Book Review: Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education

Abstract

Reviews the book, Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education edited by C. E. Kasworm, A. D. Rose, and J. M. Ross-Gordon (2010). This book provides new and often critical perspectives for understanding the changes and innovations that are taking place in the field. The editors organized the book around 'broad thematic approaches that encapsulate the principal concerns of the field' (p. 3). These principal concerns, labeled as the intellectual commons, provide the basis for the organization of the book and include the centrality of the adult learner and adult learning (Part I); the creation of open exchanges of knowledge, theory, and practice (Part II); adult and continuing education as a field of practice (Part III); the diversity of adult learning venues and collective endeavors (Part IV); the centrality of social justice (Part V); and the future of adult and continuing education within a global context (Part VI). The features of this edition that clearly distinguish it from prior editions is that it provides expanded treatment to social justice, technology, and globalization. The editors note that the future of adult education has many challenges but conclude that the intellectual commons they have proposed embody those challenges as well as future opportunities. Although this handbook presents a good overview of the field as it stands now, there are some chapters that omit key adult education scholars. Such omissions dilute the impact of the authors’ assertions and arguments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)