Global Perspectives on Adult Education andLearning Policy

Palgrave Studies in Global Citizenship Education and Democracy

Series Editor:Jason Laker, San Jose University, USA

This series will engage with the theoretical and practical debates regarding cit-izenship, human rights education, social inclusion, and individual and groupidentities as they relate to the role of higher and adult education on an interna-tional scale. Books in the series will consider hopeful possibilities for the capacityof higher and adult education to enable citizenship, human rights, democracyand the common good, including emerging research and interesting and effec-tive practices. They will also participate in and stimulate deliberation and debateabout the constraints, barriers, and sources and forms of resistance to realizingthe promise of egalitarian civil societies. The series will facilitate continued con-versation about policy and politics, curriculum and pedagogy, and review andreform, and provide a comparative overview of the different conceptions andapproaches to citizenship education and democracy around the world.

Titles include:

Jason Laker, Kornelija Mrnjaus and Concepción Naval (editors)CITIZENSHIP, DEMOCRACY AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN EUROPE,CANADA AND THE USA

Jason Laker, Kornelija Mrnjaus and Concepción Naval (editors)CIVIC PEDAGOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATIONTeaching for Democracy in Europe, Canada and the USA

Marcella Milana and Tom Nesbit (editors)GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT EDUCATION AND LEARNING POLICY

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Global Perspectives onAdult Education andLearning PolicyEdited by

Marcella MilanaAarhus University, Denmark

Tom NesbitSimon Fraser University, Canada

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1. Adult education—Cross-cultural studies. 2. Adult education—Socialaspects—Cross-cultural studies. I. Milana, Marcella, editorof compilation. II. Nesbit, Tom, editor of compilation.LC5215.G5725 2015374—dc23 2015013211

Contents

List of Tables and Figures viii

Preface ix

Notes on Contributors xxii

List of Abbreviations xxvi

1 Introduction: A Global Outlook on Adult Education andLearning Policies 1Marcella Milana

Part I Europe and North America

2 Policies for Adult Learning in Scotland 15John Field

3 Adult Education and Learning Policy in the CzechRepublic 29Martin Kopecký and Michal Šerák

4 Adult and Continuing Education Policy in the USA 44Marcella Milana and Lesley McBain

5 Adult Education and Cultural Diversity in Brazil: NationalPolicies and Contributions of Higher Education 60Ana Ivenicki

6 Analysis of Policies in the Education of Young Peopleand Adults in Mexico 73Raúl Valdés-Cotera

Part II Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab Region,Asia-Pacific

7 The State of Adult Education in Botswana in theTwenty-First Century 91Idowu Biao and Tonic Maruatona

v

vi Contents

8 Changing Trends in Adult Education in Ghana: Issuesof Policies, Ideology and Learning 104Michael Ayitey Tagoe

9 Adult Education in Palestine after the Oslo Accords andOperation Protective Edge 119Keith P. Hammond

10 Towards a Learning Society: An Analysis of AdultEducation Policies and Systems in South Korea 132In Tak Kwon

11 Learning the World? Changing Dimensions of AdultEducation and Lifelong Learning in India 148Sayantan Mandal

Part III Interstate and TransnationalOrganizations

12 Lifelong Learning for All Adults? A New Concept for theUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization – Limits and Opportunities for a ChangingIntergovernmental Organization 165Balázs Németh

13 Framing the Adult Learning and Education PolicyDiscourse: The Role of the Organization for EconomicCo-operation and Development 179Kjell Rubenson

14 Adult Education at the World Bank: Poor Cousin or KeyStakeholder? 194Peter Easton and Malaika Samples

15 Towards ‘Utilitarian’ Adult Education Perspectives?A Critical Review of the European Union’s AdultEducation Policy 207Eugenia A. Panitsides

16 The International Council for Adult Education and AdultLearning Policy: Addressing the Gap between Rhetoric andPractice 221Alan Tuckett

Contents vii

17 Conclusion: Global Developments in Adult EducationPolicy 237Tom Nesbit

Index 252

Tables and Figures

Tables

6.1 Mexican YAE in numbers (2010) 756.2 Enrolment and certification on the YAE programmes by

level (2011) 806.3 Adult literacy enrolment and certification (2011) 817.1 Percentage of non-formal education personnel

possessing formal adult education qualifications inBotswana in 1991 97

7.2 Percentage of out-of-school education and trainingpersonnel possessing formal adult educationqualifications in Botswana in 2014 100

8.1 Focal areas of ESP (2010–2020) 11210.1 National organization function for adult education 13710.2 University continuing education centre 141

