Adult Education in Europe: same same?

The European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (RELA) is a refereed academic journal creating a forum for the publication of critical research on adult education and learning.

The journal examines issues in adult education in Europe within a broader global context. How different is adult education in Australia? Are they tackling the same barriers to effective practice as us? Where does adult education fit in term of policy?

...narrowing of the field of adult education: on the one hand, forgetting values that centrally gave birth to it, such as social emancipation and critical action and thought; on the other hand, using adult education as an instrument to mould workers to the new labour market, while legitimating the instrumental character of the neoliberal free market.

Leesa and Jim on the Skills Australia Report

There’s an interesting item on Radio National about the Skills Australia discussion paper Creating a future direction for Australian vocational education and training released last week. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalinterest/stories/2010/3051916.htm Leesa Wheelahan (University of Melbourne) and Jim Barron (CEO Group Training Australia) were interviewed about the Skills Australia report on Radio National. Key messages were: 1. TAFE has had to do more with less funding (rather than coasting). 2. Increasing student fees will not have a big impact because they only represent 4.5% of total revenue. 3. We need to shift the training culture so that businesses view training as an investment rather than a cost. 4. TAFE is more than a provider. Government has to invest in institutions to build knowledge and capacity building. The report is available http://www.skillsaustralia.gov.au/PDFs_RTFs/discussionpaper-creatingnewdirectionforVET.pdf