This assessment the state of adult education--its traditions, current problems, and possible futures--is written from a social action perspective. The authors demonstrate how adult education's commitment to deliver social change ran into difficulties in the 1980s and 1990s. The book identifies four possible scenarios for the future and on this basis defines the challenges confronting an adult education still committed to social change. The authors outline the key features of an adult education that can contribute to "learning our way out of" the dead end of relentless industrial development, mounting inequality, mass immiseration, and alienation.
| List of Figures and Tables | ||
| List of Acronyms | ||
| Introduction | 1 | |
| Ch. 1 | Ivan Illich: Learning Webs, Not One-way Streets | 6 |
| Pt. I | The Main Historical Traditions in Adult Eduction | 17 |
| Ch. 2 | UNESCO: Humanising Development through Permanent Education | 19 |
| Ch. 3 | Pragmatism: A Genuine American Highway | 29 |
| Ch. 4 | Humanism: The Lonely Traveller on the Road to Heaven | 62 |
| Ch. 5 | Marxist Adult Education: Democratic Centralism or Multiple Paths to the Right Solution? | 75 |
| Ch. 6 | Conclusion: Adult Education and Development | 96 |
| Pt. II | Crossroads and Dead Ends | 103 |
| Ch. 7 | Roads Diverging | 105 |
| Ch. 8 | The Transformation of Adult Education: Where Adult Education is Going - or Being Driven Towards | 124 |
| Ch. 9 | Conclusion: Dead End or Social Responsibility? | 134 |
| Pt. III | Possible Ways Out | 137 |
| Ch. 10 | The Theory of Learning Our Way Out | 139 |
| Ch. 11 | Ways Out: The Practice | 149 |
| Ch. 12 | Synthesis and Analysis | 163 |
| Ch. 13 | Adult Education, De-institutionalisation and the Theory of Learning Our Way Out | 171 |
| Bibliography | 181 | |
| Index | 203 |
Overview
This assessment the state of adult education--its traditions, current problems, and possible futures--is written from a social action perspective. The authors demonstrate how adult education's commitment to deliver social change ran into difficulties in the 1980s and 1990s. The book identifies four possible scenarios for the future and on this basis defines the challenges confronting an adult education still committed to social change. The authors outline the key features of an adult education that can contribute...