ABSTRACT
During January 1961, the author interviewed twenty-four adult educators in the Mountain-Plains Region in order to obtain information for a study titled The Educational and Experiential Backgrounds of Adult Educators in the Mountain-Plains Region. Each of the persons interviewed cooperated not only during the interview but also in many other ways, such as identifying other adult educators, making sure that each adult educator received a copy of the questionnaire used, and completing a questionnaire themselves. The professors of adult education would value a course background in adult education much more than the other three groups. The persons interviewed and the jury of experts believed that certain competencies are of greater importance to adult educators than either particular experience backgrounds or particular formal course backgrounds. The author believes that these competencies, at least in part, will have to come from learning that occurs either in particular experiences or in particular courses taken by those who enter the field of adult education.
