What is Adult Education

We are living in a state of great flux. Needless to say, political, social, economic, and technological structures are changing faster than we can name and define them. As educators, we are called upon to ready adults for the challenges brought on by global changes. Educators in the 21st century are no longer knowledge producers and disseminators. Educators are involved in managing the educational process: their own and that of the adult students. Educational leadership in the knowledge society is evidenced with a curiously mixed set of skills; it is defined by emotional intelligence and spirituality; it is defined by the finely honed ability of facilitating learning in cross-cultural, multi-lingual, and inter-disciplinary settings; it is defined by a willingness to move away from the guru-stance of teaching and toward a praxis of partnering for change. Today’s educator ought to be a strategic partner in the lifelong and life-wide process of learning. This chapter explores the multi-dimensional role of educational leadership, which is characterized by interdependence and calls for research on collaborative and contextual paradigms in higher education development, delivery, and management.