Figures

6.1 Illiteracy rates (2001–2010): Projection to 2015 and EFAgoals 82

10.1 The organizational structure for adult education inKorea 138

11.1 Organizational chart of the administrative setup foradult education in India 152

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Preface

This book has been conceived to explore recent changes in nationaland international policies of adult education and lifelong learning, andhow they intersect with developments in higher education and cancontribute to debates about citizenship and democracy. Most observersregard both adult and higher education as key to citizenship and democ-racy, and individual countries and international institutions tend tobase their policies on that assumption. However, although compara-tive studies of national higher education policies and approaches arefairly common (e.g., Forest and Altbach, 2010; King et al., 2011; Sloweyand Schuetze, 2012), those that focus more specifically on adult educa-tion are far scarcer. The most recent extensive international study wasconducted during the 1990s (Bélanger and Federighi, 2000). It outlinesthe historical backgrounds and general approaches to adult educationin 24 countries and describes their various legislative and policy con-texts. Overall, the study found increased worldwide demand for adulteducation and provided examples of policy-making models, each repre-senting differing national perspectives, embodying various policies andinitiatives and involving different levels of decision-making. However,it noted that concerns for adult learning only began to be incorpo-rated into official discourses and political legislation in the early 1990sand that they were not regarded as so important as those of othereducational sectors.

Since then, nothing much appears to have changed, at least accord-ing to recent reports by international organizations that cover a greaternumber of countries, albeit in less depth (OECD, 2005; UIL, 2009,2013). For instance, the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education(UIL, 2009) reviewed recent developments in adult education and life-long learning in over 150 of the United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) member states. Although notfocusing specifically on policy issues, the report does state that ‘manynational government education and social policies have not priori-tized adult learning and education as had been expected and hopedfor . . . [or] allocated the necessary financial resources’ (UIL, 2009, 24–25).While recognizing that there are important differences between coun-tries and world regions in the way in which adult education policy

ix

x Preface

is conceptualized and realized, the report identifies several commonfeatures:

Adult education policy is usually subsumed under general educa-tion policies. It is rarely mainstreamed within comprehensive devel-opment frameworks. Adult education policies are incoherent andfragmented – more like a patchwork of measures responding to spe-cific issues than a framework of linked principles and programmes.There are wide gaps between legislation, policy and implementa-tion, with weak relationships between formal policy-making andpractice. Adult education policy-making and reform tend to takeplace in a vacuum: high-level councils and elaborate advisory struc-tures exist, but have little concrete impact, with the risk that thesearrangements become a proxy for implementation. Coordinationof policy and action within government and between governmentand stakeholders is often ineffective–decentralisation to regional andlocal levels is more apparent than real.

(UIL, 2009, 28–29)

Published four years later, the Second Global Report on Adult Learningand Education (UIL, 2013) found little significant change. It noted thatalthough

In some regions the notion of lifelong learning has entered the main-stream of national and trans-national policy dialogue and discourse,both as a strategic goal for education policy reform and as a means toachieve other goals . . . whether that interest is translated into politicalcommitment, matched with resources is another issue. (p. 46)

Although acknowledging that ‘establishing a policy on adult educationis the first step in recognizing the need for and value of learning in adult-hood’ (p. 39), it noted that adult education ‘has not yet systematicallypenetrated international education and development agendas . . . [or]become a policy priority in a large number of national arenas’ (p. 56).The report concluded that ‘the lack of conceptual clarity about adultlearning and education on the one hand, and lifelong learning on theother, already identified in the first Global Report on Adult Learning andEducation (UIL, 2009), still characterizes the majority of national andtrans-national policy-making’ (p. 56).

Despite this, what have changed significantly are the contexts, appear-ance and expression of adult education and lifelong learning, all now

Preface xi

very different from the 1990s of Bélanger and Federighi’s study. In theintervening years, many external factors have significantly affectedthe worldwide development of adult education. The world is certainlyno more peaceful or safe than it was then. Inequalities continue togrow. Economic crises have both proliferated and deepened, threateningdemocratic and financial systems the world over. Although some of themost egregious examples of human-rights abuse are now better knownand finally being challenged, there is still much that remains. Diversityis now more widely acknowledged and respected in principle, althoughits better practice remains elusive and nationalisms are again resurging.Environmental sustainability, now more commonly understood, is stillpoorly and erratically implemented. Work and workplaces have beenso affected by technological innovations and economic uncertaintythat jobs are increasingly shifted from ‘developed’ to less-developed(and cheaper) countries, while workers’ rights and benefits and theirorganizations remain under constant siege (Nesbit and Welton, 2013).

In addition, there have also been several significant shifts in thespecific international and national contexts of adult education policy-making:

• increased awareness of the role of adult education/lifelong learningin enhancing economic growth and social cohesion and mobil-ity, challenging economic and social exclusion and inequality, anddeveloping human and social capital;

• tacit acceptance of informal/non-formal learning and prior learningassessment;

• developments in educational technology and rapid growth of open,distance- and e-learning;

• continued confusion of overlapping terms and descriptors combinedwith a marked shift in focus from education to learning and fromadult education to lifelong learning;

• development of critical policy analysis and appreciation of the con-flicting roles of various types of actor involved in policy formationand implementation;

• enhanced involvement of transnational bodies (e.g., UNESCO,OECD, World Bank, European Union (EU));

• pressure for increased global and national cooperation and competi-tion between educational sectors and institutions;

• demand for more integrated, accessible, relevant and accountableeducational systems and processes, and calls for a stronger alignmentbetween different educational sectors and institutional types.

xii Preface

The latter point is worth greater clarification, particularly in relation tothe overlap between adult and higher education.

