This open access book looks into the roles and practices of small and micro-enterprises in formal and informal economies across seven countries and one territory in terms of how they contribute to environmental and sustainable development and green skills promotion. By taking into account the perspectives in these four sectors, catering, automotive, waste management and polyvinyl chloride production, this book maps environmental green practices in the region, identifying mechanisms used to assess existing skills (i.e. knowledge, skills and competencies), and evaluating the potential for green skills inclusion in recognition, validation and accreditation.

"This book is refreshingly personal and studded with insightful case study examples. It is a timely and major contribution to the literature of adult education."
--Jack Mezirow, professor emeritus, Adult and Continuing Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

"A brilliant tribute to the value of teachers intentionally guiding students to sharpen what I believe Howard Gardner has named intrapersonal intelligence."
--Margaret Holt, assistant professor, University of Georgia, Athens

"A valuable contribution to the growing dialogue centering around narrative approaches to education, autobiographical learning, and ways in which autobiographical activities stimulate personal growth and transformative learning."
--Marsha Rossiter, associate director, Division of Continuing Education and Extension, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

This is the first professional guide to using educational biography with adult learners. It offers engaging anecdotes and narratives, insightful interpretations and analyses, and numerous examples of different biographical approaches. Written for practitioners who conduct adult educational programs in formal or informal settings, this book can help teachers, trainers, career counselors, and human resource professionals to empower learners in assuming greater responsibility for their education and development. Pierre Dominice draws valuable lessons from his work with educational biography to describe the multiple ways in which adults think and learn. His explorations help educators to stay focused on learning and not just teaching.

Traditional educational approaches are increasingly ineffective for the needs of today's learners and society more generally. A new personalised learning solution is required which incorporates an expanded view of education incorporating human rights and capabilities, alongside the traditional human capital educational model. This book considers the policies, pedagogy and practice required to achieve this critical transformation. It extends traditional functional learning approaches, based on behavioural, experiential, dialogic and participatory learning, to place the learner at the centre of their learning. By defining the principles of personalised learning and mapping out future opportunities, Ward makes a captivating argument for a new way of learning, based on improved teacher and learner agency, self-regulated learning, personalised learning and metalearning. This book considers a broad range of educational concepts involving the learning person. By combining our learning environment, performance, capabilities and expertise with discussions of personalised learning design, technology and policy, it equips readers to reflect on how they learn currently, and how we might all learn in the future.

Development of Adult Thinking is a timely synthesis and evaluation of the current knowledge and emerging issues relating to adult cognitive development and learning. Focusing on psychological and educational cutting-edge research as well as giving an overview of the key theorists such as Piaget and Kohlberg, Kallio and the team of expert contributors offer a holistic view on the development of adult thinking, representing perspectives from developmental, moral, and social psychology, as well as education and philosophy. These topics are divided into three sections: Adult cognitive and moral development, Perspectives of adult learning, and Open questions and new approaches, offering introduction, analysis, and directions for future research. This text is essential reading for students and researchers in developmental psychology and related courses as well as adult educators and teachers working in adult education.

