Thematic Issue: "Transformations in Adult Education. New sights, new practices"
The existence of diverse views about adult education, its aims and goals, have always been present. Barros (1974) asked himself if education is utilitarian or liberating, Jarvis (1986) differentiated between an education from above and an education from below. The most remarkable and well know classification was done by Freire (1985) that differentiated between banking and liberating education.
In the specific case of adult education, there are, at least two main trends about what adult education must be. We can remember here how Condorcet (e.g. Lucio-Villegas, 2005) aspired to build a permanent education to prepare good citizens to the new republic. On the other hand, aristocratic reactions are, for instance, in the United Kingdom (see Cipolla, 1970) or in Spain (Viñao, 1990) by imposing limitation to the right to adult education. People were considered only a manpower and subject without rights.
Taken into account this historic evolution it is possible to understand the changes and transformations in the field and practices of adult education in the last 25 years. From proposals of an adult education that enable people to obtain an elementary education, or an adult education looking for a comprehensive education that allow individuals and communities to develop their personal and collective creation and their expressive capacities, we have travelled to an adult education mainly focus on the labour market. This is the discourse about skills and competences, and not about knowledge - really useful knowledge - that help people to create bonds among them and with their environment in a perspective of social creation and by building relationships for the life and also for the work.
In the same direction we can explain the issues regarding citizenship and democratic participation in a historical and social time in which we witness the increase of antidemocratic forces each time more present and more powerful in the political and quotidian life. Surprisingly, they are using democratic skills as the democratic vote.
For that, perhaps it could be important to initiate a reflection about the relations between adult education and the social, historical and cultural life. This reflection shall include a profound review about the changes in adult education in the last 25 years and how these changes have influenced the theory, the practice, and the research.
ReferencesBarros, R (1974). La educación ¿utilitaria o liberadora? Madrid: Marsiega.
Cipolla, C. (1970). Educación y desarrollo en Occidente. Madrid: Alianza.
Freire, P. (1985). Pedagogía del Oprimido. Madrid: Siglo XXI.
Jarvis, P. (1986). Sociología de la Educación Continua y de Adultos. Barcelona: El Roure
Lucio-Villegas, E. (2005). Cuestiones sobre educación de personas adultas. Sevilla: Tabulador Gráfico.
Viñao, A. (1990). Historia de un largo proceso. Cuadernos de Pedagogía, 179, 45-50.
We invite scholars, researchers and practitioners of adult education to reflect and sumbit their practices and research in the following themes:
- Changes and transformations in adult education in the last 25 years.
- Policies and practices in the field
- Tension and contradictions between a general and comprehensive education and the training devoted to the labour market.
- The endless matter of literacy
- The role of the practitioners
- Relations between adult education and Communities.
Articles can be submitted in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
DeadlinesTo submit an article: September 30, 2017
Acceptation: by the end of November 2017
Issue will be published in 2018
Articles must contain between 30,000 and 40,000 characters including spaces, references, etc.
For further information and instructions to authors visit http://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/rleducacao/about/submissions