Aligning adult and higher education

Adult education and higher education are commonly regarded asdistinct fields of practice and study with separate organizations,structures, funding arrangements and bodies of scholarship (Kreber,2005). However, there is often sizeable convergence between thetwo. Internationally, calls for higher education to align its sys-tems and institutions more closely with adult education approachesand to pursue a key role in developing adult and lifelong learn-ing to better respond to socioeconomic demands began in the1960s. For example, Coombs (1968) argued that more flexibleapproaches to higher education and learning would result in amore learner-centred framework, better responses to social andeconomic demands, and greater help for non-traditional learn-ers. Further, UNESCO’s ‘Nairobi Recommendation’ (see www.unesco.org/education/pdf/NAIROB_E.PDF) called for higher education to pur-sue a key role in developing adult and lifelong learning and proposedthat its member states should

Encourage schools, vocational education and training institutions,colleges and universities to consider adult education programmesas a part of their activities . . . [and] participate in other organ-isations’ adult learning and education programmes, in particu-lar by the involvement of their teaching, training and researchstaff to promote quality services, better access and scientificorientation.

(UNESCO, 1976, 8–9)

The development of lifelong learning has encouraged further attemptsat better aligning higher and adult education. For example, in 1980the European Commission saw a clear danger for higher education instaying intact and opposing any changes that were required by the out-side world. Its A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning claimed that ‘mostof what our education and training systems offer is still organised andtaught as if the traditional ways of planning and organising one’s lifehad not changed for at least half a century’ (EC, 2000, 14). Furtherexamples of contemporary attempts at alignment are provided in sev-eral recently produced handbooks (Aspin et al., 2001, 2012; Jarvis, 2009)that explore the complexities of developing lifelong learning within a

Preface xiii

variety of global and sociohistorical frameworks. For example, severalcontributors note that the massification of higher education has broughtabout increased enrolments of adult and other so-called non-traditionalstudents. This has both stretched existing systemic and institutionalresources and provided opportunities for a variety of responses. In somecases, institutions have implemented parallel paths for traditional andnon-traditional students – for instance, by diversifying educational pro-grammes to address different targets. In other cases, they have optedfor the implementation of ad hoc mechanisms that reflect the diver-sity of targets that are addressed by the same educational programmes.In addition to changes in their student bodies, universities are alsofacing increased competition for scarcer resources, the development ofinstitutional league tables and enhanced competition, and other pres-sures to respond to changes in funding mechanisms, public perception,accountability and social mandates.

Internationally, institutions of higher education are responding,somewhat reluctantly, to these pressures and are slowly modifyingtheir governance structures, promotional activities and general waysof operating towards what one might consider to be more adult edu-cational and learner-oriented approaches. Overall, this has producedmixed results. In developed countries, the impact of changes can beseen clearly in universities that are seeking an enhanced role in regionaleconomic and social development, forming collaborations with otherinstitutions, making knowledge more readily available to all sectors ofsociety, and changing their approaches to access, curricula, teaching,issues of diversity and inclusion, and staff development (Becher, 1993;Bourgeois et al., 1999; Slowey and Schuetze, 2012). However, in less-developed countries, whose governments have fewer resources to devoteto education, changes are being implemented more slowly or not at all.National wealth plays a key role in determining the quality and central-ity of a higher education system, and this places developing countriesat a significant disadvantage by straining their educational systems. As arecent UNESCO report on global higher education claims, ‘in countrieswhere nations struggle to cater to the traditional-age cohort of 18–24-year-olds, the challenge of providing lifelong learning opportunities forbroad swathes of the adult population . . . is daunting’ (Altbach et al.,2009, 133).

Policy imperatives

As the practice of aligning higher and adult education approacheshas developed (albeit inconsistently), so have the policy imperatives.

xiv Preface

Although national policies and approaches to adult education, highereducation and lifelong learning differ between countries, they gener-ally acknowledge that the process of accomplishing personal, social andprofessional development occurs throughout the lifespan, and henceconcentrate on learning opportunities and strategies that support sucha process. Further, Singh (2010) explains that although national reali-ties are divergent, policies for higher education in both the developedand developing world promote the strategic role of higher education insocioeconomic development, both nationally and within regions. Sheidentifies

A growing convergence of official policy discourses on the goals andfunctions of higher education on the one hand, and a wide varietyof implementation environments and policy translations in differ-ent national and regional settings on the other. The convergenceproduces a set of global ‘policy staples’ which includes ideas aboutthe contribution of higher education to socio-economic developmentand social cohesion, increasing and widening participation, andenhancing national and regional innovation capability and compet-itiveness. [However], the variety of settings exposes huge differencesin how policies are interpreted and applied, and what their effectsare, depending on prevailing socio-political, economic and culturalfactors.

