Non-Formal Adult Education in the United States: History and Reality

The objective of this paper is to report on historicpedagogical analysis of nonformal adult education in the US, which leads to the conclusion: nonformal education is an important part in lifelong education of adults and a distinctive tendency in modern American society; the development of nonform al adult education in the US is predefined by historical interaction of economic, political and sociocul tural factors, so it is advisable to divide periods on such criteria as objective laws of political, socioeconomic and cultural development of the state, social character and mass of nonformal adult education, the emerge nce and development of new institutional and noninstitutio nal forms of nonformal adult education; nonformal education provides everyone a possibility to study and it happens with its own initiative for a unique, comprehensive individual plan of an adult; specific features of nonformal adult education in the US a re the diversification of forms, methods and content of education with a focus on real professional and personal needs of an adult; the content of nonformal educat ion today deals with adult personal improvement and social transformative processes in the society.