Title: Adult education, narratives and cultural values

Authors: Fatima Barbosa, Maria Do Rosario Amaral

Addresses: Institute of Education, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. ' Escola Secundaria de Esmoriz, Rua da Casela 3885-451, Esmoriz, Portugal

Abstract: Nowadays we are experiencing profound economic and social changes, which cause new and different migratory fluxes in the search for better living conditions. In this manner, the human tissue that composes societies is getting diverse. Therefore we can now find new minorities originating from immigration, whose members possess ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population of the host communities, which often foster problems of intolerance, injustice and radicalism. Education, especially adult education, can play a special role in the eradication of those phenomena through the analysis of some contents of narratives or short stories. These contents encourage the dialogue and the interaction, aid the integration, stimulate mutual knowledge and promote peace too.

Keywords: adult education; multiculturalism; narratives; cultural values; economic change; social change; migratory fluxes; migration; diverse societies; ethnic minorities; immigration; religious tolerance; religion; linguistic differences; languages; host communities; intolerance; injustice; racism; short stories; fiction; interaction; dialogue; integration; mutual knowledge; peace; learning; challenges.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2010.035835

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2010 Vol.4 No.3, pp.263 - 268

Published online: 05 Oct 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article