(Singh, 2010, 43)

Yet institutional strategies that promote or respond to the increase inenrolment rates of adult students are not only the result of institu-tional choices. They are also framed by the broader policy environmentswithin which educational institutions operate and include both lifelonglearning and adult education policies. Although ‘the state defines adulteducation and is [a] principal beneficiary’ (Torres, 1990), its involve-ment in public policy formation and implementation has fluctuated. Formost of the twentieth century, public policies on adult education wereconsidered to be solely the domain of national states, although ofteninvolving a variety of stakeholders in their formation and implementa-tion (Titmus, 1989; Haddad, 1997). Stakeholders could be drawn froma range of political and bureaucratic institutions: national governmentdepartments, ministries, agencies and provincial/state administrations;local educational authorities; political parties; national professionalassociations; training boards; trade unions; individual institutions,such as universities and colleges; and non-governmental organizations

Preface xv

(NGOs), community and other civil-society groups. A few countrieshave even involved professional adult educators and (to a much lesserextent) adult learners in their policy-formation and decision-makingstructures. Over the last few decades, however, two important changeshave occurred. First, there has been a marked decline in the directinvolvement of adult educators, despite continuing awareness that poli-cies affect most aspects of their work (Griffin, 1987; Thomas, 1987; Hill,2010). Second, there has been a significant increase in the direct involve-ment of interstate organizations in debates about adult learning andeducation (Milana, 2012). These can be manifested through the pro-duction of joint recommendations, declarations and frameworks (e.g.,UNESCO), policy briefs, reports and cross-national survey studies (e.g.,OECD), or communications, conclusions and resolutions (e.g., the EU).In general, adult education, higher education and lifelong learning poli-cies are now receiving increased attention by transnational institutionsand interstate organizations that are calling upon national public andprivate sectors to become involved in, and implement, lifelong learningsystems.

In sum, while completely harmonizing adult and higher educa-tion might be difficult in both practice and intent, recent approachesbased on lifelong learning provide one way of meeting the challenges.We agree with Németh (2011) that higher education institutions canstill better ‘educate adults to qualify them for their complex roles insociety . . . and promote quality research on adult learning and educa-tion and develop active citizenship’ (p. 1). To do so, it is necessary toreview the development of international, national and regional policy-making frameworks for adult education and lifelong learning over thepast decade or so, and to examine the background of how the changingsocial, political and economic environments of higher and adult educa-tion can integrate traditional approaches to adult and lifelong educationto support a more inclusive, socially conscious and learner-centredmodel of higher education and learning.

Reviewing recent developments

Given the shifting nature of policy discourses and the challenges fac-ing the international field of adult education (particularly as it triesto address the rapid changes in the social, economic, environmentaland political spheres), we feel that it is important to critically reviewthe changes that have occurred in the past decade and to assess howfar international, national and regional policy-making frameworks for

xvi Preface

adult education and lifelong learning have developed. And, in orderto overcome any further dichotomization of higher and adult educa-tion, we consider it necessary to pay attention to public policies thattarget adult learners, independently from the learning sites or parts ofthe education systems in which they participate. So our point of depar-ture is adult education as a public policy domain rather than as anacademic or field of practice. We are interested not only in how pol-icy is formed but also in how it is interpreted, translated, mediated andenacted (or resisted) within different regional and national contexts.We also wish, wherever possible, to critically evaluate its effects on sitesof learning, and the professionals and learners within them. However,because we are also interested in any overlaps between the adult andhigher education sectors, we are curious about whether any such actualor potential institutional collaborations existed and whether there wereany positive and/or problematic distinctions between different types ofeducational institution, and questions of sectoral and socioeconomicmobility. Indeed, wherever possible, we seek to uncover examples ofhow a framework that is centred on notions of adult education acrossthe lifespan might surface possible areas for progress and any strategiesto undertake them.

Consequently, we examine a series of basic but fundamental ques-tions: Who makes adult education policy? Where and how is it made?What are the influences and constraints upon it? What is it for? Whathappens to it? How is it implemented or translated into practice? Whatare its effects on sites of learning? How does it affect adult educationprofessionals and learners? We sought answers through, first, descrip-tions of national policies and approaches to policy-making. We selectedten countries, drawing two from each of UNESCO’s five global regions:Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab region and Asia-Pacific. While these countriesshould in no way be considered ‘representative’ of the regions to whichthey belong, a closer look at each raises important issues that are notnecessarily country-specific. To enable this, we tried to ensure a balancebetween countries that are less ‘visible’ in the Anglophone literature(Palestine, Botswana, the Czech Republic, Scotland) and others that aremore familiar (the USA, Brazil, India). We also wanted to reflect a rangeof industrialized/non-industrialized countries, those with existing com-prehensive policies vs. those that are yet to be developed, those thatemphasize economic competitiveness vs. social cohesion, and those thathave a centralized governance system vs. those with more decentral-ized or delegated structures. Also, as adult education is seen as a major

