ABSTRACT
Demarcating the multiple notions of adult education involves negotiating the question of how adulthood itself is defined. Adults, as a result of human processes of psychological development and maturation, have a different self-concept in that they need to be seen and treated by others as people who are capable of self-direction. This produces a distinctive orientation to learning. In order to locate adult education in a more contemporary environment, this chapter examines how conditions of late modernity impact upon it. Within the societies, if collective advancement is emphasised it is often with regard to maintaining or gaining economic advantage and learning becomes oriented to employer or consumer interests. For adult education, this has two detrimental consequences, namely: the erosion of opportunities for adults.
