This text presents an overview of adult basic education in South Africa, especially the teaching of literacy, English as a second language, and numeracy.

The Education Triple Cocktail brings together rigorous quantitative and qualitative research on a new approach to improving foundational teaching and learning for schoolchildren living in working-class, poor and remote rural communities in resource-constrained systems like South Africa. At the core of this book is the theory and evidence for a powerful, new, interlocking and mutually reinforcing change model. Inspired by the AIDS treatment story, the three-pronged approach of structured daily lesson plans, appropriate and high-quality educational materials, and one-on-one instructional coaching to help teachers transform their instructional practices in early grade classrooms, shows that it will improve learning outcomes. For education systems defined by low levels of early grade learning and profoundly unequal outcomes, The Education Triple Cocktail offers a theoretically informed, evidence-based way forward. This book will be of immense use to teachers, students of Education, policymakers and parents.

This book presents key concepts, information and principles that should underlie the practice of adult education in African contexts. It assumes that adult educators should have a historical perspective on the current educational context, understand how the colonial experience has impacted on indigenous traditions and be aware of the philosophical underpinnings of adult education activities. The chapters introduce the foundations and history of adult education in Africa; philosophy and adult education; socio-cultural, political and economic environments; opportunities and access for adult learners; gender and development in adult education; adult education as a developing profession; information and communication technology; globalization and adult education; and policies and structures of lifelong learning

Open and distance learning has been used in many ways in the recent past to provide both primary education and adult education. The Commonwealth of Learning works with governments, schools and universities with the aim of strengthening the capacities of Commonwealth member countries in developing human resources required for their economic and social development. Many existing policy documents link distance education with new information and communication technologies, portraying them as a promising universal access and exponential growth of learning. This book answers the key questions to these issues and assesses the impact and effect of the experience of basic education at a distance all over the world and in a wide variety of forms. This is the first major overview of this topic for twenty years.

The lived experiences of students? educational practices are analysed and explained in terms of the book?s plea for the recognition of the ?multi-dimentionality? of students as educational beings with unexplored cultural wealth and hidden capitals. The book presents an argument that student lives are entangled in complex social-spatial relations and processes that extend across family, neighbourhood and peer associations, which are largely misrecognised in educational policy and practice. The book is relevant to understanding the role of policy, curriculum and pedagogy in addressing the educational performance of working-class youth.

Presenting psychology as an applied discipline that can help adult educators be more effective in their work, this book analyses the cultural factors that influence the characteristics, behaviour and thinking of adult learners. It emphasizes the collective orientation of African cultures and the view of the self in terms of interdependent relationships within a community. The chapters provide an introduction to the psychology of adult learning and address the following: characteristics of adult learning; life span development; human motivation and participation; learning styles; facilitating adult learning; and guidance and counselling of adult learners.