International dictionary of adult and continuing education

228 Pages·2005·1.725 MB·English

by  Peter Jarvis, Arthur L Wilson

International Dictionary of
Adult and Continuing
Education
PETER JARVIS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH A L WILSON
First published in 1990 by Routledge
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
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Revised edition published in hardback in 1999 by Kogan Page
Published in paperback in 2002 by Kogan Page
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with
the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned
addresses:
Kogan Page Limited
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London N1 9JN
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Stylus Publications Inc.
22883 Quicksilver Drive
Sterling VA 20166–2012
USA
© Peter Jarvis 1990, 1999
The right of Peter Jarvis to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-203-41721-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-44241-5 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0 7494 3736 7 (Print Edition)
Preface
Preface to the First Edition
Adult and continuing education is changing at a tremendously rapid rate in
this contemporary, urban world. Indeed, by the time this dictionary is published
some of the information will already be obsolescent. This is a feature of today’s
society. It might be wondered, therefore, if this is an opportune time to prepare
such a dictionary. Obviously, the cliché that there is never an opportune time is
as valid here as it ever is. That some of the information might be less valid because
of change only reflects the dynamic nature of society and the manner in which
adult and continuing education is adapting to respond to these changes.
However, adult and continuing education is still a complex field to enter and it
is hoped that this dictionary will at least act as a guidebook to those who wish to
find their way through. Naturally, it reflects one person’s understanding of the
field and consequently it contains its own limitations. If any colleague is
prepared to send me corrections and changes, these will be incorporated in any
new edition.
This selection of information must necessarily be my own and, consequently,
it reflects on my own understanding of the field. It will be seem, for instance,
that there are many references here that could have come from initial education.
This is because I understand the field of education to be a single field with many
common elements across the different forms, rather than a number of separate
fields. It will also be noted that here are terms from a variety of the social science
disciplines because I understand education to be a field of study which in its
practical form utilizes their knowledge bases.

As the field is international, I have tried to record some information about the
wider world of adult and continuing education. This is useful because it enables
us to compare what is happening in our own society with that occurring
elsewhere. We can learn from this and it may enrich both our own understanding
and practice of education. However, spelling presented problems. I have
therefore tried to give as much information as I can and consequently I have
included the expressions, titles and so on in their first language, wherever this
has been possible.
iv
Words that appear in italics can be cross-referenced in the dictionary and so I
have not repeated information from different references, unless it seemed
appropriate to do so.
I owe a great debt to all scholars in the field whose work I have read and who
have influenced my understanding of the field. I have not included a
bibliography of works consulted for this dictionary because it could not be
complete. I can but express my appreciation for all that I have learned from them,
often my friends and colleagues, who have helped me so much. One colleague
who has known about this project from its inception, has encouraged me
throughout and has done me the great honour of reading some of it, is Alan
Chadwick. I have been most grateful to him for his support. For the constant
support of my wife, Maureen, and my children, Frazer and Kierra, who are often
only aware of my presence at home because they are aware that I am in my study,
I can only once again express my love and gratitude.
During the preparation of this volume for publication Emma Waghorn has
been diligent in her proof-reading and copy-editing, far beyond the call of duty;
but because of her careful work and patience many errors have been avoided. I
am most grateful to her for all that she has done throughout this period.
When I started this undertaking, I understood something of its magnitude. On
completion of this phase of it, I realize that I underestimated it. The field is very
wide and ever-changing. I can only hope that students of adult and continuing
education who consult this book will find it useful. While many people have
helped me and provided me with information, the mistakes are my own.
Peter Jarvis
Preface
Preface to the Second Edition
In the Preface to the First Edition of this Dictionary, I acknowledged that
preparing it was a work of much greater magnitude than I had estimated at the
outset. I also realized that since the field was changing so rapidly I might have to
produce a further edition. The field has actually changed much more rapidly than
I anticipated and many new concepts and terms have gained prevalence.
Because of the changing state of the field, I appreciated that the Dictionary
would be out of date before it was published—a view that one of the reviewers
also made. Such criticism might certainly be made for this Second Edition also,
since the fields of adult, continuing, higher and lifelong education appear to be
changing and merging even more rapidly now and the term lifelong learning is
certainly becoming more prevalent. Perhaps there is never an opportune time to
produce a volume such as this—but perhaps it is also a time when it is most
useful to have access to such a reference book.
In preparing this Second Edition, I was conscious of the advice that I was
given after the initial publication, both verbally and in the quite generous published
reviews. The First Edition was very long—over 5,000 references. This edition
has been shortened by about a third, so that I hope that it will be much more
accessible. Even so, there are no clearly defined parameters to the fields of
education of adults and so the choice of what has been included still broadly
reflects my own personal understanding of the trends that are occurring.
Another of the reviewers commented on the fact the original work was only
my perspective and that I would have been wiser to have worked with others—

