight into the historical development of the field, its conceptual controversies, domains and provision, perspectives on adult learning, instruction and program planning, outcomes, relationship to economy and society and its status as a field of scholarly study and practice. - Saves researchers time in summarizing in one place what is otherwise an interdisciplinary field in cognitive psychology, personality, sociology, and education - Level of presentation focuses on critical research, leaving out the extraneous and focusing on need-to-know information - Contains contributions from top international researchers in the field - Makes MRW content affordable to individual researchers

The Enlightenment was a period of intense activity devoted to discovery and learning about the natural world, the past and other civilizations. Classification, collecting and deciphering were all important stages on the way to understanding the world and its inhabitants. The King's Library was built to house the books donated from the royal libraries of King George II and his grandson King George III, and they epitomize the interest in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in scholarship and study. Aimed at the general reader and relevant to many academic diciplines, this book explores the ways people acquired new information, organized their ideas and reached their conclusions.

With the development of institutions displaying natural science, history, and art in the late 19th century came the debates over the role of these museum in society. This anthology collects 50 of the most important writings on museum philosophy dating from this formative period, written by the many of the American and European founders of the field. Genoways and Andrei contextualize these pieces with a series of introductions showing how the museum field developed within the social environment of the era. For those interested in museum history and philosophy or cultural history, this is an essential resource.

This is a book about adult education in the sphere of public museums and art galleries. It aims to enrich and expand dialogue and understanding amongst adult and community educators, curators, artists, directors, and cultural activists who work within and beyond the walls of these institutions. The various chapters take up the complex and interconnected pedagogics of subjectivity, identity, meaning making and interpretation, knowledge, authority, prescription, innovation, and creativity. The contributors are a combination of scholars, professors, graduate students, heritage and cultural adult educators, artists, curators and researchers from Canada, United States, Iceland, England, Scotland, Denmark, Portugal, Italy and Malta. Collectively, they challenge us to think about the dialectics of passivity and engagement, didactics and learning, gender neutrality and radicality, and neutrality and risk-taking amongst a collage of artworks and artefacts, poetry and installations, collections and exhibits, illusion and reality, curatorial practice and learning, argument and narrative, and struggle and possibility that define and shape modern day art and culture institutions. The chapters, set amongst the discursive politics of neoliberalism and patriarchy, racism and religious intolerance, institutional neutrality and tradition, capitalism and neo-colonialism, ecological devastation and social injustice, take up the spirit and ideals of the radical and feminist traditions of adult education and their emphases on cultural participation and knowledge democracy, agency and empowerment, justice and equity, intellectual growth and transformation, critical social and self reflection, activism and risk-taking, and a fundamental belief in the power of art, dialogue, reflection, ideological and social critique and imaginative learning.

Over the last twenty years the educational role of the museum has come to be central to its mission. There are now far more educational opportunities, new spaces, new interfaces - both digital and physical, and a growing number of education and interpretation departments, educational curators and public engagement programmes. Despite these developments, however, higher education has remained a marginal collaborator compared to primary and secondary schools and to other forms of adult learning. This has meant that the possibilities for partnerships between universities, colleges, museums and galleries has remained relatively unexplored, especially in relation to their potential for generating innovative patterns of research and learning. This book addresses the key issues which are preventing such partnerships and examines how to enable more effective and creative connections between museums and higher education. The authors identify conceptual and practical barriers and explore whether current academic models are fit for purpose. They argue that as pressures mount on public educational resources around the world, there needs to be an urgent increase in the exchange of knowledge across these sectors and the forging of world-class scholarly partnerships. Examples of research undertaken internationally offer best practice models for collaboration and integration. This book will be compulsory reading for museum and educational specialists and those interested in engaging in museum/higher education partnerships. It will also be of interest to those involved in policy and decision-making in education, the museum sector and national and local government.

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