Canadian education is slowly being transformed by powerful forces. One trajectory is that there will be continued expansion of higher education and an ongoing rationalization of curriculum. The debate is ongoing over contemporary education reform and there are divergent views about what educations focus should be. Some view schooling as a commodity that can be marketed and others see schooling for what it could offer on a personal and transformative basis, such as education for social justice. In my professional work as a nurse and in my academic work within Educational Studies, I have been able to view education both as a student and a practitioner. During my own experience as a nurse and nurse educator, I see many young men and women entering the profession, after they have left before finishing another course of study. Adult education offers these learners a second chance to make a useful contribution to society, and a stronger community of better-informed adult educators can only serve to make the outcomes for these learners more promising.

Marilyn Richards-Douglas: Clinical Nurse Consultant/Educator at CHSLD Juif De Montreal, Canada. Obtained Master's degree in Education from Concordia University, Montreal. Also worked as a Clinical Nurse and assistant head nurse at the Jewish General Hospital in Cardiology.