International Society for Comparative Adult Education

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This article is about the adult education organization. For the Moroccan business school, see ISCAE.

The International Society for Comparative Adult Education (or ISCAE) is a network of individuals and organizations with members in more than thirty countries.

1 Purpose
2 History
3 Publications and meetings
4 External links

[edit] Purpose

Comparative education is a well-established field of study that examines education in one country (or group of countries) by using data and insights drawn from the practices and situation in another country or countries. Adult education focuses on the unique needs and characteristics of students who are not children or adolescents. The focus of ISCAE then is the study of the education of adults as practiced in various countries; it also explores the methods, problems and pitfalls of international comparative research in general.

ISCAE serves as a network of contacts for professionals in the field of comparative adult education; such networking encourages research assistance and cross-fertilization, exchange of information, international cooperation, and similar activities. There are no statutes and no membership fees. Most of the printing and distribution of newsletters and conference proceedings is done by members from the United States, Germany, or Australia.

[edit] History

ISCAE's origins can be traced back to 1960, when Dr. Alexander N. Charters, professor of adult education at Syracuse University, and Canadian scholar of adult education J. Roby Kidd formed a working group on international and comparative adult education at the first world conference of the World Council for Comparative Education in Ottawa. They named their group the Committee for Study and Research in Comparative Adult Education (CSRCAE). The group continued under that name for the next thirty years until, in 1992, it was renamed the International Society for Comparative Adult Education.

[edit] Publications and meetings

ISCAE publishes a newsletter, ISCAE-Communication, irregularly (once or twice a year). Members meet at international conferences, held every two or three years in locations around the world. At the conferences, individuals present papers on completed (or nearly complete) research; others present research in progress or ideas for future research. Studies must include two or more countries in the research in order to qualify as "comparative."