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This volume contains a collection of selected papers submitted to the 19th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) held in June 2021. The 19th BCES Conference theme is "New Challenges to Education: Lessons from around the World." The book includes 40 papers written by 66 authors from 15 countries. The volume starts with an introductory piece co-authored by Zoltán Rónay and Ewelina K Niemczyk. The other 39 papers are divided into 6 parts representing the thematic sections: (1) Comparative and International Education & History of Education; (2) International Organizations and Education; (3) School Education: Policies, Innovations, Practices & Entrepreneurship; (4) Higher Education & Teacher Education and Training; (5) Law and Education; and (6) Research Education & Research Practice. The papers included in this year's conference volume outline a variety of challenges all actors in the education process (students, teachers, administrators, policy decision makers) at all levels of the education systems have recently faced. Readers can find conceptual and empirical studies, quantitative and qualitative methods, descriptive and analytical approaches, and even pessimistic and optimistic authors' views. This volume presents how novel concepts, ironical definitions, and provoking considerations are born in difficult times, when restricted life meets unrestricted spirit. [Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]

This book examines different notions of a learning society and the changes in adult education theory and practice that will be required to create a learning society. Recent developments in the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, in other countries are cited as evidence that creating a learning society will require new forms of thinking about the theory and practice of adult education. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's six chapters: the relationship between discourse, power, knowledge, and governmentality; poststructuralism and postmodernism; economic, cultural, technological, and demographic changes that have contributed to the growth in interest in the notions of a learning society and lifelong learning; implications of the recent shift from focus on inputs (adult education and its provision) to focus on outputs (learning and learners); ways provision of adult education has changed to support access and participation, open and distance learning, and assessment and accreditation of outcomes in an increasing number of learning settings; the adoption of neo- and post-Fordist models of organizational development and the role of the reflective practitioner as a model for professional development; and contemporary trends and differing notions of a learning society. The bibliography contains 431 references. (MN)

This book contains 19 papers on 20th century thinkers in adult and continuing education. The book is arranged in four parts as follows: early 20th century English thinkers; early 20th century American thinkers; theorists of adult and continuing education; and theorists of adult education and social change. The following papers are included: "Introduction: Adult Education--An Ideal for Modernity?" (Peter Jarvis); "Albert Mansbridge" (David Alfred); "Basil Yeaxlee and the Origins of Lifelong Education" (Angela Cross-Durrant); "R. H. Tawney--Patron Saint of Adult Education" (Barry Elsey); "John Dewey and Lifelong Education" (Angela Cross-Durrant); "E. L. Thorndike" (W. A. Smith); "Eduard Lindeman" (Stephen Brookfield); "Robert Peers" (Stella Parker); "Cyril O. Houle" (William S. Griffith [updated by Peter Jarvis]); "Malcolm S. Knowles" (Peter Jarvis); "Roby Kidd--Intellectual Voyager" (Alan M. Thomas); "K. Patricia Cross" (Carol E. Kasworm); "Chris Argyris--The Reluctant Adult Educator" (Karen E. Watkins and Jacqueline A. Wilson); "Donald Schon" (Ron Cervero); "Moses Coady and Antigonish" (John M. Crane); "Horton of Highlander" (John M. Peters and Brenda Bell); "Paulo Freire" (Peter Jarvis); "Ettore Gelpi" (Colin Griffin); "Women in Adult Education--Second Rate or Second Class?" (Mal Leicester); and "Conclusion: Adult Education at the End of the Twentieth-Century" (Peter Jarvis). (All papers include substantial bibliographies.) (MN)

These 15 papers share a common theme: seeking to promote literacy as a powerful tool for challenging existing inequalities and dependencies. "Powerful Literacies" (Jim Crowther et al.) is an introduction. Section 1 establishes the theoretical and policy frameworks that underpin the book and shows how literacy is situated in different geographical places, domains, and cultural contexts. "Contexts for Literacy Work" (Brian V. Street) shows a range of discourses that affect both what we understand literacy to be and our approaches to it. "Powerful Literacies" (Mary Hamilton et al.) offers an overview of the policy context within which the developments described in the rest of the book need to be understood. Section 2 is concerned with reflecting on power in terms of the vision behind "empowering initiatives" and with the limitations on what has been achieved because of powerful forces in society. "Signatures and the Lettered World" (Jane Mace) explores the personal significance of being able to write your own name and the power that this embodies. "The Role of Literacy in People's Lives" (Geraldine Castleton) examines the way literacy needs are defined by state agencies and professional groups in Australia who invariably construct homeless people as deficient and requiring training to reach literacy levels assumed to be valued and unproblematic. "Dyslexia and Adult Literacy" (Hugo Kerr) addresses the power of labeling and its consequences in a critique of the literature on developmental dyslexia. "Form-Filling as a Social Practice" (Marcia Fawns, Roz Ivanic) raises the issue of disempowerment and surveillance through a consideration of the politics of official forms. "Literacy, Literacies, and Adult Basic Education and Training in South Africa" (Catherine Kell) sketches an overview of the key developments in policy and provision in adult literacy.""Democracy as a Way of Life" (Jim Crowther, Lyn Tett) argues that literacy can contribute to democracy as a way of life. Section 3 discusses how learners and teachers can be repositioned as active subjects and citizens rather than passive objects. "The Politics of Really Useful Literacy" (Ian Martin, Habibur Rahman) positions adult literacy in the process of collective struggles against inequality and injustice in Bangladesh. "Speaking as Equals to Professionals" (Catherine Jamieson) looks at a small-scale practical attempt to equalize power relationships by working in partnership with service users to develop literacies that value difference. "Empowering Literacy Learners and Teachers" (Fiona Frank) discusses the right of access to knowledge, including the infrastructure and use of communication technology. "Using Scots Literacy in Family Literacy Work" (Alan F.P. Addison) situates literacy in a discourse of cultural politics and how adult learners are positioned negatively by this. "Challenges to Sharing Power in Adult Literacy Programs" (Mary Norton) addresses developing more democratic interpersonal encounters. "Multiple Literacies in Practice" (Sue Gardener, Ann Janssen) shows how bilingual communities in east London are positioned in public policy as having language problems rather than being language resources. Papers contain references. (YLB)

