Learning for Life: Canadian Readings in Adult Education

K. Lynn Taylor is coordinator of the Instructional Development Program
in the Centre for Higher Education, University of Manitoba.

Such factors as global market forces, economic objectives, financial
constraints, and new communication technologies are challenging adult
educators to examine their traditional values, philosophies, and
practices, and to take an active role in developing a vision capable of
guiding the wide range of initiatives that constitute contemporary adult
education. This collection of readings by leading Canadian scholars in
adult education provides a critical perspective on the future of adult
education in Canada.

Individual readings illuminate the critical shifts in the social
context for adult education and the subsequent changes in adult
education purposes and practices. Collectively, the authors challenge
those trends in the adult education community that have contributed to a
sense of instability and lack of direction in the field. They also
challenge their readers to reassess their personal philosophies of adult
education, the purposes for which they engage with learners in adult
education, and their visions for the future of adult education.

Alan Thomas captures the spirit of the volume when he titles a chapter
“Learning Our Way Out.” Learning for Life provides a basis for
learning our way out of some of the dilemmas facing contemporary adult
education.