Within the discourse about the professionalisation of adult and continuing education, an extensive discussion about how adult and continuing education can become a profession has taken place. Based on ‘classic professionalisation theories’, which are guided by the concept of ‘traditional professionals’, this discussion was about the fulfilment of specific attributes, and profession was considered in terms of its role in society. In the last two decades, this perspective has changed, and theoretical and empirical approaches now focus on the ‘professionalism’ of adult educators. This development is linked to extensive transformations in the modern working world, in which professionalism is considered a sign of quality. These changes and their influence on professionalisation were already discussed in terms of a sociology of professions and the ‘new professionalism’ approach – but researchers in adult and continuing education have so far made little use of this perspective. This paper is analysing the discourse around ‘new professionalism’ for its adaptability in adult and continuing education. Based on this analysis, it proposes a multi-level perspective for analysing professionalisation in adult and continuing education.

The quality of adult educators is on the agenda of European educational policy and thescientific community in Europe. In these contexts, professionalisation and qualitymanagement are often conflated. This paper is based on the hypothesis that qualitymanagement and professionalisation follow two different approaches. The paperoutlines the two approaches with a focus on their two different logics. After a briefcomparison of the two approaches, the paper examines the conflation of these twoapproaches in the expertise Key competences for adult learning professionals(Research voor Beleid, 2010). The paper ends with a plea for acknowledging theboundaries between professionalisation and quality management, and shows ways ofbuilding bridges between them without neglecting their essential difference

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This paper provides a guide for developing a research design for comparative studies in adult and continuing education. To that end, a research methodology will be presented that was developed at the COMPALL and INTALL Winter Schools on Comparative Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning. Central elements for systematic comparisons in adult and continuing education are (1) the object of comparison, (2) research fields for comparison, and (3) inductive comparative categories. These elements form the reference points for the development of a comparative research question in adult and continuing education. The comparative analysis proposes a three-step approach from juxtaposition to interpretation: step 1 – descriptive juxtaposition; step 2 – analytical juxtaposition; and step 3 – analytical interpretation.

This paper analyses international contexts of adult education and higher education as a framework for the COMPALL Joint Module. The module is designed to develop international knowledge, comparative research methods, intercultural competences, didactical insights, and networking experiences. The paper outlines the structure of the module and describes how such internationalisation impacts the participants. The evaluation shows that participants of the Joint Module develop not only intercultural competences, but also methodological, didactical, and networking competences. Furthermore, the module forges close partnerships between the respective universities as well as sustainable networks that extend beyond those of young students in adult education. The Joint Module gave several participants a fresh outlook on employability by integrating international perspectives into their prospective work contexts.