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JACE: Abstracts

Volume 10, Number 1, 2004

Lifelong Learning and Active Citizenship in a Global Society: an analysis of European Union Lifelong Learning Policy
Peter Jarvis, University of Surrey

Globalisation and Europeanisation are changing the nature of the nation state and, therefore, of citizenship itself. This article briefly reviews this process. Thereafter the article concentrates on the way that the European Commission’s policy documents on lifelong learning have argued that employability and active citizenship should be the outcomes of lifelong learning. These relationships, it is argued, are more complex than the policy documents suggest

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Quality Management In Lifelong Learning: can a stakeholder approach to involvement make a difference?
Rob Mark, Queen’s University Belfast

Interest in the debate about quality management has grown substantially in recent years. Educators of adults want to improve their practices: they are searching for new ways of measuring success that are inclusive and which take account of views of different interest groups. This article examines the involvement of stakeholders in the management of quality. An example of a stakeholder quality framework developed in the field of adult literacy is presented and a model used for implementation of the framework is discussed. The framework and model are seen as part of an evolving process and the benefits and limitations are discussed. The approach is characterised as participatory and bottom-up: the quality framework evolves through negotiation. It provides an alternative to models where definitions of quality are handed

down within organisations.

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Illiteracy in Greece: presenting and confronting the problem
Athina A. Sipitanou, University of Thessaloniki

The term illiteracy refers to a multilateral and constantly evolving issue that continues to take on alarming dimensions in the present day. During each modern historical period the factors responsible for its emergence and maintenance have been diverse and have had no national peculiarities. Illiteracy today presents itself as a particularly persistent problem in Greece, which has consistently concerned international organisations during the last five decades. The present study initially adopts a historical perspective, since it observes, records and diachronically interprets the problem of illiteracy in Greece, while also incorporating a comparative dimension, attempting to approach the issue as it has presented during various historical periods in Greece by making brief examinations of other societies. Finally, the study makes a reference to certain measures taken both through the Greek educational system and by other adult education organisations to confront this problem.

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An Appraisal of the Adult and Non-Formal Vocational Education Programmes in Kano: implications for Northern Nigeria
Sabo A. Indabawa,Bayero University

This paper examines vocational adult education concepts, issues and problems in the context of Kano State, Nigeria. It has been pointed out by a number of commentators that vocational education practices and problems have some relatively universal commonalities across Europe, the USA and developing countries such as Nigeria. State-sponsored vocational adult education programmes in Kano State, Nigeria can open up opportunities for the current generation of local skilled technicians who can consequently earn more and contribute to the overall effort towards poverty reduction in society. Similar trends in the values, prospects and difficulties faced in Kano’s vocational adult education programmes are found in the other 18 northern states of Nigeria. Therefore, the possible solutions recommended for Kano can have wider implications and relevance for all the northern states of Nigeria.

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How often do preschool teachers in Greece use NT And ICT in their classrooms? a study of continuing education needs
Jenny Pange, University of Ioannina

During the last five years one of the main goals of Educational Departments in Greece has been to prepare teachers who, amongst other tasks, must be able to apply New Technologies to their everyday teaching and use Information and Communication Technologies to retrieve information about many classroom activities. This study refers to the courses taught on New Technologies and Information and Communication Technologies, at a postgraduate level, in a continuing education programme, at the Department of Pre-school Education at the University of Ioannina, Greece. It also discusses the use of New Technologies by in-service pre-school teachers as well as their expectations of the application of New Technologies to kindergartens. Their suggestions for better training in the use of New Technologies during their undergraduate studies, and the problems of applying them in the classroom, are also presented.

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Teaching and Learning at a regional level: a case study of the promotion of change at the University Of Debrecen
Anikó Kálmán,University of Debrecen

The year 1989 was a turning point in the history of Hungary. Many fundamental changes have since taken place in the country’s teaching and learning at a regional level. This paper summarises the current problems of traditional university education in Hungary and then relates them to the roles of lifelong learning centres. After showing why these centres are needed, this paper describes their functions and means of support, either by the state or by other organisations. The position in the author’s region and the role of the Lifelong Learning Centre in Debrecen are then described in more detail and the key issues that remain for the education of adults in Hungary are outlined.

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Adult Education and Training in Ireland
Marie Morrissey and Gerry McNamara*, National University of Ireland, Galway and *Dublin City University, Dublin

This paper focuses entirely on Irish adult education and training. During the 1990s and at the start of the new millennium, several reports and policy papers on education and training were produced by the Irish Government, some of which were reflections on policy and practice. Appropriate education and training provision for adult students and those in work has featured either as the central or a lesser theme in these publications. The purpose of this paper is to review these key publications concerning adult education and training with a view to elucidating the broad direction of recent policy in the field in Ireland.

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