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Through action research on implementing “flexible provision” at a historically black South African university, it analyzes complex challenges faced by individuals, workplaces, and institutions when adopting innovative pedagogies for professional development.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/keeping-the-doors-of-learning-open-for-adult-student-workers-within-higher-education/588638/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/keeping-the-doors-of-learning-open-for-adult-student-workers-within-higher-education/588638.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Rizky","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What problem does the article address regarding adult student-workers?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It examines how universities struggle to stay open for adult student-workers and highlights limited options for lifelong learning for working people.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What research approach does the study use?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The article is based on institutional action research into the implementation of “flexible provision,” including understanding working adult students and engaging workplaces.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does national policy shape expectations for adult learners in South Africa?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"South African Higher Education Policy and related documents echo the Freedom Charter’s idea of opening education to workers, creating expectations, yet findings suggest adult learners remain poorly prioritized.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},588638,1792189775,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962085564807,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Keeping the doors of learning open for adult student-workers within higher education?  \nshirley walters, mark abrahams and sally witbooi, university of western cape, south africa  \nAbstract  \nThe Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC), the triumphant South African liberation movement, proclaims that ‘the doors of learning shall be open’ for all. Twenty years since coming to power, the doors of the universities are struggling to stay open for adult student-workers. An action research project into implementation of ‘flexible provision’ at one historically black university is described in response to these realities. Rich experiences from lives of working librarian student-workers illustrate the complex issues that confront individuals, workplaces and institutions in implementing innovative pedagogies within a university.  \nKeywords: (adult student-worker; flexible learning and teaching provision; higher education; South Africa; institutional change)  \nIntroduction  \nProfessional innovation and development are shaped by the abilities of higher education and training institutions (HEIs) and workplaces to adapt to the changing circumstances within which workers live and work. The inability of HEIs to adapt to providing access for professional development in more flexible ways can have major consequences for the professional education of workers. Presently, public HEIs in South Africa are under pressure to increase their intake of young students which can mean that working people are finding their options for lifelong learning limited.  \nThis article is based on institutional research within one university in South Africa, which has a 54 year tradition of providing access to working people. It sketches contradictory contextual factors which can impact professional  \ndevelopment profoundly. It describes the situation which has led to an action research project on‘flexible learning and teaching provision’ for working people who are studying, whom we refer to as ‘adult student-workers’; and it points to the difficulties for the professional development of librarians who are working, in particular. The action research is part ofa process of institutional change.  \nWe are concerned with the inter-relationships between the adult students, their working lives and the university–the primary question is how can the university respond meaningfully to the real circumstances of adult students to enhance prospects for their professional development? In brief our research process set out to explore how the university can develop more appropriate pedagogical approaches to help adult student-workers to succeed. This has entailed understanding the working lives of adult students, engaging their workplaces, and influencing the teaching, learning and administrative environment of the university. This is a work-in-progress.  \nSetting the national scene  \nThe commitment made in the South African Higher Education Policy document (Department of Education, 1997,p. 17), which echoed aspects of the ANC’s Freedom Charter, that the education system would ‘open its doors, in the spirit of lifelong learning, to workers and professionals’ raised expectations in South Africa that provision for the education of adults would be taken seriously. Yet, one finding of the study by Buchler etal,(2007) was that adult learners remain poorly served at all levels of higher education institutions. The study set out to investigate whether a higher education system that facilitates access, equity and success for adult learners exists or is being formulated. It asked: what is the place of adult learners in South African higher education policy? The study concluded that adult learners are seemingly not a high priority at a time of scarce resources and competing challenges. However,(Buchler etal, 2007, p. 152) urge that:  \n…the education of adults in a society, such as South Africa is a political, moral, historical and economic issue – and it is not merely one of t","cbCaia6uOQr2Ja1x","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaia6uOQr2Ja1x","pdf",105154,14,"English","# Introduction\n## National policy context\n## Institutional research focus","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the article address regarding adult student-workers?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how universities struggle to stay open for adult student-workers and highlights limited options for lifelong learning for working people.\"},{\"question\":\"What research approach does the study use?\",\"answer\":\"The article is based on institutional action research into the implementation of “flexible provision,” including understanding working adult students and engaging workplaces.\"},{\"question\":\"How does national policy shape expectations for adult learners in South Africa?\",\"answer\":\"South African Higher Education Policy and related documents echo the Freedom Charter’s idea of opening education to workers, creating expectations, yet findings suggest adult learners remain poorly prioritized.\"}]","Keeping the doors of learning open for adult student-workers within higher education? | PDF",1792065649,35]