Education or quick fix to crises? The goal of Adult Education in Iceland ; Menntun eða úrræði? Stefnumótun íslenska ríkisins um fullorðinsfræðslu

This article is part of a general revision of the Adult Education Act nr 27/2010 in Iceland in 2023. The article discusses Icelandic government policies for adult education and how they have changed since 1974. The article compares the future visions of international institutions and the Icelandic government in this field and strives to answer how these analyses can build a useful value base for current policymaking. The article builds on a discourse analysis of various Icelandic laws and bills, vision documents from the Icelandic government, and international policy documents from UNESCO and OECD. The article looks into five bills addressing adult education, two of which never passed as law. One of the bills is the current Adult Education Act from 2010 (Adult Education Act no. 27/2010). The aim is to analyse how the purpose and value of adult education have been defined in legislative proposals and how they reflect the discourse on education in a changing context. The study shows that the legislative proposals resulted from different perspectives on the role of education for individuals and society, which are related to, e.g., the fourth industrial revolution, information technology, labour market, and social needs. The study also points out that the legislative proposals were subject to political influence and that adult education has yet to be able to establish itself as an independent field in the education system. The analysis explores the education discourse from three different conceptual perspectives: Fundamental ideologies such as bildung, technocracy, and schoolification. The target groups of the education, i.e. individuals, societies, or the labour market. The prioritisation and exclusion of groups within education. The research findings illustrate the evolution of adult education laws in Iceland. By analysing the scope and objectivities of these laws, their educational and political goals become clear, emphasising individual and societal growth, equal access to education, and catering to specific ...