Book excerpt: This book explores the realities of adult education practice in the current political and economic climate. With a particular focus on examining the effect of the multitude of changes in policy and philosophy over the past 30 years, the book explores how the values and career expectations of adult educators have been affected, and considers the implications for adult education as a field of professional practice. As well as exploring the broader international picture, the book draws on the findings of recent research into adult and community education practitioners’ perspectives in two case study countries – England and Aotearoa/New Zealand – to illustrate how local contexts and cultures, as well as global trends, impact on the structure and organisation of adult education. By presenting the perspectives of adult educators, whose voices have been relatively absent from the recent literature, this book gives a unique insight into how their work has been adversely affected by funding and policy pressures in an increasingly insecure educational environment, and analyses their responses to the contradictions between their professional values and the expectations placed upon them by policy and funding changes. It will be of great interest to students and researchers working in Education and Sociology, and will also make compelling reading for policy-makers.