Preface xvii

contributor to socioeconomic advancement, we tried to pick coun-tries with a variety of standard of living, economic health and incomeinequality measurements (based on gross domestic product levels andGini coefficients). Second, recognizing that there were also a number oftransnational organizations that addressed adult education and learningas an explicit object of their policy-making through recommendations,declarations, communications, resolutions, reports and frameworks, weexamined the various perspectives and contributions of five major orga-nizations: UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD), the World Bank, the EU and the InternationalCouncil for Adult Education (ICAE). The authors of each chapter wereselected for their specific country, organization or content expertise,and their broad knowledge and understanding of the variety of interna-tional approaches to, and goals of, adult education. Finally, we sought toprovide a balance of senior and respected academics with more juniorscholars who are now emerging as the next generation of researchersand professionals.

Outline of this book

The book is structured around these various country and organiza-tional examples. First, in the Introduction (Chapter 1), Marcella Milanaaddresses the overall global perspective on adult education policies andprovides a conceptual rationale for the subsequent chapters. From apublic policy perspective on adult education and learning, she arguesthat legislative frameworks and rationales at federal, state or municipallevels are an essential factor in determining whether adult educationand learning opportunities flourish or perish. She also acknowledgesthe importance for adult education and learning policies of gover-nance beyond and across the purview of governmental structures thatoperate within single countries, where state-led institutions and inter-national NGOs play a key role. Finally, she explains why analyses thatare either institution- or country-focused still constitute a preconditionfor governance studies on adult education to grow in future years.

Parts I and II examine governmental policies on adult educationand their effects in individual countries. In particular, Part I (chapters2–6) covers five countries in UNESCO’s regions of Europe and NorthAmerica, Latin America and the Caribbean. First, in Chapter 2, JohnField examines the policies for adult learning in Scotland. He outlinesthe context in which they are developed there and describes currentlevels of participation, provision and public investment.

xviii Preface

In Chapter 3, Martin Kopecký and Michal Šerák discuss the recentdevelopment of adult education policy in the Czech Republic. Theyexplore this in relation to four thematic priorities: political docu-ments on adult education and learning within lifelong education andlearning; legislation; funding of adult education; and actors in policy-making.

Chapter 4 by Marcella Milana and Lesley McBain reviews adult edu-cation policy and policy-making in the USA during the last threepresidential administrations. It argues that these have become entan-gled with welfare and employment issues that stem from alterations infederal–state relations, the expansion of non-traditional policy actorsand the upgrading of education as a national priority.

In Chapter 5, Ana Ivenicki examines the linked roles of higher edu-cation and adult education in Brazil as gleaned from current nationalpolicies and the latest national ten-year educational strategic plan. Sheaddresses the relationship between adult education and higher edu-cation, and suggests that multicultural pedagogical actions should bebetter incorporated into higher education curricula.

In Chapter 6, Raúl Valdés-Cotera considers adult education policies inMexico. He notes that education for young people and adults in LatinAmerica is heavily focused on activities that are designed to addressthe educational, social, economic and cultural disadvantages of thosewho have not completed basic education or who want to increase theiropportunities for labour, citizenship and general development.

Part II (chapters 7–11) examines countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, theArab region and Asia-Pacific. Chapter 7 explores the state of adult educa-tion in Botswana. Idowu Biao and Tonic Maruatona discuss the country’srecent approaches to adult education policy and practice. In particular,they examine the 1994 Revised National Policy on Education that coversliteracy education, adult basic education, distance education and con-tinuing education, and which has guided the implementation of adulteducation in Botswana for the past two decades.

Chapter 8 by Michael Ayitey Tagoe discusses adult education inGhana. It examines various policy texts, especially recent nationalpolicy development documents, and explores how policies have beenformulated and implemented since the 1990s, and the actors involvedin the processes of policy formulation and practice in relation to adulteducation.

In Chapter 9, Keith P. Hammond explores recent adult educa-tion developments in Palestine. He notes that over the past 20years, although adult and continuing education have emerged in the

Preface xix

country, its policies and practices have been shaped by multiple actorsrather than contoured around the actions of the occupiers (control)and the occupied (resistance), with the international community, thePalestinian National Authority, NGOs and the universities all beinginvolved.

Chapter 10 focuses on South Korea. In Tak Kwon reviews nationalpolicies and structures for lifelong learning that have been developedover the last decade, and he explores future prospects for lifelonglearning at the national level. He analyses the complex governmentalpolicies, organizations and structures that have been put in place overthe last decade in order to present a systematic overview of the SouthKorean government’s attempt to move from a vision of lifelong learningto a learning society.

