Abstract

In this module you are introduced to a number of ideas related to adult and community education, and especially to the link between community education and community development. The presentation of this module is different to what you may be used to from other modules on this course. The core of the module consists of a three units, four academic papers on topics related to adult and community education written by theorists and practitioners in the field, two units related to rural literary writers, and the assignment. The papers cover a range of ideas related to the development and practice of adult and community education. The papers were written originally either as articles for academic journals or as presentations at academic conferences. You may find some of the content challenging. For this reason, a “companion” text is provided for each paper to set the context and to give you some guidance. This companion includes the following: • A brief introduction to each paper. • An outline of some of the ideas raised. • Questions for you to consider when reading the paper. • Links to additional web-available resources to supplement information in the papers.