Sociology of Adult Education

Abstract

A growth interest started at early 1970’s in the sociology of education, but that was mostly related with the initial education processes. However, one decade later a growing sociological interest on adult education just started in Europe then later in United States as well. By the time of progress adult education was set in a wide sociological context all around the world. Actually, the education of adults has existed for centuries in one form or another, yet generally embedded in psychology and in adult learning fields since the intelligence was traditionally declined in adulthood. On the other hand, when the education of adults was recognized as an instrument for social change, especially as stated in Gramsci’s work that the worker education could cause for example destroying the cultural hegemony of the dominant social classes in Italy, the education of adults was accepted as one of the core issues in the field of socially too. Therefore, in this study, the significance and role of adult education both in society and in sociology will be discussed within a dialectic and critical perspective.