| This paper is concerned with ways to meet the growing need for lifelong learning in general and nonformal rural adult education opportunities in particular. Four criteria for responsive rural adult education programs are proposed: active user engagement, pluralism, affirmation of rural values and culture, and a stable institutional base with access to learning resource tools.;Part I contains four chapters. A literature review is used to trace the development of three major institutional providers of adult education in rural areas: The Cooperative Extension Service, public libraries, and community colleges. The final chapter of this section draws on the review to observe that these institutions are weak in terms of the first three criteria, but quite strong with respect to a stable institutional base with access to learning resource tools.;Part II contains two chapters which trace the development of a new model of rural adult education--the free university, and reports on a study of six communities in which the rural free university model has been developed. The study concludes that the model is strong in terms of active user engagement, pluralism and affirmation of rural values and culture. But it does not have a stable institutional base with access to learning resource tools.;Part III--the final chapter--presents some considerations for the integration of the rural free university model with the three institutional providers so that they may more effectively respond to the learning needs of adults in rural America. |
