Michael W. Galbraith

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP EDUCATION FOR OLDER ADULTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

General understanding of retired men and women who are in leadership roles in their communities is limited. This study sought to examine the subjective context within which older adults approach leadership roles and to analyze the processes by which they become involved in volunteer community leadership roles. A pilot program, Leadership Enhancement for the Active Retired, was initiated to determine if educational training in leadership would enhance the number of community leadership roles taken by older adults. The results suggest that such education affects older adults’ leadership participation.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE EDUCATIONAL GERONTOLOGISTS

Demographic changes related to the older population will have a dramatic effect on the number of participants who engage in the process of continuing education. Consequently, individuals who help older adults learn will require needed information and innovative approaches to be effective facilitators in this process. This article examines the training and development mechanisms for future educational gerontologists by first reviewing the present state of training and development and then projecting such needs into 2020. Higher education institutions are then examined as well as alternative formal, nonformal, and informal approaches to training and developing future educational gerontologists through continuing professional education, free universities, brokerage services, learning exchange networks, information bases, and activities sponsored collaboratively by professional associations.

Jarvis, P., & Chadwick, A. (Eds.). (1991). Training Adult Educators in Western Europe. London: Routledge in association with the European Bureau of Adult Education, 235 pp.:

Training Adult Educators in Western Eiirope is an edited volume which includes 17 chapters, divided into 6 distinct parts, and two brief appendices. After the introductory chapter by Jarvis, the parts of the book include the Benelux countries (Belgium and the Netherlands), English-speaking countries (Republic of Ireland, England, and Wales), Franco-Mediterranean countries (France, Greece, Italy, and Spain), German-speaking countries (Austria, Republic of Germany, and Switzerland), and Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, . and Sweden). Part 6 is comprised of a conclusion written by Chadwick. The book is part of the “Routledge Series on International Perspectives on Adult and Continuing Education” and serves as a symposia of papers from different countries following a single themetraining adult educators. The purpose of the book is to examine various aspects of the preparation and training of adults in the countries associated with the European Bureau of Adult Education. This is done against the background of demographic, political, social, and technological changes. Readers of this volume soon realize that the tcrm “adult education” has no agreed upon universal definition throughout Western Europe. For some, it is equated with popular education while, for others, it means vocational preparation. For still others, though less frequently, it connotes a connection with formal university training. Throughout the book, “training of adult educators” is most often used instead of the phrase “education of adult educators.” Because Western Europe is engaged in the early stages of development with this form of professional preparation, training is apparently still believed to have a lower status than education. In addition, terms such as animatcur, teacher, instructor, coach, tutor, demonstrator, and lecturer are used throughout the book to refer to “adult educators.” In the first chapter, Jarvis provides a theoretical rationale toward the professionalization of educators of adults in Western Europe and utilizes Wilensky’s (1W) professionalization model to examine similarities and differences. The question Ja&s addresses is whether the process is one of professionalizing or one of merely change. It seems, according to Jarvis, that these countries are experiencing training change with a professionalization process occurring secondarily, but not in the manner of the model used as a comparison base. Thus, Jarvis provides a rationale for the reader to ponder in reference to the European experience as well as provocative points for the current profcssionalization debate among North American adult educators. I n addition, Jarvis provides the