Teaching in Adult Education: Opening the Black Box

Research on teaching adults is often a theoretical, focuses more on learning than teaching, and regards teaching primarily as techniques removed from subject-matter or social contexts. A richer understanding would be gained from empirical studies informed by the theoretical sophistication that marks other social science research. Specifically, the micro aspects of teaching and classroom interaction could be linked with the macro influences of educational and social systems. This paper considers the development of research on teaching, discusses why such research should address issues of structure and agency, and describes one empirical study that attempts to do so.