This practical book explores creative ways of teaching and learning in the lifelong learning sector and provides a toolkit of creative teaching approaches with the potential to transform your teaching practice. Drawing on various techniques and diverse environments the book illustrates a variety of approaches, offering insights and conclusions drawn from a rich range of practice examples and highlighting the potential pitfalls of creative practices. The book tackles crucial issues such as: The characteristics of a creative tutorBoosting your creative confidence, and that of your learnersCreative methods to excite and engage learnersConstructing a creative sessionDeveloping resilience and self-care strategies Throughout the book there are activities, reflection points and extension tasks, as well as the frequent use of symbols and cross-referencing notes to help you see the links between sections. Creative Teaching Approaches in the Lifelong Learning Sector will appeal to trainee and experienced teachers working in the lifelong learning sector, including further and higher education, work-based learning, and adult and community settings. "So much more than a manual or menu of how to bring creativity into teaching, this book will be refreshing for experienced lecturers, trainers and teachers, and an inspirational as well as reassuring font of ideas for those new to the role. In addition to presenting practical ideas for individuals to use, Brendon Harvey and Josie Harvey's book is uniquely valuable in addressing institutional challenges that can face those introducing new creative ways of working, as well as providing counsel on how the lecturer/trainer/teacher can protect their own well-being when stepping into creative territory." Dr Clare Rigg, Head of Department of Business, Hotel, Catering & Tourism, Institute of Technology Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland"Brendon and Josie have drawn on their wealth of experience to co-author a practical teaching guide to meet the needs of 21st century learners in the Lifelong Learning Sector.It is an excellent guide for both those new to teaching and also those seeking to meet the challenges of becoming more creative and using new technologies and social media more effectively in their professional practise. For the new teacher, there is a welcoming section addressing some of the anxieties which may be present before and during the early stages of practise as well as great examples of what to include in a creative session without breaking the bank! The final section focuses on creativity within the organisational context and introduces us to the 'Trojan Mouse' and the benefits of action research.This is a recommended read for anyone looking to update their practice." Debbie Fletcher, Vice Principal of Leeds City College"Drawing on their own experiences, as shared with us in the stories of their respective journeys from the world of traditional teaching and training methods and environments to that of creative active engagement of and with learners, the Harveys provide valuable insights into and a practical guide for learning facilitators in a variety of contexts to take or enhance their own journeys into the use of Creative Approaches in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Complete with stories, cases, and examples supported by provocative thinking points and activities and exercises for learning facilitators, this is a must-have resource. Consistent with their message, this is a creatively written and presented practical guide that inspires outside-the-box thought and action eschewing any attempts to provide "recipes" but rather championing the need for diversity of methods and approaches based on learners, setting, context, and other variables." Tony G. LeTrent-Jones, Adjunct Professor, University of North Carolina, USA, and Elon University, USA

This book provides an up-to-date and critical analysis of contemporary issues and debates in the lifelong learning sector (LLS)The themes are presented in an accessible format, and are underpinned by recent research as well as policy analysis. The authors examine significant issues in the LLS today including inclusive practice, the employability agenda, the curriculum in the LLS and research-led teaching. There are practical strategies and reflective tasks that encourage readers to become critical, questioning practitioners. Other helpful features include: Learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapterLinks to QTLS standardsCase studies End of chapter summariesFurther reading and useful websites It is essential reading for trainees on QTLS programmes and is also important reading for education students and qualified staff undertaking CPD.

This book presents the most comprehensive discussion of emerging trends in higher education in the Asia Pacific, ranging from graduate attributes to integrated workplace learning, with an in-depth focus on work readiness, employability and career development. It draws on the relationship between graduate attributes and employability, as well as vocational training or internship programs. It offers theoretical and empirical analyses that institutions, decision-makers or academics can work on together to enhance job employability. This volume will also include issues such as development of emerging and employability skills, as well as directions for the changing nature in real-world settings. The book consists of contributions from experienced international authors, offering detailed insights for those who want a timely understanding of the latest trends in higher education.

Global Issues and Adult Education brings together seven years of cutting-edge research and analysis from the Cyril O. Houle Scholars in Adult and Continuing Education. These emerging leaders in the field investigate the importance of adult education in responding to the challenges of global issues. The book is divided into five sections, each of which examines one overarching topic-globalization and the market economy, marginalized populations, environment and health, community empowerment, and lifelong learning and educational systems. Each section begins with an introduction that provides a framework for understanding the overarching issues and summarizes the chapters in the section.

This book presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of the Reflective Goal Setting model, its theoretical framework and origins, and its practical applications for personal development, improved coping and reduced stress, academic growth and performance and leadership. Divided into three parts, the author begins by examining the particular importance of personal development, and in particular soft and interpersonal skills development. It addresses the limitations of current personal development and leadership education and training for the transfer of learning, before outlining how Reflective Goal Setting fulfils this need. It presents a critical review of Goal Setting Theory and approaches to reflective practice that demonstrates how the Reflective Goal Setting model was developed from, and builds upon, these earlier approaches. Drawing on original research and illustrative case studies, the author details the cyclical five step process of the Reflective Goal Setting model across 5 chapters - forming Part 2 of the book. Part 3 examines the practical applications and impact of using Reflective Goal Setting, employing illustrative case studies from a variety of settings including higher education, professional development and executive education. This innovative work will provide a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners in Organisational and Industrial Psychology, Education, and Business and Management and indeed anyone who wants to work on their own personal development.