advice that I have taken. Dr Arthur Wilson, from North Carolina State
University, has been a friend and rigorous critic of my work. He has read all my
original definitions, corrected many and made many other suggestions about the
Dictionary. His colleagueship and his scholarship have been greatly appreciated
and the book is richer for his many interventions, although the errors remain my
own.
One of the unforeseen consequences of the First Edition has been the effect
that it has had on a number of European projects in which adult education
associations in different, often new European countries have prepared their own
dictionaries of adult education. Their efforts have been greatly encouraged by the
vi
work of Hans Hovenburg who has initiated a multi-lingual project in adult
education in and, now I believe beyond, Europe. He did me the honour of using a
selection of terms from the First Edition to help form the basis of his own work.
When he knew that I was producing a second edition, he generously provided me
with a list of all the terms that he had used which had assisted him in his project
and which he thought should not be omitted from this edition.
I remain grateful to those family, friends and colleagues who have encouraged
me to produce this Second Edition and I can only hope that it will also prove
useful guide to this complex field for those who use it.
Peter Jarvis
Guildford
October 1998
Aa
ability Persons are said to have this if they can carry out mental, emotional, or
physical tasks with or without instruction. Abilities are learned rather than being
innate, although human beings may be born with genetic tendencies to act in
certain ways.
Abitur The high school diploma in Germany, necessary in order to enter
university. Adults can also sit the Abitur later in life, if they did not gain it whilst
at school, by enrolling in an Abendgymnasium.
Aboriginal education In Australia educational programmes have been
established for the education of the indigenous peoples.
Aboriginal studies In Australia there is both research and teaching about the
culture and history of the indigenous peoples.
abstract 1. A noun, being a synopsis: of a book, of a chapter of a book, or of an
academic paper. 2. A concept, or idea, which makes no reference to empirical
objects.
abstraction A generalization, an idea, or a concept. Abstract ideas form the basis
of theory; they are concepts and generalizations that relate to, or provide
explanation of, specific and concrete phenomena but are not the same as them.
academic 1. Relating to a place of learning. 2. One who spends time studying. 3.
A member of the teaching or research staff of an educational institution, ie the
academic staff as opposed to the support staff. 4. Often contrasted to the
practical in the sense of being theoretical.
academic dress The regalia that may be worn by graduates of academic
programmes.

