成人教育学和自我指导学习--成人学习理论的两大支柱

成人学习理论迄今没有形成一个统一的答案或者理论模式能够对有关成人学习的一切做出解释,但是,成人教育学和自我指导学习这两个基本理论却构成了成人学习的两大支柱型知识基础.     

Adult education and the quality of life

The purpose of this study is to investigate the complementary role of adult education in influencing people's objective and subjective quality of life. The analytical strategy used to achieve this end is to estimate parameters in a path model which includes both objective indicators such as occupational status and earned income, and subjective indicators such as job satisfaction and perceived personal wellbeing. The investigation builds on Swedish data and employs the LISREL method in the fitting of the model to the data. The results indicate that adult education positively influences objective indicators of the quality of life. Even though adult education is found torelate to measures of perceived personal wellbeing, the hypothesis that it alsoinfluences the way men assess their life situation and evaluate their subjective quality of life cannot be confirmed.

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Zusammenfassung Zweck dieser Studie ist es, die ergänzende Rolle der Erwachsenenbildung in der Beeinflussung der objektiven und subjektiven Lebensqualität des Menschen zu erforschen. Die analytische Strategie, die zur Erreichung dieses Ziels angewandt wird, besteht darin, Parameter für ein Wegmodell zu finden, das sowohl objektive Indikatoren wie beruflicher Status und Gehalt beinhaltet, als auch subjektive Indikatoren wie Zufriedenheit im Beruf und empfundenes persönliches Wohlbefinden. Die Untersuchung beruht auf schwedischen Daten und wendet die LISREL-Methode an, um das Modell mit diesen Daten in Einklang zu bringen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß Erwachsenenbildung die objektiven Indikatoren der Lebensqualität positiv beeinflußt. Obwohl man herausfand, daß Erwachsenenbildung zum Maß des empfundenen persönlichen Wohlbefindens inBeziehung steht, läßt sich nicht die Hypothese bestätigen, daß sie auch daraufEinfluß nimmt, wie die Menschen ihre eigene Lebenssituation einschätzen und ihre subjektive Lebensqualität beurteilen.

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Résumé L'objectif de la présente étude est d'examiner le rôle complémentaire de l'éducation des adultes dans l'action qu'elle exerce sur la qualité de vie objective et subjective des populations. La méthode d'analyse employée à cette fin consiste à évaluer les paramètres d'un modèle expérimental qui inclut aussi bien des indicateurs objectifs, tels que la situation professionnelle et le salaire, que des indicateurs subjectifs, tels que la satisfaction professionnelle et le sentiment de bien-être perçu par les individus. Cette recherche s'appuie sur des données suédoises et utilise la méthode LISREL pour adapter ce modèle aux données recueillies. Les résultats obtenus indiquent que l'éducation des adultes influe de façon positive sur les indicateurs objectifs de la qualité de la vie. Bien que l'on juge que l'éducation des adultesa un rapport avec les mesures relatives au bien-être perçu par les personnes, on ne peut vérifier l'hypothèse selon laquelle elleinfluence également la manière dont les gens évaluent leurs conditions de vie et leur qualité de vie subjective.

     

Facilitating the learning journey from vocational education and training to higher education

An increase in students who enter higher education in Australia following their studies in the vocational education and training (VET) sector has led to heightened national interest in the transition experiences of these students. This paper reports on the experiences of students who, as a result of their VET studies, entered a relatively new, large, metropolitan university in 2009 and 2010 in the fields of Business and Law, Early Childhood and Nursing. The investigation elicited responses from students about a range of personal, administrative and academic experiences. A total of 529 students responded to a survey, 74 students were interviewed by telephone and 33 students attended focus groups. A major finding of the research was that many students saw the new learning context as a positive factor and responded to challenges with enthusiasm and resilience. Despite this, it seems that the transition period, particularly the first semester of study, is an unnecessarily stressful time for many students and that this could be mitigated by the provision of timely information about differences between institutional and learner expectations, workload, administrative processes and learning practices.     

Lifelong learning: Universities and adult education

This paper argues that the driving force of social change in the contemporary world is economic globalisation, which has demanded and more highly educated work force. It discusses six major changes that are occurring in traditional university education, as a result, and notes that universities have now become a site where adults learn. Universities are becoming institutions of lifelong learning. In the final section traditional adult education is reviewed, which is also becoming lifelong learning, and the education of older adults is discussed.     

A scholar's journey: Using the internet for adult and distance education research

Web‐Based Instruction. Badrul H. Khan, ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1997, 480 pp., $89.95/Hard, $59.95/Soft).

Distance Learning: A Step‐by‐Step Guide for Trainers. Karen Mantyla and J. Richard Gividen (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development, 1997, 179 pp., $45.00).     