In Chapter 11, Sayantan Mandal examines the changing dimensionsof adult education and lifelong learning in India. He notes that althoughthe country has had a philosophically rich understanding of lifelonglearning for centuries, this perception seems to have been changing rad-ically in recent years through such factors as globalization, the influenceof international organizations, the changing national socioeconomicsituation and an ambition to become a ‘knowledge society’.

Part III (chapters 12–16) concentrates on institutions, such as inter-state and transnational organizations, that play a key role in adulteducation global polity. In Chapter 12, Balázs Németh examines theinfluential role of UNESCO. He explores some of its activities and ini-tiatives with a view to underlining and exploring how the organizationhas used its policy-making potential to strengthen adult learning andeducation.

Next, in Chapter 13, Kjell Rubenson considers the role of the OECD.He explains how the organization and its policies reflect broaderglobal political economic trends, then examines how these trends haveinformed the OECD’s discourse on adult and lifelong learning over thepast two decades.

Chapter 14 by Peter Easton and Malaika Samples examines the WorldBank’s policies on education and details its changing priorities overrecent years. Since the 1970s the World Bank has become a major driv-ing force in educational development throughout large regions of thedeveloping world, although the authors consider its policies concerningadult education to have been quite mutable and tentative.

In Chapter 15, Eugenia A. Panitsides reviews recent EU adult educa-tion policy development. She notes that adult education, in the widercontext of lifelong learning, has come to the fore as a contemporary

xx Preface

panacea, being inextricably related to attaining ‘smart, sustainable andinclusive growth’.

Chapter 16 by Alan Tuckett addresses the gap between rhetoric andpractice in examining the role of the ICAE in developing adult learningpolicy, and he explores the broader role of civil society in monitoring theimplementation of agreements and fostering creative community-basedresponses in defence of adults’ right to education.

Finally, the Conclusion by Tom Nesbit pulls together and summa-rizes some of the key ideas that are identified in the earlier chapters.He further analyses some of the main issues that have emerged and dis-cusses some implications for the future development of adult educationpolicies and practices.

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Kreber, C. (2005) ‘Higher Education’ in L. M. English (ed.) International Encyclope-dia of Adult Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 278–283.

Milana, M. (2012) ‘Globalisation, Transnational Policies and Adult Education’,International Review of Education, 58, 777–797.

Németh, B. (2011) ‘CONFINTEA VI Follow-up and the Role of University LifelongLearning: Some Issues for European Higher Education’, International Review ofEducation, 57, 107–125.

Nesbit, T. and M. Welton (eds) (2013) Adult Education and Learning in a PrecariousAge: The Hamburg Declaration Reconsidered (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass).

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2005)Promoting Adult Learning (Paris: OECD).

Singh, M. (2010) ‘Higher Education Research: Global Themes and Local Settings’in Higher Education and Society: A Research Report (London: Open UniversityCentre for Higher Education Research and Information), pp. 42–49.

Slowey, M. and H. G. Schuetze (eds) (2012) Global Perspectives on Higher Educationand Lifelong Learners (New York: Routledge).

Thomas, A. M. (1987) ‘Policy Development for Adult Education’ in W. Rivera(ed.) Planning Adult Learning: Issues, Practices and Directions (New York: CroomHelm), pp. 57–64.

Titmus, C. (1989) ‘Comparative Adult Education: Some Reflections on the Pro-cess’ in J. Reischmann, M. Bron and Z. Jelenc (eds) Comparative Adult Education1998: The Contribution of ISCAE to an Emerging Field of Study (Ljubljana: SloveneAdult Education Centre), pp. 33–50.

Torres, C. A. (1990) The Politics of Nonformal Education in Latin America (New York:Praeger).

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)(1976) Recommendation on the Development of Adult Education Adopted by theGeneral Conference at Its Nineteenth Session, Nairobi, 26 November.

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) (2009) Global Report on AdultLearning and Education (Hamburg: UNESCO).

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) (2013) Second Global Report on AdultLearning and Education: Rethinking Literacy (Hamburg: UNESCO).

Contributors

Idowu Biao is Professor of Lifelong Learning at the University ofBotswana. His previous positions include Deputy Director and AG Direc-tor of the Institute of Extra-Mural Studies at the National University ofLesotho.

Peter Easton is Associate Professor of Comparative and InternationalEducation at Florida State University, USA, and co-editor of the Compar-ative Education Review. He spent several years in West Africa working onadult literacy and vocational education before becoming a research asso-ciate in Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute and then afaculty member in the university’s Adult Education and InternationalEducation graduate programmes, functions that he has performed forthe last 25 years.

John Field is a professor in the School of Education, University ofStirling, UK, and visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London,UK. He has written widely on the social, political and historical aspectsof adult learning. His books include Working Men’s Bodies: Work Campsin Britain, 1880–1939 (2013) and Social Capital (2003).

