The strength of adult community education as a professional field in aid-receiving countries: A global mixed-methods study

Community education is a form of organized adult learning focused on locally shared social, economic, and environmental goals with a long history in many countries around the world. This mixed-methods study proposes and tests a model to identify factors influencing the global development of professional training and research in community education, particularly in low-and-moderate-income, foreign aid-receiving countries. A quantitative analysis of 66 countries finds per-capita aid is unrelated to strength of professional community education, but nonviolent grassroots activism, income inequality, and government fiscal decentralization were significant predictors when controlling for civil liberties, GDP per capita, and educational infrastructure. Interviews with community education researchers and practitioners in two aid-receiving (India, South Africa) and, for comparison, two non-aid-receiving countries (China, United States) were qualitatively analyzed. Key informants in India and South Africa diverged regarding the role of the government in their respective contexts and the strength of community education professional training, research, and support in their country. Informants’ perspectives were more aligned in China and the U.S. These observations suggest national or local community education policies and funding could help rich, poor, and especially highly unequal countries develop stronger professional training and programs.