The teaching of adults differs considerably from children because of the background knowledge of students and the fact that they are usually eager to learn of their own accord, instead of it being mandatory to be taught. Adult education is continually evolving as numerous methods and incentives are established to try and make education easy later in life, and this is being stimulated today with the increased accessibility through distance learning and e-Learning.

Typical adult education centres offer the opportunity for students who have not completed their schooling to continue and aim for an equivalent achievement (such as a GED in the US), or they may well be adjoined to a university or college with the offer of Foundation courses, A-Levels, or Degrees in the UK.

However, liberal adult education is different again and takes its influence from teaching methods that originated in Scandinavia. The folkbildning approach, as well as the folk high schools established in Norway, Sweden, and Germany vary amongst themselves, but are all similar in that students aren’t graded nor do they have any exams. Instead, the focus of each institution is to allow each individual to self-develop naturally.

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