ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1, five key orientations to research into learning were examined and the role of theory in understanding the nature of learning was explored in some detail. Chapter 2 focuses more specifically on adult learning theories. The literature on adult learning is vast and covers a wide variety of fields, including perspectives from education, psychology and sociology. In attempting to provide a broad coverage of these perspectives, the first part of this chapter concentrates mainly on the characteristics of adult learners and on adult learning principles taken primarily from researchers within the humanist orientation, which emphasises the importance of lifelong learning.
