The article describes how community learning, a special form of adult education in Ireland, generates benefits for both the individual and the society. The authors’ elaborations are empirically based on the reports »At the Forefront«, »Community Education: More than just a Course« and »Sowing the Seeds of Social Change«, conducted by the Irish National Adult Learning Organization (AONTAS).
Proceeding from the educational policy objective of achieving greater participation in continuing education, this article presents a set of instruments with which the learning and educational behaviour of adults can be measured statistically. Taking the example of data selected from the Continuing Education Reporting System (Berichtssystem Weiterbildung (BSW)) and the Adult Education Survey (AES), the potential for analysis and the generation of knowledge offered by statistics on continuing edu…
Based on data collected in the OECD project »Social Outcomes of Learning (SOL)«, empirical research findings and resulting policy recommendations were generated in the report »Improving Health and Social Cohesion through Education«, which are presented in this shortened and translated version. Due to the overall sparse empirical evidence of benefit research, future research forms and necessary methodological approaches are outlined.