Radical adult education and learning

How can we speak about radical education in these seemingly unpropitious times? I explore this question first by examining aspects of our radical heritage (self-directed learning, facilitation, democratic pedagogy, learning in hegemonic struggle, learning in social action, critical pedagogy) and then by discussing what radical learning and education mean now, in an era of capitalist triumphalism. I outline a method which helps practitioners to investigae and act on what people are actuallly learning and teaching each other in different sites—educational instititions, workplace families, communities, the mass media and social movements. Culture is ordinary: that is where we must start. (Williams, 1958a)     

Power dynamics in teaching and learning practices: an examination of two adult education classrooms

The purpose of this research was to determine the ways in which power relations that exist in the wider social context are played out in the teaching and learning dynamics of adult education classrooms. The research design was a qualitative comparative case study of two courses taught by the authors in a university setting. Data sources included students’ evaluations, teachers’ observations, interviews with students, interviews with both teachers, and conversations with similarly situated faculty members. The themes of mastery, voice, authority and positionality found in previous research were used to organize the results. The results showed the many complex ways in which power relations based on race, class, gender, disability and sexual orientation played out across all four themes and how these dynamics directly influenced the teaching and learning process. The positionality of the teachers and learners, in particular the racial category of whiteness, emerged as a key power relationship mediating classroom dynamics. We suggest that the facilitation model of teaching does not account well for these dynamics and that further efforts are needed to better understand how societal power relations affect teaching and learning efforts and what responses adult educators can make to negotiate these issues.     

Linking action learning and inter-organisational learning: the learning journey approach

The article presents and illustrates the learning journey (LJ) – a new management development approach to inter-organisational learning based on observation, reflection and problem-solving. The LJ involves managers from different organisations and applies key concepts of action learning and systemic organisational development. Made up of practitioners from 6 to 8 organisations, the LJ visits each of the organisations to explore management practices, taking into account their particular organisational context and challenges. Following a sequence of (a) becoming aware of the particular organisational context, (b) learning about established management practices and (c) working on a current challenge as ‘comrades in adversity’, the article introduces and illustrates the LJ approach. The article closes with a discussion of the approach's challenges and implications for research on – and development of – inter-organisational learning processes.     

Media and learning: Are there two kinds of truth?

This article examines the assumptions and methods of conventional instructional media research to gauge its sufficiency as a basis for issuing the controversial finding that media do not influence learning and as an inquiry model for documenting media's educational effects generally. Examples of complex media effects are given and emerging media application paradigms are identified to support the argument that both a new conceptualization of the media and learning question and new approaches to its study are needed. An alternative values framework for guiding research on the effects of modern interactive technologies in complex learning environments is offered.     

Self-reported adverse childhood experiences and quality of life among children in the two last grades of Dutch elementary education

BackgroundAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) may have a life-long impact on mental health and are related to physical disease, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. Research on ACEs suffers from recall bias when performed with adults.ObjectiveTo estimate the prevalence of ACEs and the interrelationships between ACEs as reported by children, and to determine the impact on their self-reported quality of life (QoL). Children’s opinions on the ACE-Questionnaire were also obtained.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted with a child version of the ACE-Questionnaire. This questionnaire assesses parental separation or divorce, physical and emotional child abuse and neglect, sexual violence, domestic violence, household substance abuse, psychological issues or suicide, and incarceration of a household member. QoL was measured with the Kidscreen-10.Participants and settingThe questionnaire was completed by 644 children at a mean age of 11 years (range 9–13 years), in the two last grades of regular elementary schools, recruited throughout the Netherlands.ResultsData were weighted by ethnicity to obtain a representative sample of children in Dutch elementary education. Of all children, 45.3% had one or more out of ten ACEs. Child maltreatment was experienced by 26.4%. ACEs often co-occurred. A higher number of ACEs correlated with a lower mean level of QoL (p < 0.001). Mean QoL was 8.5 points lower (Cohen’s d = 0.8) in children who experienced child maltreatment. Children’s opinions on the questionnaire were positive in 82.4%.ConclusionPrevention of ACEs, professional training and trauma-focus in schools are urgently needed.     

Mindfulness,adult learning and therapeutic education: integrating the cognitive and affective domains of learning

Although it has been given qualified approval by a number of philosophers of education, the so‐called ‘therapeutic turn’ in education has been the subject of criticism by several commentators on post‐compulsory and adult learning over the last few years. A key feature of this alleged development in recent educational policy is said to be the replacement of the traditional goals of knowledge and understanding with personal and social objectives concerned with enhancing and developing confidence and self‐esteem in learners. After offering some critical observations on these developments, I suggest that there are some educationally justifiable goals underpinning what has been described as a therapeutic turn. Whilst accepting that ‘self‐esteem’ and cognate concepts cannot provide a general end or universal aim of education, the therapeutic function—the affective domain of learning—is more valuable and significant than is generally acknowledged. This claim is justified by an examination of the concept of ‘mindfulness’ which, it is argued, can be an immensely powerful and valuable notion that is integrally connected with the centrally transformative and developmental nature of learning and educational activity at all levels. The incorporation of mindfulness strategies within adult learning programmes may go some way towards re‐connecting the cognitive and affective dimensions of education.     

Adult education,lifelong learning and citizenship: some ifs and buts

This paper suggests that the dominant discourse of lifelong learning is a political rather than an educational discourse. On this view, lifelong learning enables the deconstruction of welfare to be effected through the reconstruction of citizenship. Democratic citizenship properly understood, on the other hand, depends on determined progress towards a more equitable distribution of material and cultural resources among citizens. Education on its own can do little to ensure that such structural change takes place. It is, nevertheless, the task of critical adult education, as distinct from economistic models of lifelong learning, to raise such questions as urgent issues for democratic deliberation and debate, and to expand our notions of what it means to be active citizens in a democratic society. The paper contains the text of a talk given at the annual study conference of the UK's National Institute of Adult Continuing Education in April 2002.     

Bringing together monitoring approaches to track progress on adult learning and education across main international policy tools

International Review of Education - This article critically examines how monitoring strategies currently track progress on country commitments to adult learning and education (ALE). These...