Keith P. Hammond worked for over 20 years in adult education atthe University of Glasgow, UK, and is an associate of the Centre forPalestine Studies in the School of Oriental and African Studies, Uni-versity of London, UK. A frequent visitor to Palestine, he maintainsclose connections with Palestinian universities. Having now retired, heteaches and coordinates some of the Palestine and Middle East work inGlasgow’s Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network and is pursuing aPhD in international law.

Ana Ivenicki is a professor in the Department of Educational Stud-ies at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a researcherfor the Brazilian Research Council. She holds a PhD in educationfrom the University of Glasgow, UK, and her research interests includemulticultural and comparative education, lifelong learning and teachereducation.

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Notes on Contributors xxiii

Martin Kopecký is a lecturer in the Department of Adult Educationand Personnel Management in the Faculty of Arts, Charles Universityin Prague, Czech Republic. He holds a PhD in pedagogy and adult edu-cation from the university and lectures in sociology, the sociology ofeducation, the philosophy of education and adult education policy. Hisresearch interests focus on educational politics and its development inthe processes of Europeanization and globalization.

In Tak Kwon is a professor in the Adult Education Program in theDepartment of Education at Chonbuk National University, South Korea.He is Vice President of the Korean Society of Study of Lifelong Educa-tion, Vice President of the Korean Federation for Lifelong Education anda consultant to the Korean government in the area of adult educationpolicies.

Sayantan Mandal is a policy analyst who specializes in lifelong learn-ing and higher education. He has worked at the UNESCO Institute forLifelong Learning (UIL) in Hamburg, Germany, as an intern and at theUniversity of Delhi, India, as guest faculty. His works are published invarious national and international journals and books.

Tonic Maruatona is Professor and Head of the Department of AdultEducation at the University of Botswana. He has published numerousarticles and book chapters about various aspects of adult educationin Botswana and previously served on the Governing Council of theUniversity of Botswana.

Lesley McBain is a doctoral student at the University of California, LosAngeles, USA. She was formerly the senior research and policy analystfor the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and herresearch interests include higher education policy and governance, adulteducation and veterans education.

Marcella Milana is an associate professor at Aarhus University,Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a joint editor of the International Jour-nal of Lifelong Education, and her work deals with the politics of adulteducation in a globalized world. She is co-editor (with John Holford) ofAdult Education Policy and the European Union.

Balázs Németh is a researcher on European adult and lifelong learningpolicy development and comparative adult education. He is Associate

xxiv Notes on Contributors

Professor and Reader in Adult and Lifelong Learning at the University ofPécs, Hungary, where his main research topics include politics and adulteducation, comparative adult education, the history of institutionaliza-tion and movements of modern European adult education from 1850to 1950.

Tom Nesbit recently retired from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver,Canada, where he was Associate Dean of Lifelong Learning. He is a for-mer editor of the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education; hismost recent books are Adult Education and Learning in a Precarious Age:The Hamburg Declaration Reconsidered (co-edited with Michael Welton,2013) and Building on Critical Traditions: Adult Education and Learning inCanada (co-edited with S. Brigham, N. Taber and T. Gibb, 2013).

Eugenia A. Panitsides is an adjunct lecturer at the University ofMacedonia and the Supreme School of Pedagogical and TechnologicalEducation, Greece. She is also Collaborating Educational Personnel inthe Hellenic Open University and the National School of Public Admin-istration, Greece. Her research interests include EU education policy,the private and social impact of participation in lifelong learning, andquality provision and assessment of adult education programmes.

Kjell Rubenson held the first chair in Sweden in adult education beforemoving to Canada, where he has just retired as Professor of Educationat the University of British Columbia and Co-Director of the Centre forPolicy Studies in Higher Education and Training. His most recent bookis Adult Learning and Education (2011).

Malaika Samples is a doctoral student in educational policy and evalu-ation at Florida State University, USA, and a researcher and programmecoordinator for an academic programme in public administration. Herresearch interests have broadened from k–12 school administration toprogramme improvement, educational non-profits and administrativescience. These interests reflect her interdisciplinary background withdegrees in multicultural/multilingual education and public administra-tion. The focus of her doctoral research is the overall improvement ofhigher education academic programmes.

Michal Šerák is a lecturer in the Department of Adult Education andPersonnel Management at Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague,Czech Republic. He holds a PhD in pedagogy and adult education from

Notes on Contributors xxv

the university and lectures in the non-vocational education of adultsand adult education policy. His research interests focus on educationalpolitics and the history of adult education.

Michael Ayitey Tagoe is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Continu-ing and Distance Education, University of Ghana. He teaches researchmethods, the philosophy of adult education, and programme planningand evaluation. His research interests are adult literacy, lifelong learningand participatory research methodologies.

Alan Tuckett is President of the ICAE (since 2011), and a visiting pro-fessor at the universities of Leicester and Nottingham, UK. He worked asan adult education practitioner in England before leading the NationalInstitute of Adult Continuing Education in England and Wales from1988 to 2011. He helped to start the adult literacy campaign in the UKin the 1970s and Adult Learners’ Week, which now takes place in 55countries.

