Barriers to participation in adult learning activities abound. Any review of the many existing barriers can leave the reader wondering why adults would ever bother to seek out learning opportunities. That they do is powerful testimony to their need to seek out and learn new knowledge and skills, and to their perseverance. Barriers can be found in the situations adult learners must confront in order to participate in learning activities; the ways in which educational institutions are organized and their policies and practices in serving adult learners; the attitudes learners bring to educational opportunities; the pedagogical practices used by instructors and facilitators of adult learning opportunities; and the ways in which employers provide workplace training opportunities.
The knowledge gaps identified by the research team follow both directly and indirectly from the literature review. The research team also identified some gaps in the ways in which knowledge derived from existing research is being applied in adult learning and related activities. Some profitable lines of future inquiry have been identified for each gap.
The ABC Canada study of persons with low literacy skills who do not participate in learning programs (ABC Canada, 2002; Hart et al., 2002) suggests that we do not have adequate knowledge about how non-participants experience barriers to learning. It seems likely that we have inadequate information about the non-participation of individuals from groups other than low literacy groups, such as: older adults; individuals with physical, sensory or learning disabilities; persons whose first language is neither English nor French; refugees and immigrants; persons in low wage jobs; and so on.
The survey methods typically used to identify barriers do not appear to be providing the quality of information needed to make decisions about how learning opportunities should be designed and delivered. While the ALL Survey (Statistics Canada/OECD, 2005) is a good beginning, the use of qualitative research methods, critical inquiry, and participatory inquiry would provide a quality of information that does not yet exist and that might help adult educators conceptualize barriers for different groups in terms other than those proposed by Cross (1981).
Potential lines of inquiry: