Global and European adult education policies in times of crisis: between shifts in normativity and epistemological continuity

Abstract

We examine possible shifts in epistemic and normative ideas between the 2011 European Agenda for Adult Learning of the European Union (EU) and the 2009 Belém Framework for Action of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), adopted in the period marked by the global financial crisis, and the 2021 European Agenda for Adult Learning of the EU and the 2022 Marrakech Framework for Action of UNESCO, adopted in the period marked by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. We build on the epistemological framework developed by Bagnall and Hodge (2018, 2022) and method of document analysis. Our findings indicate shifts in desirable ends adult education should fulfil in society between the analysed European (EU) and global (UNESCO) adult education policies, and unchanged epistemologies over the decade, as in European policy ʻdesignʼ or ʻinstrumentalʼ epistemology remain dominant, while in global policy ʻdesignʼ, ʻdevelopmentalʼ and ʻemancipatoryʼ epistemologies still coexist and compete. We conclude by pointing out the relevance of the epistemological framework developed by Bagnall and Hodge for adult education policy scholars.