academic education Often used to describe an education in the classics and
liberal studies in both school and post-compulsory education.
academic failure A person who is generally regarded as having failed in formal
education. A great deal of time and effort in education for adults is directed
towards supporting those who, having been regarded as failures, seek to return to
the educational or training system later in life.
academic freedom 1. Freedom of academic institutions to decide upon the
courses that they will teach, the processes that they will employ to teach them,
and the areas that they will research without coercion from outside bodies. 2. The
individual freedom of the academic to teach and of students to study without
2 INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
coercion or restriction by others. 3. The freedom of the academic to express views
and opinions without fear of sanction or reprisal, by virtue of being a tenured
member of a university. This latter form of freedom appears to be being eroded as
universities are becoming incorporated in a more general higher education
system, and educational institutions are assuming a more corporate management
function. 4. Sometimes referred to as the autonomy of the professoriat in the
United States.
academic standards The criteria determined by an academic body to set the
levels of teaching by the academic staff or the levels of achievement by the
students following courses run by that institution.
academic year Sometimes referred to as the school year. The period of the
school/ university year, usually September through to the beginning of July, but
varying from country to country, and even in some cases among institutions in
the same country. For example, the Open University academic year in the United
Kingdom begins in January rather than in September, and ends in October/
November rather than June/July. However, there is a movement in the public
schools in United States to year-round schooling.
academy 1. The body of academic scholars. 2. A place where academic pursuits
are practised, eg a school, college, or learned society.
accelerated learning A technique designed to enhance the pace by which a
person learns.
acceptance 1. A letter of acceptance is usually a letter accepting an offer, usually
of a programme of study or a place on a course. 2. An uncensuring attitude
towards a person’s behaviour and/or attitudes and recognition of that person’s
worth as a human being, without either condemning or condoning those actions
or attitudes.
access 1. The opportunity, through further study, to acquire entrance
qualifications, usually for higher education, eg second chance education. 2. The
opportunity to acquire qualifications that are regarded as equivalencies to a
recognized qualification. 3. The opportunity to study on a particular course
which provides an entrance route into an institution of higher education. See
access course. 4. Open access refers to the fact that some institutions accept
students for courses without any formal educational qualifications as
prerequisites. 5. The widening of access is usually taken to indicate a form of

democratization of education.
access course Course of study that is specially organized to prepare unqualified
adults for higher education, without pursuing the traditional routes. Access
courses are often mounted by lower level educational institutions, in liaison with
specific universities or higher education institutions. They were originally
established in the United Kingdom to prepare unqualified adults for training for
the professions, for teaching and social work. They have subsequently developed
much more widely.
accommodation 1. The physical premises in which teaching and learning are
conducted. 2. The tendency to alter cognition to fit structures and objects that are
INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION 3
encountered during the process of living. 3. A learning style, associated with
specific learning style inventories, eg Kolb’s.
accommodator One who learns by responding to problems in a trial-and-error
manner, and learning through dialogue with other people, in such a manner as to
indicate that their own views are not fixed and unchangeable.
accreditation 1. The recognition and acceptance of the academic standards of an
educational establishment by an outside agency, association or body such as an
examination board, a professional and qualifying body, or a more senior
educational establishment. 2. The recognition accorded to an educational
institution in the United States, through inclusion on a list of accredited or
approved institutions issued by some agency or organization (professional,
regional, or state). The established standards or requirements that must be
complied with in order to secure approval. Membership is voluntary and extra-
legal. 3. The system of granting credit, ie placing some recognized standard on a
course, so that the ensuing certificate, issued on successful completion, can be
used towards a further qualification at a later date in the same or a different
educational institution.
Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) Schemes established by
educational institutions to give credit for learning from the experiences of daily
living. See Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning.
Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) Schemes established by educational
institutions in order to grant formal credit for prior learning, usually other
courses in other institutions. This credit usually acts either as an alternative
method of satisfying entry requirements, or as a method of being granted
remission of part of the course requirements. See Assessment of Prior Learning.
accredited correspondence education In some countries, eg the Netherlands,
correspondence institutions have to meet certain conditions specified by the
Ministry in order to gain accreditation.
acculturation A socialization process whereby a person or persons learns the
culture or subculture of a group or nation.
achievement Level of performance.
achievement need The psychological state in which people feel constrained to
be successful, to satisfy their drive for success.
achievement orientation 1. Attitude orientation towards individuals depending

on what they have achieved in terms of career. 2. An attitude which regards
educational qualifications as a mark of success. 3. An approach to studying
which is competitive, so that study methods are organized in order to gain
success.
achievement test An examination that seeks to test the extent to which a learner
has acquired knowledge or skill, usually as a result of specific teaching. Usually
standardized and scored according to predetermined statistical norms.
action A state or process of doing. There are many theories of action.
action-centred leadership Leadership courses developed in the United Kingdom
that involve small group work.