Editorial – COVID-19 responses in adult education, and life beyond

Abstract

This bumper issue begins with fi ve articles, all concerned with adult learning and the impacts of COVID-19. As Osborne (2022, p. 95) has reported, ‘ Novel pedagogical approaches to ensure against learning loss, particularly using digital approaches and concomitant support for teachers and parents, have become commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic ’ . However less attention has been given to potential learning loss experienced by adults; these articles are therefore a welcome contribution to debates concerning the effect of the pandemic. They explore respectively e-learning experiences and gender effects in Ghana ( Olivia Kwapong ), mature student experiences in the UK (Damien Homer), part-time learner satisfaction in Malta ( Luke Anthony Fiorini, Anna Borg and Manwel Debono ) organisational learning in Finland ( Ilpo Laitinen and Jarkko Ihalainenn ) and issues of mental health and well-being in the US ( Katrina Ru fi no, Stephanie Babb, Ruth Johnson ). Issues of health and well-being are a continuing theme in two other articles in this issue. Denise Calhoun ’ s focus concerns the role of education as a potential approach to halting or delaying cognitive decline in older adults. And in a Higher Education context, Anna Sverdlik, Sonia Rahimi and Robert Vallerand consider ‘ the role of passion in adult university students ’ self-regulated learning and psychological well-being ’ and ‘ the process by which passion shapes these out-comes ’ , amongst older, mainly, US undergraduate students. They report two quantitative studies, and suggest two distinct trajectories for students with regard to academic and personal outcomes, one harmonious, another with more negative outcomes.Otherarticles in the issue also concern higher education as a domain of study at various points in the pathway to progression. Cyril Mbeau - ache,