Conclusion: lessons learned from and for adult education policy research

This concluding chapter brings to synthesis and reflects on the contribution of this handbook. First, it discusses what has been learned from adult education policy research on the swing between policy continuity and change in adult learning and education. Next, it considers the challenges that adult education and learning still face worldwide in the Global North and Global South. Then, it discusses what lessons have been learned for adult education policy research in terms of theoretical and methodological advances. It concludes by pointing at three avenues for further research: 1) the interaction between political regimes and the use of adult education policy; 2) the interest on adult education policy beyond direct stakeholders; and 3) the under-researched policy actors that act as intermediary organisations or appropriate, re-interpret and/or resist adult education policy