| The Centre for Adult Education is part of the Faculty of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal. It has offices on the Pietermaritzburg campus, and at the Howard College campus in Durban. | CAE hosts national Adult Education colloquium |
The work of the Centre for Adult Education
The primary focus of CAE has been on adult basic education, community education and development, and continuing education, including non-formal and formal courses, research, policy development, and the development of materials to support adult learning. Recent years have seen an expansion and consolidation of the formal courses offered by CAE through the faculty, particularly the National Professional Diploma in Education: Vocational Training (NPDE:VT), the Certificate in Education: Participatory Development (CEPD), and a range of postgraduate qualifications offered to professionals in the adult education field.
However non-formal work and community engagement remain at the heart of CAE’s existence, in areas such as peace education, civic and organisational development, research and materials development. | Anne Harley of the Centre for Adult Education recently organized a national colloquium for university-based adult education practitioners, held from November 14 to 16 at Red Acres Retreat Centre outside Howick. Interestingly, Red Acres was the site of the first such meeting of adult education academics, in 1992. In 2011 the 32 delegates included academics from UKZN, UCT, UWC, the University of Limpopo, North West University, Walter Sisulu University and Stellenbosch University. Also present was Mr Farrell Hunter of the German Adult Education Association (DVV-International), whose generous support made the colloquium possible. Academics from two other universities, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, were unable to attend but sent messages of support. During the three days, delegates had the opportunity to network between different institutions while considering the current state of adult education in South Africa and the African continent in the light of global trends. Future plans include the launch of an association for those who study and teach adult education as a discipline in universities, ways to increase opportunities for research and publishing in the field, and the creation of improved electronic resources. The importance of supporting non-formal, community-based and popular education was raised as a concern, along with the need to keep adult education with a social purpose on the national education agenda. The event ended on a high note with the establishment of a working group to draft a constitution for the new association, to be launched in May 2012. Gallery |