Re-examining the relationship between education and adult mental health in the UK: A research note

Previous studies using variation in education arising from compulsory schooling laws have found no causal effects of education on mental health in the UK. We re-examine the relationship between education and mental health in the UK by taking a different approach: sibling fixed-effects with controls for polygenic scores (summary measures of genetic predisposition) for educational attainment and adult depressive symptoms. We find that higher educational attainment is associated with better adult mental health, that sibling controls reduce these associations by ∼40–70% but important associations remain and find evidence for non-monotonic effects. We also find suggestive evidence that education partially “rescues” genetic predictors of poor mental health.     

成人高等学历教育实行学分制探讨

由于成人高等学历学生群体是一个多层次、多序列、多要素的动态组合体,所以实施学分制便成为必须。章从三个方面进行阐述;成人学生的特点和成人教育的特点是实施学分制的内在依据;成人高校学历教育实施学分制的可行性;成人高校如何实行学分制。     

A PILGRIM TALE

Evaluation of adult religious education as provided by faith communities is seldom discussed in the literature and even more rarely implemented in practice. The purpose of this article is to underscore the importance of evaluation for the improvement of adult religious education, to provide an overview of evaluation in this context, and to urge that more intentional efforts be directed to expanding the body of literature in this field and to implementing evaluation in the practice of adult religious education.

Four components of evaluation are defined: evidence, criteria, judgment, and improvement. An overview is provided by answering the questions: what? who? when? and how? in relation to evaluation. Four barriers to evaluation in adult religious education are discussed along with suggestions for overcoming those barriers.     

Education and sustainability: reinvigorating adult education’s role in transformation,justice and development

Distinctively economic objectives for lifelong education, especially adult learning and education, feature prominently in policy-making agendas and educators’ practice in much of the world. Critics contend that humanistic and holistic visions of lifelong learning for all have been marginalised and neglected. The current turn of political attention to issues of planetary environmental sustainability and to global societal transformation and interconnectedness raises further questions and prospects. Two United Nations’ publications in 2015: UNESCO’s Rethinking Education: toward a global common good? and of the United Nations’ Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pose intersecting concerns for lifelong learning and environmental sustainability. This article engages with those questions in particular regard to the role of adult learning and education. It discusses a field study of non-formal adult education in Ghana. The field study contributes evidence that resiliently humanistic conceptions and practices of non-formal adult education practically succeed to foster transformation, development and human flourishing. That effective humanism gives credence to the ambitiousness of UNESCO and UN agenda for transformation and sustainability and informs international debates.     

Development of the SIT,an instrument to evaluate the transfer effects of adult education programs for social inclusion

To date, hardly any evidence is available on the quality of adult education programs for vulnerable adults. Evaluation instruments or models mostly focussed on regular education and less on programs of adult education aiming to enhance social inclusion. This study presents a first exploration of the construct validity of a newly developed instrument, called the SIT-instrument (social inclusion after transfer) for the evaluation of educational programs for vulnerable adults and their impact on increasing social inclusion. The sample consisted of 308 respondents belonging to the target-group of vulnerable adults. The results of the validation study indicate a reliable instrument consisting of elements of a learning-environment for “vulnerable” adults influencing 4 specified categories of social inclusion.     

Lifelong Learning,Equality and Social Cohesion1

This article compares the evidence from the 2009 PISA survey on the distribution of skills amongst 15-year-olds in different regions and country groups and explores how education systems in these regions contribute to different levels of inequality. In the second part, it presents evidence from surveys on adult skills and attitudes on how skills inequality affects social attitudes and social cohesion.     

荷兰成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估工具研究——基于SIT工具的分析

荷兰开展的成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估,通过搭建理论框架、建构评估指标体系、编制评估量表等一系列活动,首创成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估工具——SIT工具,实现了成人教育与弱势群体社会融合的有力对接。荷兰的SIT工具为我国建构成人教育促进弱势群体社会融合成效评估体系提供了参考范式和思维框架。     

Evaluation of the outcome of lifelong learning programmes for social inclusion: a phenomenographic research

Our current knowledge society does not only have an impact on labour market demands, but its citizens also have to cope with increasing social demands. A growing number of vulnerable adults lack basic competences and therefore risk social exclusion. In this respect, The European Commission as well as the OECD agree that adult education can play a significant role in increasing social inclusion of vulnerable adults. However, to date, evidence of outcome of adult education programmes in terms of social inclusion is hardly available. The present study aims to unravel the complexity of the phenomenon of adult education to enhance participants’ social inclusion. Using a phenomenographic approach, we have explored different experiences of 32 vulnerable adults who have participated in adult education courses. The results show that an increase on an individual level (activation and internalisation) is more often perceived by the interviewees than an increase on the collective level of social inclusion (participation and connection). To ensure successful results and to improve quality of the lifelong learning process it seems that particularly the variables teacher support, life circumstances, and learning contents and activities are important elements to enhance the transfer aiming to increase social inclusion.     

