Planning Adult Learning

Planning Adult Learning: Issues, Practices, and Directions. William M. Rivera, ed. Wolfeboro, New Hampshire: Croom Helm U.S., 1987. 189 pp. $35.00 hardcover. Available from publishers at 27 South Main Street, Wolfeboro, NH 03894-2069.

This book presents three related themes involved in planning adult education: (1) political aspects, (2) planning practices of agencies and organizations (at state, national, and international levels), and (3) practical and conceptual directions in planning adult education.

A nontechnical overview of issues involved in planning adult education is developed explicitly in this book. Different approaches to adult education policy making and planning are presented by distinguished practitioners at the state and national levels in the U.S. and by international organizations.

Five major themes emerge in the presentation of issues, practices, and strategies: (1) importance of the form of government when planning education for adults, (2) organization of agency operations - whether planning is centralized or decentralized, (3) mechanisms and procedures for long-range government planning, (4) coordination and cooperation among educational providers, and (5) scope and limitations of terminology relating to the field.

This book is aimed at stimulating discussions of practitioners, policy makers, and the public about the scope and control of adult learning now and in the future. It opens up new horizons of thinking about adult learning which before have appeared conceptually confusing and politically uncertain.

Discussions resulting from this book could have a great impact on the future of adult learning practices and directions.