The Profession and Practice of Adult Education: An Introduction - Softcover

Merriam, Sharan B.; Brockett, Ralph G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470181532 ISBN 13: 9780470181539

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2007

Synopsis

The Profession and Practice of Adult Education is a timely book and an excellent introduction to the field. Drawing from an extensive volume of literature, it provides comprehensive coverage and a clear guide. Graduate students will benefit from it and practitioners will be kept abreast of changes that are occurring.
--Peter Jarvis, professor of continuing education and senior research professor, University of Surrey, United Kingdom

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

This book fills the gap for a comprehensive, authoritative introduction to the field of adult and continuing education. Two of the most respected authors in the field, Sharan B. Merriam and Ralph G. Brockett, provide an insightful analysis of this rapidly developing field and a thorough grounding in its guiding concepts, purposes, and practices of programs. Comprehensive in scope, The Profession and Practice of Adult Education, offers a philosophical overview of adult education, clearly defines the field and its development, reviews goals and purposes, outlines the delivery of programs by agencies and organizations, examines major concepts and trAnds, and presents a vision for the future.Merriam and Brockett examine the role professional associations, literature and information resources, and the academic preparation of adult educators play in the ongoing professionalization of the field. They explore such critical questions as What are the objectives to achieving unity in a field as diverse as adult education?, and Are there advantages for adult education aligning itself more closely with education? Should the primary focus be on the individual or society? The authors take a broader global perspective on the troublesome issue of opportunity, access, and participation.The authors explore the area of adult education outside the mainstream of practice by examining who nontraditional educators are and what they do. They place special emphasis on social change as an objective of adult education. The book also touches on adult education as a forum for the international exchange of ideas and experiences and reveals what the field is like in other parts of the world. In the concluding chapter, Merriam and Brockett offer a vision of the future of adult education for the next millennium.

From the Back Cover:

The Profession and Practice of Adult Education

This book provides a comprehensive, authoritative introduction to the field of adult and continuing education. Two of the most respected authors in the field, Sharan B. Merriam and Ralph G. Brockett, provide an insightful analysis of this rapidly developing field and a thorough grounding in its guiding concepts, purposes, and practices of programs. This new paperback edition contains a new Preface and Epilogue which consider developments in five areas―globalization, interface between human resource development and adult education, holistic conceptions of adult learning, critical adult education and diversity, and the current state of the profession―which have influenced adult education in the past decade.

"A comprehensive and readable overview of the field of adult education that will be useful to neophyte and seasoned adult educators, scholars, and reflective practitioners." ―Dr. Jovita M. Ross-Gordon, professor and program director, Adult, Professional and Community Education, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas

"Drs. Merriam and Brockett combine their wealth of knowledge and experience in the field to deliver this clever, accurate, highly readable, and practical text." ―Dr. Lorraine A. Cavaliere, dean of education and associate professor, Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania

"For those wanting to see where adult education has been, where it has gotten to, and where it might be going, Merriam and Brockett's survey offers a great place to begin a critical reading of a complex field of theory and practice." ―Arthur L. Wilson, professor of adult education in the Department of Education, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

About this edition

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0470181532
• ISBN 13: 9780470181539
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 396