Participation Research. Canberra Papers in Continuing Education, New Series 5.

Overview & Synopsis

This monograph contains five studies of participation in adult education. The first paper, "Participation in Organised Adult Education: A Review of the Literature" by R. J. Sumner, examines a selection of studies conducted in England, the United States, and Australia. Chris Duke's paper which is entitled "Participation Research," discusses patterns of participation in adult education in Australia and the implications for educational policy. The third paper, "Barriers to Participation in Adult Education" by Kjell Rubenson, examines situational, dispositional, and institutional barriers to participation in education and proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing barriers. Doug MacLean's paper, "Theories and Models of Participation in Adult Education," addresses the issue of the lack of attention to the role of theory in adult education and analyzes various models for participation in adult education that have been proposed by Boshier, McClusky, Cross, and Darkenwald and Merriam. The final paper, "Adult Education Participation on the North Coast of New South Wales" by R. J. Prater, studies involvement in adult education in three types of Australian communities. (MN)