Raúl Valdés-Cotera has worked in the UIL in Hamburg, Germany, asa programme specialist since 2008. His work has been focused on thedevelopment of strategies for improving the implementation of adultlearning and education policies. He holds a PhD in education.

Abbreviations

ACBS Academic Credit Banking SystemAES Adult Education SurveyASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsASPBAE Asian South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult

EducationBDP Botswana Democratic PartyCCSS Common Core State StandardsCEBA Basic Education Centres for AdultsCEC Commission of the European CommunitiesCedefop European Centre for the Development of Vocational

TrainingCERI OECD Centre for Educational Research and InnovationCLD Community Learning and DevelopmentCNE National Council of EducationCONEVAL Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de Políticas de

Desarrollo SocialCONEVyT El Consejo de Educación para la Vida y el Trabajo

(National Council of Education for Life and Work)CONFINTEA International Conference on Adult EducationCPE Continuing Professional EducationCPP Convention People’s PartyCTE Career and Technical EducationCZSO Czech Statistical OfficeDANIDA Danish International Development AgencyDFID Department for International DevelopmentEBRI Evidence-Based Reading InstructionEC European CommissionED and DOS US Department of Education and US Department of

StateEFA Education for AllEHEA European Higher Education AreaES Education ScotlandESF European Social FundESP Educational Strategic PlanEU European UnionEUCEN European Universities Continuing Education Network

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List of Abbreviations xxvii

FERA Federal Emergency Relief AdministrationFISC International Civil Society ConferenceGACER Global Alliance on Community-Engaged ResearchGDP Gross Domestic ProductGNP Gross National ProductGPRS I Ghana Poverty Strategy: An Agenda for Growth and

ProsperityGPRS II Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2006–2009GSGDA Ghana Shared Growth and Development AgendaHDI Human Development IndexHEA Higher Education ActHRD Human Resources DevelopmentIBE International Bureau of EducationIBGE Instituto de Brasileiro Geografia e EstatísticaIBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and

DevelopmentICAE International Council for Adult EducationICJ International Court of JusticeICT Information and Communication TechnologyIDA International Development AssociationILT Information and Learning TechnologyIMF International Monetary FundINEA National Institute for Adult EducationINEGI National Institute of Statistics and GeographyKEDI Korean Educational Development InstituteLEA Lifelong Education ActLFS Labour Force SurveyLGE General Education LawMDG Millennium Development GoalsMEC Ministry of EducationMEST Ministry of Education, Science and TechnologyMEVyT Modelo de Educación para la Vida y el Trabajo

(Education for Life and Work Model)MEYS Ministry of Education, Youth and SportsMHRD Ministry of Human Resource DevelopmentMIBI Modelo Intercultural Bilingüe Integrado

(Intercultural Integrated Bilingual Model)MOE Ministry of EducationMOGEF Ministry of Gender Equality and FamilyNDC National Democratic CongressNDP National Development Plan

xxviii List of Abbreviations

NFED Non-Formal Education DivisionNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNIACE National Institute of Adult Continuing EducationNILE National Institute for Lifelong EducationNKC National Knowledge CommissionNPE National Plan of Education (Brazil)NPE National Policy on Education (Botswana)NPP New Patriotic PartyNRS National Reporting SystemOCTAE Office of Career, Technical, and Adult EducationODG Office of the Director GeneralOECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

DevelopmentOEI Organization of Ibero-American StatesOMC Open Method of CoordinationOVAE Office of Vocational and Adult EducationPCI Planning Commission of IndiaPIAAC Programme for the International Assessment of

Adult CompetenciesPISA Programme for International Student AssessmentPLOS The Public Library of SciencePNDC Provisional National Defense CouncilPNGO Palestinian Non-Government Organizations

NetworkPROEJA National Program for the Integration of

Professional Education and Basic Education forYoung People and Adults

PROUNI Programa Universidade para Todos (ProgrammeUniversity for All)

PSE Programa Sectorial de EducaciónRNPE Revised National Policy on EducationSASA Sistema Automatizado de Seguimiento y

Acreditación (Automated Monitoring System andAccreditation)

SDG Sustainable Development GoalSDS Skills Development ScotlandSECADI Secretary of Continuing Education, Literacy,

Diversity and InclusionSFC Scottish Funding Council for Further and Higher

EducationSNP Scottish National Party

List of Abbreviations xxix

STAR Student Achievement in ReadingTVSD Technical and Vocational Skills DevelopmentU3A University of the Third AgeUGC University Grants CommissionUIE UNESCO Institute for EducationUIL UNESCO Institute for Lifelong LearningUN United NationsUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

OrganizationUSAID United States Agency for International DevelopmentVET Vocational Education and TrainingWEA Workers’ Educational AssociationWEF World Economic ForumWIA Workforce Investment Act of 1998WIOA Workforce and Innovation Opportunity ActWSF World Social ForumYAE Youth and Adult Education