ABSTRACT
Education of adults in the United States has proceeded for three centuries without any grand theories and few minor ones. Several explanations for this state of affairs are available. First, education of adults has lacked a singular patron discipline. It was only in the past half-century that the study of adult learners, providers of learning resources, and instruction of adults became objects of academic study. Second, the practice orientation of the first wave of individuals described as adult educators in the 1920s through about 1950 worked against the development of theory in adult education. Third, educators of adults are divided on the issue of borrowing from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology and social psychology. Fourth, difficulty in conceptualizing the education of adults as a distinctive field of practice and study also has been an obstacle. For example, adult education graduate programs are most frequently located in colleges of education with some also having some kind of relationship with colleges of agriculture. Yet, many of the individuals who enter graduate study in adult education come from disciplines other than education and agriculture. They have previously earned degrees in fields as diverse as agriculture, business, education, engineering, history, journalism, psychology, sociology and theology. Adult education graduate programs are thus often de facto interdisciplinary; as a result scholars identify, define and describe their practice in the language and theories with which they are familiar. Consequently, the development of theory is retarded 164by the above diverse, but powerful sources of influence.
