This March issue brings together a diverse collection of research that illuminates the multifaceted landscape of adult and continuing education and lifelong learning. From the informal learning environments of Thailand’s floating markets to the structured challenges of prison–university partnerships, these 10 papers collectively demonstrate the breadth and complexity of contemporary educational scholarship. The studies span geographical boundaries – from South Korea to the United Arab Emirates, from Greece to South Africa – whilst addressing universal themes of access, engagement, transformation, and sustainability in adult learning contexts.
Each paper offers unique insights into how adults learn, the barriers they face, and the transformative potential of educational interventions. Together, they challenge us to rethink traditional boundaries between formal and informal education, to recognise the value of experiential learning, and to understand education as a lifelong journey that extends far beyond conventional classroom walls.
The first paper, by Dech-siri Nopas, titled Living Museums of Thailand: Exploring Floating Markets as Cultural Hubs for Lifelong Learning, presents a compelling examination of Thai floating markets as living museums that serve dual purposes as commercial venues and informal educational environments. Through qualitative research involving 23 participants – including vendors, visitors, community leaders, and cultural experts – the study reveals how these markets facilitate experiential learning and cultural transmission. The research highlights the critical role of community elders in preserving cultural practices whilst navigating the tension between commercial viability and educational mission. Participants reported that floating markets offer rich, hands-on experiences that deepen cultural understanding and promote sustained engagement with Thai heritage. The markets emerge as vital spaces for intergenerational learning, where traditional knowledge passes from elder to younger generations in authentic, contextualised settings.
The paper makes an important contribution to understanding informal learning environments and their role in lifelong education. By reconceptualising floating markets as living museums, Nopas challenges traditional boundaries between commerce, culture, and education. The research underscores the importance of experiential learning in cultural education and suggests that museum educators should incorporate more hands-on elements and actively engage cultural custodians in programme development. The findings advocate for sustainable models that harmonise commercial and educational objectives, ensuring that cultural heritage sites can thrive economically whilst fulfilling their educational potential.
The second paper by Yuting Ding, Chengjingyan Liu, and Chia Ching Tu is titled Examining the Influence of Teachers’ Online Teaching Preparation on Chinese Adult Language Learners: Testing the Mediation of Learner Control and Learning Motivation. Through a quantitative survey of 207 Chinese adult language learners, it investigates the complex relationship between teacher preparation and learning outcomes in online foreign language education. The research employs validated scales measuring teacher preparedness, self-control, learning motivation, and learning effects, analysed through structural equation modelling. Results demonstrate that teacher preparation significantly predicts learning outcomes, but this relationship is mediated by learner self-control and motivation. Importantly, the study reveals that teacher preparation does not directly impact learning effects but operates through these psychological and behavioural mediators. The findings suggest that well-prepared teachers create conditions that enhance learner autonomy and motivation, which in turn improve learning outcomes.
The paper provides empirical evidence for the indirect but crucial role of teacher preparation in online adult education. The mediation model reveals that effective online teaching requires more than just content knowledge – it demands creating learning environments that foster self-regulation and intrinsic motivation. The authors convincingly argue for investment in teacher training programmes focused on online pedagogy, as well as systematic evaluation of learner self-control and motivation. These findings have practical implications for designing online language courses that recognise and support the unique characteristics of adult learners, who often balance education with work and family responsibilities.
The third paper by Natalya Hanley, Lorena Sanchez Tyson, Zhe Wang, Joonghyun Kwak, Ahmad Akkad, Ilka Vari-Lavoisier, and Maia Chankseliani, titled Impact of International Professional Mobility Programmes: A Systematic Literature Review, is a comprehensive systematic review that synthesises 78 peer-reviewed studies examining international professional mobility (IPM) programmes for continuing professional development. Using a mixed-methods research synthesis approach, the authors analyse both individual and societal impacts of IPM programmes. At the individual level, participants gain professional expertise, intercultural competencies, and enhanced career prospects. However, the review also documents significant reintegration challenges, including resistance to new ideas from colleagues and weakened domestic professional networks. At the organisational and societal levels, returning participants contribute to innovation, community engagement, and cross-border collaboration. The review identifies critical gaps in current research, particularly regarding specific programme characteristics, reintegration processes, and the fragmented application of theoretical frameworks.
