Cross Cultural Lifelong Learning

Online learning has been touted as one way of reducing the cost of higher education while simultaneously addressing the increasing demand for educational opportunity and providing access to hitherto “left out” populations. Many universities are defying tradition by offering completely online degrees for global participants. As such, research is needed to improve the design of online and virtual learning environments to ensure that they are inclusive and culturally adaptive for the global education marketplace. The Handbook of Research on Cross-Cultural Online Learning in Higher Education shares paradigms, perspectives, insights, challenges, and best practices for the instructional design and delivery of cross-cultural adult web-based learning experiences and examines adult learner characteristics and competencies critical for the design of these applications. The content within this publication covers trending topics including virtual learning, culturally adaptive environments, and online education and is intended for instructional designers, faculty, administrators, students, and researchers.

Whether it is earning a GED, a particular skill, or technical topic for a career, taking classes of interest, or even returning to begin a degree program or completing it, adult learning encompasses those beyond the traditional university age seeking out education. This type of education could be considered non-traditional as it goes beyond the typical educational path and develops learners that are self-initiated and focused on personal development in the form of gaining some sort of education. Essentially, it is a voluntary choice of learning throughout life for personal and professional development. While there is often a large focus towards K-12 and higher education, it is important that research also focuses on the developing trends, technologies, and techniques for providing adult education along with understanding lifelong learners’ choices, developments, and needs. The Research Anthology on Adult Education and the Development of Lifelong Learners focuses specifically on adult education and the best practices, services, and educational environments and methods for both the teaching and learning of adults. This spans further into the understanding of what it means to be a lifelong learner and how to develop adults who want to voluntarily contribute to their own development by enhancing their education level or knowledge of certain topics. This book is essential for teachers and professors, course instructors, business professionals, school administrators, practitioners, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the latest advancements in adult education and lifelong learning.

The growing interest in transnational cooperation in education across borders has different implications for developed and developing countries. It is true that globalization affects all societies, but not at the same speed and magnitude. Supporting Multiculturalism in Open and Distance Learning Spaces is a critical scholarly resource that examines cultural issues and challenges in distance education arising from the convergence of theoretical, administrative, instructional, communicational, and technological dimensions of global education. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as cultural diversity, interaction in distance education, and culturally sensitive intuitional design, this book is geared towards school administrators, universities and colleges, policy makers, organizations, and researchers.

"This book brings together researchers who study and professionals who design and deliver online training across cultures in both higher education and corporate training settings to share paradigms, perspectives, insights, best practices, challenges and best practices"--Provided by publisher.

This new book explores the recent issue of cross-cultural management from both theoretical and research perspectives. It considers the impact of knowledge, experience, and exposure of cross-cultural differences in developing a global viewpoint and citizenship in the corporate workplace. The volume throws light on the emerging concepts of building global citizens who are willing to think beyond boundaries of place, identity, and category, and to recognize all human beings as their equals while respecting humanity’s inherent diversity. The effective use of cross-cultural teams can provide a source of experience and innovative thinking to enhance the competitive position of organizations. However, cultural differences can interfere with the successful completion of goals in today’s multicultural global business community. To achieve project goals and avoid cultural misunderstandings, managers should be culturally sensitive and promote creativity and motivation through flexible leadership. The chapter authors in this volume look at these challenges by reviewing and conducting empirical studies, roundtables, and focus discussions. The volume tackles a variety of issues, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), talent management, differences in individual work performances, differences in leadership styles, virtual work relationships, and much more. It looks at the challenges in establishing crosscultural workplaces, such as the overcoming significant barriers in multi-cultural project communications and motivating project team members.

As individuals progress through each stage of life, they continue to learn and grow intellectually. However, what may be a conducive learning environment for a child may not be as effective for an adult, creating a need to understand how to aid adults in being successful learners in their later life. Multicultural Andragogy for Transformative Learning provides a diverse collection of positions related to adult learning. The book touches on a variety of topics including autonomous learning as a transformative experience, mixing cultures through intercultural methodology, and integrating cultural perspectives into organizational learning. As a publication with a focus on andragogy, this proves a useful resource for academicians, higher education administrators, and educators who teach both traditional and non-traditional students in higher education.

Originally published in 1992. This book advocates and demonstrates the benefits of an anthropological approach that recognizes the centrality of culture in the educational process. This approach encompasses knowledge and understanding of other cultures’ patterns of interaction, values, institutions, metaphors and symbols as well as cross-cultural communication skills. Ethnographic studies of multi-ethnic classrooms and schools in their community context are presented in this excellent volume with a view to informing practice and policy concerning the education of language minority students and teachers, and anyone with an interest in foreign language education and bilingual education.

This book focuses on lifelong learning for sustainable development, an aspect that has been rarely explored in great detail. It also discusses methodological approaches and experiences deriving from case studies and projects, which demonstrate how lifelong learning for sustainable development can be implemented in practice. The book provides respecting research institutions, universities, NGOs, and enterprises with an opportunity to display and present their work in this field. It fosters the exchange of information, ideas and experiences acquired in the context of concerning initiatives, especially with regard to successful projects and best practices.

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2010 in the subject Pedagogy - Adult Education, University of London (Goldsmiths College), course: Education, language: English, abstract: The focus of the research in this thesis concerns the meanings of inclusion. The thesis explores the meanings of inclusion within the post-compulsory education policy subsystem of the national education policy system. The thesis uses ethnographic analysis of policy documents, ethnographic interviews and surveys to explore the meanings of inclusion and the experiences of learners, teachers, College policy-makers, curriculum managers and course co-ordinators together with the factors that influence those meanings and experiences in the cross-cultural contexts of further education colleges. The thesis begins with a critical review of theoretical models of inclusion before embarking on historical explorations of the evolution of inclusive policy 1945 – 2010 and thence the meanings of inclusion from the perspectives of adult learners, teachers, College policy-makers, curriculum managers and course co-ordinators. From the results of the analysis of ethnographic interviews, surveys and documents it was found that the meanings of inclusion, the experiences of inclusion and the factors that influenced these meanings and experiences were varied and contested. The thesis argues that irrespective of the variability and contests there is a common thread running through the various meanings. The common thread which the thesis argues runs through the meanings centre on the answers to the question: inclusion into what? It was found that colleges manipulate and adjust learners to curricular programmes in order to meet the recruitment, retention, achievement, and progression targets set by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The thesis argues that the physical environment and the layout and the level of technology and teaching aids in the classroom are not material to the meanings of inclusion to adult learners and teachers. Instead the thesis creates new arguments based on four behavioural, principles namely, Honesty, Order, Obedience and Diligence (HOOD), concerning the centrality of primary educational goals, primary, secondary and circumstantial educational factors to the meanings of inclusion. The thesis defines how ethical dilemmas have led to perceptive distortions of the professional identity of teachers.