This document contains 11 papers about the potential for progressive educational practice in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. "Editorial" (Mae Shaw, Jane Thompson, Liam Bane) discusses the tradition of common purpose in education and the need to tackle social exclusion, educate for active citizenship, and promote lifelong learning and adult and community education. "Returning to the Northern City" (Jane Thompson) discusses current social, economic, and political conditions in the working class neighborhood where she grew up in Northern England. "Contesting Citizenship" (Ian Martin) explores competing traditions of citizenship, learning democracy, linking the local and the global, and stretching the policy discourse. "Making Connections" (Ursula Coleman) considers the nature and purpose of adult education in the Irish context during the first decade of the 21st century. "Learning for Active Citizenship" (Jane Pillinger) explains how growing concerns about the demise of democratic participation in political and civil life has led to new adult education initiatives across Europe. "The Emancipation of Hope" (Paul Nolan) focuses on adult learning and peace building in Northern Ireland and considers the issues of learning and unlearning, community, workplace, and women's groups. "Scotland's Parliament, Civil Society, and Popular Education" (Eurig Scandrett) examines community educators' response to recent constitutional changes in Scotland, with special attention to land reform, gay rights, and the ambiguity of civil society. "The POWER Story" (Margaret Martin) reports on a partnership of two women's organizations and two educational institutions in Ireland. "Inclusive Rhetoric, Exclusive Reality" (Usha Brown) considers the impact of British government policies to reduce poverty. "Reclaiming a Progressive Tradition: A View from South Africa" (Jonathan Grossman) explores changes, continuities, and challenges facing the progressive tradition in South Africa. "Popular Education and the Landless People's Movement in Brazil" (Liam Kane) traces the development of Brazil's Landless People's Movement and discusses its lessons for the United Kingdom. The Scandrett paper contains a substantial bibliography. (MN)

This book contains 12 papers that trace the connections and tensions between the original aims and forms of cultural studies in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the current settings, goals, and methodologies of cultural studies. The following papers are included: "Introduction" (Nannette Aldred and Martin Ryle); "Marginal Occupations: Adult Education, Cultural Studies, and Social Renewal" (Tom Steele); "'Politics by Other Means'? Or, Teaching Cultural Studies in the Academy Is a Political Practice" (Richard Johnson); "'Relevant Provision': The Usefulness of Cultural Studies" (Martin Ryle); "The Marginalisation of Literature in the Teaching of Culture" (Angeliki Spiropoulou); "Relativism and Utopianism: Critical Theory and Cultural Studies" (Kate Soper); "Whither Cultural Studies?" (Jim McGuigan); "Teaching Queerly: Politics, Pedagogy, and Identity in Lesbian and Gay Studies" (Andy Medhurst); "Teaching Women's Studies: Whose Experience?" (Jane Elliott); "Cultural Studies and Cultural Practice: An Interview with Eddie Chambers" (Nannette Aldred); "A Postcolonial Pedagogy: Questions of Difference and the 'Ethical Horizon'" (Christina Lupton and Heiko Henkel); "The Value of Theory in Defining Culture in Northern Ireland" (David Butler); and "Education for What? The Politics of Pedagogy in Cultural Studies" (Alan O'Shea). (Many papers contain substantial references.) (MN)