A lively, step-by-step approach to training the trainers of adults. Using numerous examples from a variety of settings, author Jane Vella compels instructors to critically examine their old teaching model and discover a new experience in education.

Assessment is a value-laden activity surrounded by debates about academic standards, preparing students for employment, measuring quality and providing incentives. There is substantial evidence that assessment, rather than teaching, has the major influence on students learning. It directs attention to what is important and acts as an incentive for study.

This book revisits assessment in higher education, examining it from the point of view of what assessment does and can do and argues that assessment should be seen as an act of informing judgement and proposes a way of integrating teaching, learning and assessment to better prepare students for a lifetime of learning. It is essential reading for practitioners and policy makers in higher education institutions in different countries, as well as for educational development and institutional research practitioners.

This book is based on the Life Design paradigm and discusses the efforts made to overcome the matching paradigm between individuals and their work contexts, in order to guarantee the adoption of an active role for future career planning. Starting from the evolution of career counselling and vocational guidance in the 20th century and then following the more updated reflections in the Life Design paradigm, this book discusses research results from the Larios Laboratory (Padova, Italy) in collaboration with numerous international colleagues and institutions. These results show that career counselling and vocational designing can not only help people to plan their future in agentive ways, but also to help them getting out of the 'mists of the present' and to project themselves into a future that is yet to be created. This future is aligned by the world of research and international institutions, such as the UN and WHO, and follows the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with particular attention to Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8 and 12. This book reveals how trajectories can be created from one's own mission, realized with the help of others and newly acquired strengths. It shows how career counselling and vocational designing can help people to build their own future from an inclusive and sustainable perspective, based on social justice, and to help build a better future for all.

Jerold W. Apps draws on twenty-five years of experience researching and teaching leadership and leadership development to provide adult educators with a blueprint for developing a profoundly different approach to leadership--one that is all-embracing of ideas and people, capitalizes on diversity, and remains open and responsive to change.

Waking up to the reactivity of concepts, to their myriad possibilities for signification, to the range and strength of affective responses they provoke, can happen at any time, in any place. Conceptual contestations shake up the comfortably consolidated foundations of sociological knowledge production, but they also have consequences for the ways in which lives are understood, researched and legislated for. This book is dedicated to exploring the definitional politics which surround the concept of gender in 'live' knowledge production. While conferences remain an under-researched phenomenon, this volume places conference knowledge production under the spotlight; conferences, in particular national women's studies association conferences in the UK, the US and India, are explored as sites where definitional politics play out. The cumulative theorisation of 'live' conceptual knowledge production that is developed throughout the book draws on established constructs such as performativity, citationality, intersectionality, materiality and events, but works with them in combination in a new, unique way. The book as a whole calls for more attention to be paid to conceptual knowledge production, so as to make more space for potentially transformative conceptual change.

This book provides a lively introduction to the theory and research surrounding adult learning of English by speakers of other languages. Offering an accessible discussion of contemporary debates, the book examines a wide geographical and social spread of issues, such as:
- How to understand the universal characteristics of learning an additional language
- What makes a 'good' language learner
- Multilingualism and the taken for granted assumptions about monolingualism
- Learning the written language
- Learners coping with oral communication outside the ESOL classroom
- The effect of recent Government immigration policy on language learning processes.
As a majority of adults learning ESOL are made up of communities of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, the diversity of social and personal histories of the learners is a critical dimension of this unique book. The question 'what is the relationship between themental processes of language learning and the social and cultural contexts of learning?' is one that threads through the entire text, bringing in discussion of types of classroom and language teaching methodologies.
Full of practical activities and case studies, this book will be essential reading for any basic skills teacher undertaking a course of professional development, from GNVQ through to post-graduate level.