The systematic review presented in the paper provides valuable evidence-based insights for stakeholders across the IPM ecosystem. The findings challenge simplistic narratives about professional mobility, revealing both transformative potential and practical obstacles. The identification of reintegration difficulties is particularly significant, suggesting that successful IPM programmes must extend support beyond the mobility experience itself. For policymakers and programme designers, the review emphasises the need for holistic approaches that prepare both participants and their home organisations for the changes that international exposure brings. Future research should address the identified gaps through longitudinal studies and theoretically grounded investigations of programme mechanisms.
The fourth paper by Pandelis Kiprianos and Ioannis Mpourgos is titled School Failure and Life Trajectories and investigates the long-term consequences of school dropout in Ilia, Western Greece, a region with historically high dropout rates. Through 64 semi-structured interviews with individuals aged 17–50 who left school between 1980 and 2015, the researchers explore how dropout affects life trajectories beyond employment. Using theoretical sampling and inductive categorisation, they developed a framework of 6 categories and 15 subcategories capturing dropout consequences. Whilst professional impacts are significant, the research reveals that consequences extend into social, psychological, and civic dimensions of life. Interestingly, some participants report experiencing no negative consequences, highlighting the heterogeneity of dropout experiences and suggesting that individual and contextual factors mediate outcomes.
The paper contributes nuanced understanding to dropout research by examining long-term, multidimensional consequences through the lived experiences of those affected. The finding that impacts extend beyond employment challenges educational policymakers to develop comprehensive interventions addressing social and psychological dimensions. The variation in reported consequences suggests that dropout prevention and remediation policies must be flexible and responsive to individual circumstances. The research advocates for integrated educational policies that recognise dropout as a complex social phenomenon requiring multifaceted responses. Understanding these diverse experiences is essential for designing second-chance education programmes and support systems for adults who did not complete compulsory education.
The fifth paper is written by David Santandreu Calonge, Firuz Kamalov, Pablo Medina Aguerrebere, Leisa Hassock, Linda Smail, Dima Yousef, Dimple R Thadani, Theresa F N Kwong, and Nadia Abdulla from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is titled Upskilling and Reskilling in the United Arab Emirates: Future-proofing Careers with AI Skills and examines the imperative of workforce upskilling and reskilling in the UAE context as artificial intelligence transforms the global employment landscape. The paper analyses current workforce vulnerabilities to technological disruption and emphasises AI skills development as a strategic priority. Drawing on global upskilling initiatives, the authors identify successful implementation strategies applicable to the UAE context. The paper situates workforce development within broader economic transformation goals, highlighting both challenges and opportunities presented by rapid technological change. The authors argue that proactive investment in AI literacy and related skills is essential for maintaining workforce competitiveness and economic prosperity in an increasingly automated future.
This timely analysis addresses one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary adult education: preparing workers for an AI-driven economy. The focus on the UAE provides valuable context-specific insights whilst contributing to global conversations about technological disruption and workforce adaptation. The authors make a case that upskilling and reskilling must be understood not as optional enhancements but as essential strategies for economic sustainability. The emphasis on learning from global best practices whilst adapting to local contexts offers a pragmatic roadmap for policymakers and educational institutions. As AI continues to reshape labour markets worldwide, such strategic approaches to workforce development become increasingly critical.