浅谈法国成人教育的发展趋向

法国是欧洲成人教育最活跃的国家,非常重视和积极举办成人教育。随着社会、经济、文化的发展变革,法国的成人教育也发生了很大变化,其发展趋向主要体现在以下几点:成人教育的法制化;成人教育管理的地方化;成人教育的市场化;成人教育的高移化;成人教育的终身化;成人教育的国际化。     

Editorial

This article focuses on evidence regarding cross-national patterns of participation in adult education and an interpretation of these patterns from an institutional and public policy perspective. The interpretation follows from the perspective that sustaining high and widely distributed levels of investment in the development and maintenance of skills over the lifespan of individuals is to a large extent interconnected with a high-level of non-market coordination via institutional arrangements and/or specific public policy measures. Such arrangements and measures are seen to alleviate coordination problems that otherwise lead to underinvestment in skills and/or inequity in the distribution of access to education and training and hence skills. Consequently, it is argued that institutional contexts and public policy measures condition participation patterns in adult education, and are thus worthwhile to understand better for the purposes of informing policy.     

国外比较成人教育研究探析

国外比较成人教育包括国际成人教育和比较成人教育两个重要的组成部分。国际成人教育主要体现在世界范围内的政府组织、非政府组织、国际成人教育大会以及其它各种社会团体和成人教育工作者的广泛合作上。比较成人教育则经历了成人教育经验全盘借鉴和动力和因素分析两个时期。信息资料不全和不对等，影响了比较成人教育研究的发展。     

成人教育定义的困境与对策摭论

成人教育的定义是成人教育学科的基本问题,学术界对成人教育定义的探讨不曾停辍且取得一定进展。然而由于对"成人"的理解存在差异、对成人教育定义的方法单一、对成人教育的变迁难以把握和对成人教育的复杂性缺乏多维分析,致使成人教育的定义仍未取得共识,面临着诸多困境。本文通过对成人教育定义的困境加以分析,提出相应的解困之策,以期使成人教育的定义更为确切、完善,从而更好地推动成人教育事业的发展。     

教育研究的两大研究取向初探

在教育领域，研究根据实证和诠释范式发展出两大研究取向：量化研究与质化研究。根据量化研究与质化研究的理念、内涵及其特点，可以把两看成是研究取向上的差异，不是截然分开的，而是相互依存、相互渗透、相互补充的。要建立科学的教育研究就应该尽可能将两种研究方法结合起来，用这两种研究方法开展对远程及成人教育研究，不但可使教学人员在专业上有所发展，也可协助改进学校教学质量，为远程教育提供依据。     

我国成人教育资源整合分析

成人教育资源整合和创新是成人教育管理的重要内容,是发展成人教育,弥补教育资源不足,提升成人教育水平的重要措施。基于此,从成人教育资源信息管理和收集方法、教育手段和教育体系完善方面,提出我国成人教育资源整合创新方略:进行成人教育资源数据库,实现信息资源整合;建立网络教育与成人教育群体的资源整合与创新;成人教育体系资源整合与创新;成人教育团队资源多元化整合与创新。     

新型城镇化视角下区域成人教育公共服务供给模式研究——以北京市房山区为例

新型城镇化的快速发展对成人教育提出主动适应变迁的客观要求.区域成人教育公共服务供给模式受区域成人教育需求、区域成人教育政策、管理体制改革力度、区域成人教育网络化水平等因素影响.新型城镇化视角下,可通过形成区域成人教育公共服务需求表达机制、建立多元供给的成人教育联动机制、开发"互联网+"的成人在线教育项目等途径优化区域成人教育公共服务供给模式.     

错位与链接——区域视角下成人教育的缺位与复位

成人教育作为继续教育的重要组成部分,与区域经济文化之发展息息相关。区域成人教育的缺位表现在成教与职教过度粘连、成教系统与区域经济系统互动欠佳等方面。制定具有区域特色的成人教育与经济协调互动模型,能够从经济“特色”中萃取成教“特色”,以特色成教带动特色经济增长,可实现区域成人教育发展路径之复位。     

英国成人教育立法及对我国的启示

英国被称为"世界继续教育之乡",其成人教育对西方及世界各地的成人教育的发展都产生过极其深远的影响.英国的成人教育能够取得这么大的成果是与其较为完善的成人教育立法分不开的.借鉴英国成人教育立法经验对完善我国的成人教育立法有重要的意义.     

法国成人教育的特色及对我国的启示

法国是世界上成人教育最发达的国家之一，其成人教育发展呈现出鲜明的特色：政府高度重视成人教育的立法工作；实行教育休假制度；确保成人教育经费；大学大力举办成人教育；中等学校积极开展成人教育活动；极力推进成人教育的终身化。法国成人教育的这些特色为我国成人教育的改革与发展提供了有益借鉴。     

诺尔斯的教育思想及其对成人高等教育发展的启示

诺尔斯"非正式成人教育"和"自我导向学习"的教育思想为成人高等教育发展带来新的启示,从拓展成人高等教育发展的领域,引导成人高等教育课程开发的取向,构建成人高等教育教学的有效策略等方面着手,把成人高等教育引领到一个更为开阔的境界。     

Do Financial Education Interventions for Women from Poor Households Impact Their Financial Behaviors? Experimental Evidence from India

Policymakers have invested significant resources in financial education to improve financial literacy of the poor, reduce bad financial decision-making, and increase take-up of financial services and products. Yet, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of such interventions, especially in developing countries. This paper provides evidence from a clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) where a relatively light financial education program (one day of training) was offered to a large sample of women (n = 1,281) from poor households in informal community settings. The educational intervention was a significant departure from the more costly traditional classroom-style adult education interventions. It was based on simple “rules of thumb” and used a goal-oriented and action-focused approach, targeted at changing behaviors. We find evidence of modest, positive treatment effects for some outcomes including an increase in personal savings, achieved at a relatively low cost of training per participant.