Informal Learning at Work reflects the growing interest in changing the way the workplace encourages and enhances learning and professional development. Due to societal, economic, and technological developments, organisations face the pressure of growing knowledge-intensity and the need for innovations. As a result, employees are expected to adapt to new situations and constantly update their skillsets within an increasingly challenging environment. This book brings together cross-disciplinary perspectives from leading international researchers, drawing on a range of theoretical and empirical studies. Extensively researched and expertly edited, this new addition to the EARLI New Perspectives on Learning and Instruction series outlines the starting points for future research, and highlights the benefits and implications for those aiming to foster informal learning at work, covering areas such as: professional judgement improving the structure of work tasks facilitating innovative work behaviour the place of informal learning within teaching Informal Learning at Work presents original quantitative and qualitative studies as well as integrative analyses of worldwide research and is an invaluable introduction to this highly topical subject.

This book presents and advocates for a framework of competing epistemologies and conceptions of ethics as a way of understanding modernist lifelong learning. These epistemologies are grounded in a recognition of the normative nature of knowledge that informs lifelong learning; each being framed by a different account of the sort of knowledge that is most valued and therefore foregrounded in lifelong learning policy, provision and engagement informed by the epistemology. Each epistemology is also characterised by its constituent conception of ethics. Four such epistemologies and conceptions of ethics are here recognised as having been important in the lifelong learning movement to date: disciplinary, developmental, emancipatory, and design. The authors argue that assumptions about knowledge and moral positions constitute a powerful but not well-understood feature of such arguments: awareness of these assumptions and positions could serve to powerfully advance the overall understanding of what is at stake in lifelong learning and adult education at all levels.

This book guides student researchers through the different stages of small-scale or practitioner research, a common component of study for students training to work in the lifelong learning sector. The authors look at the entire research journey, from planning a research topic and framing research questions, through the process of data collection and analysis, to writing up and presentation.

Using a step-by-step approach the book tackles common thorny issues such as: Understanding the different genres of research Discussion of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research The importance of forming research questions and of locating them within current research literature How to do a literature review Dealing with permissions, access and ethics The nuts and bolts of research methods Interpreting data and writing up research findings Together with case studies and examples of real-life research projects that have been completed by the authors' own students, this book tackles research in a student-friendly and accessible style, carefully unpacking and defining the different terms, concepts and theories that students need to know when beginning research for the first time.

This book is essential reading for students who are training to work in the lifelong learning sector or practitioners who are undertaking CPD to maintain their license to practice.

""Many teachers training in the lifelong learning sector, as well as those going on to do foundation, honours and masters degrees in education, find the prospect of carrying out educational research for the first time daunting. Thus far, they have been reliant on generic educational research textbooks. Jonathan Tummons' and Vicky Duckworth's excellent work now guides them clearly and supportively through the research journey in a way which is underpinned by the authors' deep understanding of both the sector and nature of the challenge of the research task to the student, using an informal and accessible written style."
Andy Armitage, Head of the Department of Post-Compulsory Education at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

"This book combines sound practical advice with an exploration of the philosophical and methodological concepts underpinning educational research. Often drawing on the authors' own experiences, it makes a convincing case for the practitioner as researcher and draws clear and appropriate attention to the purposes, uses and dissemination of small scale research."
Susan Wallace, Professor of Continuing Education, Nottingham Trent University, UK "

What is mentoring? What makes a teacher a mentor?
From Teaching to Mentoring is an argument for the power, practicality and the basic good of a simple educational idea. The authors advocate a sound, comprehensive and lifelong education, shifting the emphasis of the learning process to the needs of the student. Whilst heeding traditional criteria of educational excellence, they ask for profound educational and political transformations:
* Teachers become collaborative inquirers with their students
* Students become skilled and lifelong independent learners
* Academic institutions become learning communities embracing the full diversity of human curiosity and experience.
The book covers discussion on what mentoring is, and why it is now so much in demand. It details the distinctive features of mentoring, including asking questions, students' reflections and responses and collaborative curriculum planning.
Drawing upon two decades of extensive research and practice, and using a variety of illuminating case studies, the authors offer a stimulating and thorough examination of mentoring. This combination of theory and practice will be invaluable to anyone involved in the teaching of adults in further and higher education, as well as university administrators, programme directors and developing and training officers.