The sixth paper by Catherine Dower and David Z Hambrick has the title Physical Therapists in the U.S. Re-entering Practice: Considerations for Regulators and Educators about the Effects of Disuse on Performance. It presents empirical research on competence decay amongst physical therapists and physical therapist assistants during periods of professional inactivity. This first-of-its-kind study employs subject-matter experts to evaluate how extended absences from patient care impact various critical work activities. The research reveals differential impacts across practice areas, with some skills deteriorating more rapidly than others. Similarly, recovery times to minimal competence vary significantly by practice domain. Some areas can be quickly restored through limited refresher training, whilst others require substantial re-education. These findings provide empirical justification for regulatory interventions and continuing education requirements for professionals seeking to return to clinical practice after career interruptions.
The paper fills a critical gap in professional education literature by providing evidence-based guidance for re-entry education and regulatory policy. The differentiated findings regarding skill decay and recovery have important implications for designing targeted re-entry programmes that efficiently address specific competence gaps rather than requiring comprehensive retraining. For adult learners returning to healthcare professions after career breaks, this research validates the challenges they face whilst pointing towards practical solutions. The study demonstrates the importance of evidence-based approaches to continuing professional education and licensure requirements, balancing public safety concerns with the need to facilitate workforce re-entry.
The seventh paper by Tshepo Teele titled Contextual Cognition of Agricultural Education Peda-Andragogical Praxis in the South African Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Review is a systematic review of agricultural education research in South Africa, revealing a fundamental disciplinary identity crisis. The analysis demonstrates that agricultural education has positioned itself exclusively within applied and natural sciences rather than educational sciences. This mispositioning has led to neglect of pedagogical and andragogical research and development. Many agricultural graduates without educational training pursue teaching careers, whilst the absence of dedicated agricultural education research centres perpetuates reliance on scientific rather than educational frameworks. The review examines a decade of research to document how this disciplinary positioning affects teaching and learning practices. Teele argues that agricultural education must embrace educational sciences to develop more current, humanised teaching methods grounded in understanding how children and adults learn.
This systematic review makes an important disciplinary intervention, calling for reconceptualisation of agricultural education as properly situated within educational sciences. The identification of pedagogical and andragogical neglect has significant implications for agricultural education quality across all levels – from basic education through higher education to adult training. The call for agricultural educators grounded in contemporary educational theory and practice responds to the limitations of purely content-focused approaches. By legitimising educational research in agricultural contexts, Teele opens pathways for more effective, learner-centred agricultural education. This disciplinary repositioning could transform how agricultural knowledge is transmitted and developed across generations.
The eighth paper, by Dayoung Kwon and Seunghee Kang, has the title The Structural Relationship Amongst Professors’ Support, Major Satisfaction, Learning Engagement, and Academic Persistence in Korean Adult Learners. It examines the complex relationships amongst professor support, major satisfaction, learning engagement, and academic persistence amongst 293 Korean adult learners using structural equation modelling. The research reveals that whilst professor support significantly influences both major satisfaction and learning engagement, it does not directly affect academic persistence. Instead, the impact of professor support on persistence operates entirely through mediating variables. Specifically, professor support influences persistence indirectly through major satisfaction alone, through learning engagement alone, and through the combined pathway of both satisfaction and engagement. These findings illuminate the mechanisms through which supportive faculty relationships translate into student persistence, suggesting that emotional and practical faculty support creates conditions for sustained academic commitment.
This paper presents an understanding of adult learner persistence by revealing the indirect pathways through which faculty support matters. It suggests that effective faculty support works not by directly compelling persistence but by fostering satisfaction and engagement that naturally lead to continued enrolment. For institutions serving adult learners, these findings emphasise the importance of faculty development focused on creating supportive relationships that enhance both programme satisfaction and active engagement. The results provide actionable insights for retention strategies, suggesting that investments in faculty–student relationships yield returns through multiple pathways. Understanding these mechanisms enables more targeted interventions to support adult learner success.
