This chapter introduces the work of Lalage Bown: a highly influential practitioner, researcher and activist who was passionately committed to the role which adult education could play in supporting social justice aims. The four main themes of the book are outlined: adult education and social justice; decolonisation, post-colonialism and indigenous knowledge; from literacy to lifelong learning; …
Adult education has multiple histories in countries around the globe. In the case of Germany, the year 1919 is of high importance, as the Volkshochschulen (vhs)—literally translated as folk high schools, more broadly as adult education centres—became a constitutional matter. Today, they are the largest institutionalized form of adult education in Germany with millions of participants every …