George K. Zarifis – författare

This edited volume will give readers an in-depth grasp of the dynamics and intricacies of the field of adult education and provide an investigation of the journeys of adult educators, exploring how their experiences shape and influence their learning and teaching methods.Focusing on the professional lives of adult educators and the core meanings that they attach to their experiences, the book uses a narrative approach to unfold the depth and complexity of the varied backgrounds and experiences that adult educators bring with them into the adult learning arena. Split into three parts, Part 1 sets out some key theoretical and methodological insights into narrative inquiry and underlines its (phenomenological) power to illuminate (oft hidden and conflictual) encounters. In Part 2, ten adult educators tell their stories of working in diverse adult education settings across eight European jurisdictions: Cyprus, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland. In Part 3 readers are presented with the opportunity to reflect again on, and ‘read into’, these stories. Here, a number of narrative lessons are given that prompt readers to recall and reimagine forms of knowledge, values and practice that are distinctively innate to the profession. These include lessons about identity formation, cross-cultural learning, resistance and activism, coping with professional vulnerability, embracing experiential learning, acknowledging gender and broader power dynamics, discovering the power of storytelling, managing the emotional labour of adult education, and navigating growing institutional constraints.Ideal reading for all those working in adult education, this book can be used to inform new directions and recommendations for the most effective research, policies, and practices, and, seminally, be used to reimagine how we (re-)conceptualize professional teaching and learning in this field.

This edited volume will give readers an in-depth grasp of the dynamics and intricacies of the field of adult education and provide an investigation of the journeys of adult educators, exploring how their experiences shape and influence their learning and teaching methods.Focusing on the professional lives of adult educators and the core meanings that they attach to their experiences, the book uses a narrative approach to unfold the depth and complexity of the varied backgrounds and experiences that adult educators bring with them into the adult learning arena. Split into three parts, Part 1 sets out some key theoretical and methodological insights into narrative inquiry and underlines its (phenomenological) power to illuminate (oft hidden and conflictual) encounters. In Part 2, ten adult educators tell their stories of working in diverse adult education settings across eight European jurisdictions: Cyprus, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland. In Part 3 readers are presented with the opportunity to reflect again on, and ‘read into’, these stories. Here, a number of narrative lessons are given that prompt readers to recall and reimagine forms of knowledge, values and practice that are distinctively innate to the profession. These include lessons about identity formation, cross-cultural learning, resistance and activism, coping with professional vulnerability, embracing experiential learning, acknowledging gender and broader power dynamics, discovering the power of storytelling, managing the emotional labour of adult education, and navigating growing institutional constraints.Ideal reading for all those working in adult education, this book can be used to inform new directions and recommendations for the most effective research, policies, and practices, and, seminally, be used to reimagine how we (re-)conceptualize professional teaching and learning in this field.

This open access book sheds light on a range of complex interdependencies between adult education, young adults in vulnerable situations and active citizenship. Adult education has been increasingly recognized as a means to engage and re-engage young adults and facilitate their life chances and social inclusion thus contributing to an active citizenship within their societal contexts. This collection of chapters dealing with issues of social inclusion of young people represents the first book to explicitly approach the complex interdependencies between adult education, young adults in vulnerable situations and active citizenship from the European perspective. Social exclusion, disengagement and disaffection of young adults have been among the most significant concerns faced by EU member states over the last decade. It has been increasingly recognised by a range of stakeholders that there is a growing number of young people suffering from the various effects of the unstable social, economic and political situations affecting Europe and its neighbouring countries. Young adults who experience different degrees of vulnerability are especially at risk of being excluded and marginalised.  Engaging young adults  through adult education has been strongly related to addressing the specific needs and requirements that would facilitate their participation in social, economic and civic/political life in their country contexts. Fostering the active citizenship of young people, both directly and indirectly, is an area where many AE programmes overlap, and this has become a core approach to integration.This book considers social, economic and political dimensions of active citizenship, encompassing the development of social competences and social capital, civic and political participation and the skills related to the economy and labour market. The cross-national consideration of the notions of vulnerability, inclusion and active citizenship  underpins the complexity of translating these concepts into the national contexts of adult education  programmes.

This book critically reflects on the context in which lifelong learning policies and practices are organized in Europe with contributions of researchers and policy makers in the field. Through a critical lens the book reinterprets the core content of the messages that are conveyed by the European Commission in the “Memorandum for Lifelong Learning”, the most important policy document in the area, which after a decade from its publication still remains the vehicle for all current developments in lifelong learning in Europe. With references to research findings, proposed actions, and applications to immediate practice that have an added value for Europeans –but which either do not appear to correspond directly to what is stipulated by the European Commission, or are completely ignored as part of the lifelong learning process– the book offers an analytic and systematic outlook of the main challenges in creating the ‘European Area of Lifelong Learning’. In times as decisive as the ones we are going through today (both in social and economic terms), a critical perspective of the practices and policies adopted by the EU Member States is essential. The book follows the same structure as the Memorandum in order to debate and critically approach in separate sections the core issues that Europe faces today in relation to the idea of making a ‘European area of Lifelong Learning’. ​