This handbook offers an expanded discourse on transformative learning by making the turn into new passageways to explore the phenomenon of transformation. It curates diverse discourses, knowledges and practices of transformation, in ways that both includes and departs from the adult learning mainstay of transformative learning and adult education. The purpose of this handbook is not to resolve or unify a theory of transformation and all the disciplinary contributions that clearly promote a living concept of transformation. Instead, the intent is to catalyze a more complex and deeper inquiry into the "Why of transformation." Each discipline, culture, ethics and practice has its own specialized care and reasons for paying attention to transformation. How can scholars, practitioners, and active members of discourses on transformative learning make a difference? How can they foster and create conditions that allow us to move on to other, unaddressed or understudied questions? To answer these questions, the editors and their authors employ the metaphor of the many turns into passageways to convey the potential of transformation that may emerge from the many connecting passageways between, for instance, people and society, theory and practice, knowledge created by diverse disciplines and fields/professions, individual and collective transformations, and individual and social action.

The Development of the Mechanics' Institute Movement in Britain and Beyond questions the prevailing view that mechanics' institutes made little contribution to adult working-class education from their foundation in the 1820s to 1890. The book traces the historical development of several mechanics' institutes across Britain and reveals that many institutes supported both male and female working-class membership before state intervention at the end of the nineteenth century resulted in the development of further education for all. This book presents evidence to suggest that the movement remained active and continued to expand until the end of the nineteenth century. Drawing on historical accounts, Walker describes the developments which shaped the movement and emphasises the institutes' provision for scientific and technical education. He also considers the impact that the British movement had on the overseas development of mechanics' institutes - particularly in Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand. The book concludes with a discussion of the legacy of the movement and its contribution to twentieth-century adult education. The Development of the Mechanics' Institute Movement advances the argument that the movement made a substantial contribution to adult education for the working classes and provided a firm foundation for further education in Britain and beyond. It will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of education, history and sociology, as well as the philosophy of education, technical and vocational education, and post-compulsory education.

This new and exciting text is aimed at informal educators involved in youth work, community work and adult education and health promotion. The contributors explore the principles and practice of informal education and focus, in particular, on the notion of 'working with' which is central to practice, in this sector. The book argues for an approach which is relevant to a number of professional fields and which focuses on a way of working rather than upon a specific target group.
The book looks at the role of an educator in informal education and youth work settings. Comprehensive and analytical, it looks at social, cultural and political contexts of education. The authors discuss the practical side of teaching from the setting, programme planning and communication to activity-based work, one-to-one case work, formal group work and managing the work load. Finally the book analyses developing professional practice, the use of line management and supervision, and evaluation of work.

This book compels professionals to actively imbibe self-awareness in their thought process in order to help them manage complexities in business. The authors explore dialectical thinking -in contrast to logical thinking-and introduce a new mind-opening thinking process called "Metathinking". Four case studies demonstrate the application of Metathinking. The reader shall come across, and learn from, a multitude of mind opening questions on a variety of topics, with particular focus on leadership and transformation. Practical exercises are also offered for training and discussion in the workplace.

While knowledge can be liberating, what counts as knowledge is contestable. Drawing on her experience in adult education, research and feminist theory and practice, Jean Barr mounts a radical challenge to current orthodoxies in adult learning and continuing education and proposes a programme of research which is geared to articulating urgent problems with people other than academics. Running through the book is the recognition that methodology underpins all theory-making. Questions of whom we hear, whom we address and how, are key methodological, epistemological and political issues. How these questions are answered is crucial to the kind of theory or knowledge which is produced. The guiding metaphor is that of 'healing the breach' between 'words and things' and between forms of knowledge which are usually separated in our culture: cerebral and emotional understanding; literary and scientific knowledge; knowledge developed 'from above' or 'from below'. "Liberating knowledge" will appeal to those interested in a radical and democratising education which reaches beyond the academy. It is particularly relevant to participants and tutors of women's studies who wish to cross the boundaries between arts, social science and natural science, and to those involved in community-based adult education.