Welcome to the 6th European Research Conference
Adult Learning in Europe - understanding diverse meanings and contexts
23-26 September 2010
Adult education or lifelong learning or adult learning? Debates about choice of words announce differences in what we conceive of as our research field. Not only do the concepts vary, but also the contexts which we think are proper study objects: it can be learning at work, civic education, formal adult education, higher education or folkbildning (popular/liberal adult education) or informal learning among adults. Behind these labels are practices, which have been shaped into local versions. We need to explore this diversity in order to better understand each other’s research. By making differences understood we might be clearer about what we have in common.
The conference is hosted by the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA) and Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, division for Studies in Adult, Popular and Higher Education (VUFo) in cooperation with HELIX VINN Excellence Centre and Mimer – National Programme for Research on Popular Adult Education.
Earlier conferences have been held in Strobl 1995, Bruxelles 1998, Lisbon 2001, Wroclaw 2004 and in Seville 2007.
ABOUT ESREA
ESREA is a European scientific society aimed at providing a European-wide forum for all researchers engaged in research focused on the education of adults and adult learning. ESREA promotes research through network meetings, seminars and conferences, a triennial research conference and through publications. More information at www.esrea.org
ABOUT VUFo
VUFo is a division of the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University. The division focuses on the conditions, processes and outcomes of adult learning, mainly in adult, popular and higher education. More than thirty teachers and researchers work with undergraduate and graduate education, research and external relations and belong to one of the most prominent university settings in the area of adult learning worldwide. More information at www.ibl.liu.se/vufo
ABOUT IBL
The Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning (IBL) is connected to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as well as the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Linköping University. It is one of the largest departments of the university with a staff of about 250. At IBL the following disciplines are represented: Education; Psychology; Sociology; Adult, Popular and Higher Education; Psychotherapy; Disability Studies and Human Resource Management and Development. More information at www.ibl.liu.se
