The Origins and Development of the Concept and Meaning of Adult Education

Abstract

The task of defining adult education has always been difficult since its serious study began about half a century ago. This paper seeks to determine the various interpretations of adult education and uses various approaches to resolve the problem of definition. Thus, the development of adult education from the historical perspectives seems to conform that adult education is an old usage from the pre-industrial days. This is different from a later development which sees adult education as the product of the Industrial Revolution. The point is made, eloquently, that adult education can be a programme of activities involving correspondence courses, remedial and in-service activities. Adult education can also be a strategy which seeks to offer access to education through the distance delivery mode and out-of-school education can be a methodology; a means by which we can reach a neglected population through non-formal teaching techniques. Adult education can be an answer to deprivation and oppression, a passion that seeks to rescue the deprived and helpless.