WWU to Host Western Region Research Conference on the Education of Adults Oct. 23-25

DATE: September 30, 2009 11:17:58 AM PDT

Contact: Sandra Daffron, WWU associate professor, Woodring College of Education, (360) 650-2977 or Sandra.daffron@wwu.edu.

BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University (WWU) will host the Western Region Research Conference on the Education of Adults (WRRCEA) for the second time in two years Friday-Sunday, Oct. 23-25.

This year’s conference title and theme is “Together We Grow: Enriching Communities through Adult Education.”

Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education hosts the conference to collaborate, debate and discuss the research, theory and practice of adult education and its powerful influence and ability to enrich the larger community. The WRRCEA has 14 co-sponsoring organizations including: Eastern Washington University, Montana State University, North Dakota State University, Portland State University, Sacramento State University, San Francisco State University, Seattle University, University of Alaska, University of British Columbia, University of Idaho, University of Victoria, University of Wyoming and the University of Alberta.

WWU’s Woodring College of Education and the WRRCEA are hoping to expand the conference from its solid inception to an even larger resource and destination for educators, trainers, educational institutions and community members involved in adult and lifelong learning.

The conference will include adult education research presented in papers, roundtables, and poster presentations that explore current practice and theory as well as programming designed around the conference’s theme.

Rosemary Caffarella, former dean of Education and professor of Adult Education at Cornell University, will be this year’s keynote speaker. Caffarella is the author of “Planning Programs for Adult Learners” and co-author of “Learning in Adulthood;” she will discuss the challenges adult educators must overcome to be effective and caring instructors, planners, researchers, and administrators.

Featured speakers at this year’s conference include Raymond Wlodkowski, professor at Regis University; Margery Ginsberg, associate professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at University of Washington; Brigadier General Melvin G. Spiese, commanding general, Training and Education Command, U.S. Marine Corps; Vanessa Sheared, dean of Education, Sacramento State University; Gretchen Bersch, professor of Adult Education Emeritus at the University of Alaska; Shauna Butterwick, associate professor of Adult Education at the University of British Columbia; and Victor Nolet, professor of Secondary Education at Western Washington University.

The WRRCEA is open to the public; registration information can be found on the conference’s Web site at www.wwu.edu/wrrcea.

For more information on the WRRCEA, contact Sandra Daffron at (360) 650-2977.

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