On the Concept and Academic Discipline of Adult Education. ZIFF Papiere 52.

N

27

Adult Basic Education; Adult Education; Adult Students; College Programs; Continuing Education; Distance Education; Educational Philosophy; Educational Practices; Educational Theories; Educational Trends; Foreign Countries; Intellectual Disciplines; Lifelong Learning; Postsecondary Education; Student Characteristics

This paper presents an overview of adult education from a philosophical viewpoint. Topics covered include the concept and academic discipline of adult education, theoretical attempts to delineate the academic discipline of adult education, university study of adult education, and a comparison of plans and reality in the field of adult education. The paper concludes that adult education is the designation of any educational activity with which earlier educational activities are continued, thus including literacy programs and similar work in developing parts of the world with adults who have had no formal schooling, but have profited from other types of education. Adult education as almost universally understood today is concerned with liberal arts, languages, science, technology, and occupational subjects. Various methods and media are applied to adult education, among them primarily those of group learning and distance education. These activities are being investigated at many universities within the framework of the academic discipline of adult education. University curricula for adult education have become common. Their core is adult learning, and their target subjects include the life conditions of adult students, analysis of educational and training needs, counseling, curricular studies, and methodologies. A 59-item reference list concludes the document. (KC)

1988

ED290010