The ninth paper by Diane Mizrachi, Alicia Salaz, and Gian Franco Tordi is titled Reading Format Preferences of Working Actors in a Professional Context. It explores format preferences amongst 357 working actors across 27 countries, finding overwhelming preference for print scripts over electronic formats when preparing for performances. Using the Reading Event Analysis Model, the researchers map actors’ preferences to specific contextual demands of their profession. Like academic reading, acting requires text internalisation, but adds unique demands for memorisation, characterisation, and physical movement. Actors report that print format better supports memorisations, and enables the mobility essential for embodied learning. The low-tech qualities of print, including freedom from digital distractions and compatibility with annotation and physical manipulation, emerge as crucial professional tools. Interestingly, actors’ reasons mirror those of college students whilst carrying profession-specific nuances.
The paper expands understanding of learning formats beyond traditional educational contexts, demonstrating that professional learning demands shape media preferences in significant ways. The finding that professional actors overwhelmingly prefer print despite digital availability challenges assumptions about inevitable digital adoption. For adult education, the study suggests that learning medium matters differently depending on task demands. The research has implications for pedagogical approaches to reading instruction across age groups, highlighting the importance of matching medium to learning purpose. Understanding how professionals learn in authentic contexts enriches educational theory and practice.
The final paper of this volume written by Alana Barton, Helen Elfleet, and Michael Cawley is titled Critical Andragogy and ‘Momentary Emancipation’ in a Prison-University Educational Partnership. It examines a Learning Together prison–university partnership between the University of the Northwest and HMP Westborough, where incarcerated learners studied alongside university criminology students. Through in-depth interviews with former prison learners, the researchers analyse the application of critical andragogy in carceral settings. Whilst acknowledging debates about whether education can have long-term transformative or rehabilitative effects for incarcerated individuals, the study focuses on immediate experiences within the learning environment. The core finding introduces the concept of ‘momentary emancipation’. This concept acknowledges the real but limited power of education in carceral contexts. Rather than making inflated claims about transformation or rehabilitation, the research validates the immediate, experiential value of intellectual engagement and temporary equality. For adult education in restrictive environments, this framing suggests that education’s value need not depend on long-term outcomes alone. The critical andragogical approach demonstrates how educational partnerships can create spaces of possibility within structures of control, offering insights applicable beyond prison contexts to other constrained learning environments.
Concluding reflections
The 10 papers collectively offer a wide portrait of adult and continuing education and lifelong learning in our current times and reveal several themes. The first theme emerged is that learning is fundamentally contextual. Whether in floating markets, online classrooms, international professional exchanges, or prison partnerships, educational experiences are shaped by their settings in profound ways. Another theme challenges the rigid boundaries between formal and informal, between educational and commercial, between temporary and transformative. Learning happens everywhere, and its value cannot always be measured by long-term outcomes alone. A third theme raised in the 10 papers reminds us that adult learners bring complex lives, histories, and needs to educational encounters. Learners navigate unique circumstances that shape their educational journeys – from Korean university students requiring faculty support, to physical therapists returning after career breaks, to actors preparing for performances and incarcerated individuals seeking intellectual community. Hence, effective adult education must recognise and respond to this diversity. The role of technology as both opportunity and challenge also emerged in this issue. Whilst AI skills become essential for workforce competitiveness and online platforms expand educational access, questions remain about how digital tools serve different learning purposes. The actors’ preference for print scripts reminds us that learning medium matters, and newer is not always better. Last but not least, the papers included in this issue indicate that adult education research increasingly draws on sophisticated methodological approaches varying across structural equation modelling to systematic reviews, and qualitative case studies to mixed-methods syntheses. This methodological variation enables deeper understanding of complex educational phenomena and provides stronger evidence for policy and practice in adult and continuing education. The insights from these 10 papers offer valuable guidance and remind us that adult and continuing education and lifelong learning is a lived reality for diverse adults navigating educational opportunities across a variety of contexts. Hence, when designing educational systems and programmes for adults, we should bear in mind that these should be flexible, responsive, evidence-based, and ultimately humanising.
