To set the stage for understanding the complexities of how governments and other agencies have accomplished national goals through adult education, chapter 6 presents a theoretical orientation to public policy and an analytical framework for policy formation. To help practitioners integrate this information an-example of public policy formation favouring adult literacy is used as a case study. Because the case study was so illustrative an additional example may have been warranted. As well, the review section on international calls for public policy may have read better if it had been integrated with the international experiences section of the next chapter. Following the same theme, chapter 7 examines the policy situation within Canada relating to adult education. Specific provincial policies are outlined and prefaced with an insightful set of generalizations about the Canadian situation. This lucid review is based on one method of inquiry - the formal education system. It may have been instructive, as a companion section, to compare this policy situation of the formal education system with another publicly funded institution which provides adult education such as libraries or community centres.

The last three chapters speak to adult education as an emerging profession and field of practice which continues to "be many-faceted with many ideologies and points of view co-existing". A commonly asked question by graduate students seeking professional education in this field is "what can I do with a degree in adult education?". These last chapters address this issue in a very discernible manner. Chapter 8 "Adult Education as Discipline and Vocation" is a factual and tightly written discussion on the roles performed by adult educators, the development of professional associations, the growth of professional education programs and the expansion of research and publication activity. Chapter 9 "The Contemporary Scene and Future Prospects" serves as a summative statement drawing together many of the contemporary developments covered in earlier chapters and chapter 10 "Accessing the Literature" provides an overview of additional references and resources which correspond with the main themes covered in the book. What is missing in this last part of the text is a clear synthesis as to what the authors now view as a Canadian research agenda for the building of new knowledge and advancement of the discipline. Selman and Dampler have adequately described the volume of publications written about the field over the last decades but fall short in providing their informed opinion of the areas which require further rigorous investigation. For eager graduate students in adult education these reference points would have been useful ln developing their own research programs.

The Foundations of Adult Education in Canada is a carefully researched and easily read resource book for students, academics, policy makers and persons interested ln both observing and participating in the growth and change of a field of practice. It is a volume that fills a long neglected gap in Canadian adult education literature. However, there are three shortcomings in this travail. First, despite the fact that there is much discussion in the book on the instructional process of self directed learning, Selman and Dampier have not illuminated the more recent developments and instrumentation of the personality dimensions of continuing learners and brought us closer to a unified theory of the concept. A second limitation, already addressed by the authors, is that this account of the field does not present the picture of both language communities in Canada. This reader questioned whether adult education in English speaking and French speaking Canada really "functioned in two different worlds". Based on the description of activities and the social system of individuals and organizations in French speaking adult education which are mentioned throughout the volume, there appears to be similitude with English speaking developments as opposed to solitude. And thirdly, sections of the book are repetitious. Having used this text as one of the primary references for a foundational graduate course in adult education, I have found it to be an indispensable tool describing an enterprise which has come of age.

Maurice C. Taylor is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Educational Studies, University of Ottawa.

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