Publication Date

2007

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Cunningham, Phyllis M.

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education

LCSH

Adult education--Spain--Barcelona--Administration--Case studies; Adult learning--Spain--Barcelona--Administration--Case studies

Abstract

Dialogic management in adult education promotes an outstanding organizational practice for adult learning centers. Regularly, low literate and working-class people have been excluded from management and decision-making positions of the adult learning organizations they attend. This study focused on adult learners’ participation in decisionmaking and shared management of their school. A case study was conducted in an adult school in Barcelona, Spain, investigating how a school for adults is collective-centered and how adult learners perceive their participation in the school management. Learners and educators are engaged in the decisions such as funding, scheduling, designing projects and activities, and building partnerships at a local, national, and international level. The involvement of learners in decision-making teams is essential to the success of shared governance and other participative structures, and is one of the aspects that explain the higher levels of participation in the school. The study is centered on the strategies used within the community organization for the implementation of democratic adult educational practices and how those successful experiences help or hinder the overcoming of social exclusion. The results of the study support theories and practices that emphasize the value of learners’ participation in the management of the adult school. The consequences of such participation affect not only the individual but the center, the people around the participants, and the community.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [160]-169).

Extent

vi, 169 pages, [4] pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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