This collection of 21 essays reviews the context of developments in adult education in the last 15 years. "Adult Education for Change in the Nineties and Beyond" (Marjorie Mayo) is a critical review of the context for these changes and of the theoretical debates that attempt to analyze and explain them. "Challenging the Postmodern Condition" (Paula Allman, John Wallis) offers a specific challenge to postmodernism in relation to adult learning. "Are We Not More Than Half the Nation?" (Julia Swindells) argues that focus on the relationship between independent working men's movements and adult education has tended either to exclude or distort recognition of the importance of women's education. "Cultural Struggle or Identity Politics" (Tom Steele) argues that the seed of a cultural struggle in Britain after World War II found fertile ground among adult educators. "Radical Adult Education" (Hilda Kean) explores the tradition of working-class reading to examine the way in which socialists and feminists saw education as a mechanism for the development of the self. "Piecing together the Fragments" (Martin Yarnit) focuses on the education of adults as a vital part of the whole national apparatus of education and training. "Competence, Curriculum, and Democracy" (David Alexander, Ian Martin) reflects the authors' experience of the current process of professionalism within the field of adult and community education in Scotland. "Really Useful Knowledge" (Katherine Hughes) describes the history of the Ruskin Learning Project. "All Equal Now?" (Rebecca O'Rourke) reflects on some concerns about the changing context for radical adult education. "Feminism and Women's Education" (Jane Thompson) looks at the contribution of feminism to recognition of "really useful knowledge.""Making Experience Count" (Wilma Fraser) focuses on programs that emphasize reflection on experience. "The Dying of the Light?" (John McIlroy) offers a radical look at trade union education. "Learning in Working Life" (Keith Forrester) outlines difficulties in provision of educational programs by trade unions. "Popular Education and the State" (Keith Jackson) explores the contribution adult education might make "in the community.""Beyond Subversion" (Mae Shaw, Jim Crowther) argues that broad dissatisfaction with the current orthodoxy provides an opportunity for a radical agenda to be reasserted. "Training the Community" (John Grayson) focuses on the field of tenant training. "Seizing the Quality Initiative" (Cilla Ross) identifies ways in which radical adult education practice can be redefined and remade. "Amman Valley Enterprise" (Sonia Reynolds) describes adult education and community revival in the Welsh valleys. "Formal Systems" (Chris Duke) focuses on those who adhere to a radical vision while working within the formal organization. "Adult Learning in the Context of Global, Neo-Liberal Economic Policies" (John Payne) looks at experiences in the London Borough of Wandsworth and in Nicaragua. "Popular Education in Northern Ireland" (Tom Lovett) describes the Ulster People's College. (Each article contains references.) (YLB)

This book contains nine papers on the development of education for older adults in the United Kingdom and Canada against the background of an aging population and the challenge of lengthening life expectancy. "Foreword" (David James) presents an overview of the book's contents and underscores the importance of motivation to learning in later life. "The Education for Older Adults 'Movement': An Overview" traces developments in self-help education for older adults, including university-of-the-third-age and continuing education programs. The following are among the topics discussed in "Some Critical Implications": lifelong learning; critical theory; the functionalist paradigm; the context of old age; liberation and empowerment; hegemony; andragogy; and critical educational gerontology. "Critical and Educational Gerontology: Relationships and Future Developments" (Chris Phillipson) considers critical gerontology in relation to the crisis of old age, the issue of identity, the self in old age, and emancipation. "Changing Attitudes to Ageing" examines age-related stereotypes and strategies for changing attitudes toward aging. "Education for Older People: The Moral Dimension" (Robert Elmore) argues that access to educational gerontology should become a public policy priority. "Critical Educational Gerontology and the Imperative to Empower" (Sandra Cusack) operationalizes the concept of empowerment in the areas of leadership training and mental fitness and identifies techniques to empower older learners. "Educational and Social Gerontology: Necessary Relationships" explores the relationship between education gerontology and social gerontology. "The Debate Continues: Integrating Educational Gerontology with Lifelong Learning" (Alexandra Withnall) considers issues in the debate surrounding the philosophical and emerging theoretical approaches to educating people who are beyond working age. "Teaching and Learning in Later Life: Considerations for the Future" makes a case for further development of the theoretical basis of educational provision for older adults. The bibliography contains 207 references. (MN)

This book examines literacy for sustainable development in the age of information. It begins by discussing the relationship between literacy and hegemony, social policy, national language policy, colonial relations, and postcolonial realities. Also discussed in the introduction are views and definitions of literacy and considerations in mapping a typology of literacy. Part 1 explores the theoretical frameworks of literacy and the disparate ways literacy has featured in academic discourse. Part 2, which focuses on older literacy discourses and practices within the framework of the nation-state, contains chapters devoted to the following issues: (1) literacy as a social practice in terms of its relationship with institutions, political systems, structures, and processes within the nation-state; (2) historical links between literacy and social development; and (3) lessons from the mass literacy campaigns that featured in the drive for modernization in the 1970s. Part 3, which considers the impact of globalization on literacy concepts and definitions, addresses the following topics: (1) technological and cultural transformations; (2) changing definitions of "text" within the information society; (3) conceptualizing literacy, knowledge, and power in the information society; and (4) moving toward "communicative competence" for democratic participation in the information society. (Ten tables/figures are included. The bibliography lists 317 references.) (MN)