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Title: Ethics of the abortion drug RU 486

Total Pages: 15 Words: 3913 Works Cited: 0 Citation Style: APA Document Type: Essay

Essay Instructions: From me:
My proposed research topic is the use of the pharmaceutical drug RU-486(mifepristone) as a type of abortion method. I plan to discuss the ethical, social, and political aspects of this drug. I will attempt to discover what effects the widespread use of RU-486 will have in changing the nature of the abortion decision and bringing abortion out of the political spotlight. (stressing the ethical issue)

From the Professor:
The research essay must be about abortion law or the politics of abortion. The essay must include a discussion of Roe v. Wade, and it must include some discussion of abortion theory and of statistics if possible. The essay has only a few formal requirements. It must be at least 15 pages (not screens), have thorough citations and a bibliography, and have an abstract after the title page.

You are expected to do a wide range of research activities and to write a report later in the course describing what you did and what you found. I am describing the assignment here because you need to make a record of your research activities as you go through the course. Your report should describe these activities, at least:

web research
library computer databases
physical journal search
library browse


By computer databases I mean the lists of sources you find on the library computers; some of these give you the full text of documents (like Proquest and Infotrack), some bigger ones like ERIC and Aritclefirst give you the reference but not the full text. None of these databases go back more than 15 years, and the full text ones go back only a few years. Therefore you need to search books in the library and physical journals as well, especally if you''re looking at the time just after Roe, which was almost thirty years ago. You should identify a few professional journals that are relevent to your topic and search the indexes for those particular journals, either electronically or using paper indexes. The Web is an excellent tool for law research. At "findlaw.com" you can get the text of the law as well as commentary.

For the final essay, you must have a minimum of eight sources; no more than three (or one-third of your total) can be websites; and you must have at least two professional journal articles. (A Web source is one where the information comes from the website itself; if you get a reference to a book or an article from the site, or even print the article from a link on the site, that is not a Web source.) (A professional journal is one written for members of a profession like law or sociology rather than for the general public. You can use mass media sources like Time or Psychology Today but you must have professional sources as well.)

When you do your research, keep a log of exactly what you do. When you write your research report, I want you to include what database you used (such as Proquest), what keywords, what kind of response (how many hits, what quality). I want the exact names of journals you searched and articles you found, even ones that were interesting but not useful.

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: Ecotourism

Total Pages: 7 Words: 2030 Bibliography: 0 Citation Style: MLA Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: Literature review

Hi there

I would like you to rewrite this chapter, what I have written don?t make much sense; therefore a thorough look in the chapter is necessary. I will enclose also the dissertation proposal and the methodology chapter, which will give you a better picture of the dissertation. Please change anything that you think is necessary.
The writing has to be very academic and coherent .
Harvard referencing style is necessary
The literature review should develop general understanding of subject area.
Define:
 Tourism development
 Sustainable tourism
 Sustainable development sustainability
 Ecological political approach
 Economic sustainability
 Eco-tourism
 Eco-tourism hotel, technical advisory service, biodiversity, conservation
 The POTENCIAL IMPACT OF NA ECO-HOTEL ON PROTECTED AREAS


 Please ensure you define each term in a logical manner.
 To what extent does relevance of each agree or disagree the aims and objectives of research
 It is necessary to rationalise the approach to discussion of ecotourism in the literature review.
 Please include tables graphs when necessary



DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
The social cultural impact of establishing an eco-tourism enterprise in Joao Pessoa- Brazil
Focus
1. An analysis of eco-tourism development
2. An assessment of the opportunities - regional, domestic, international
3. An evaluation of the projects feasibility
4. An examination of the social-cultural impact of the eco-tourism
5. Conclusion
Context
Brazil has a sanctuary of the finest natural resources in the world ? fauna & flora?, therefore tourism is in ascendence and demands for mid class hotels are on increase. The development of eco-tourism in specific areas is anticipated due to partnership with local banking intuitions; local government interest and regulations; and a general growth of awareness of the tension between the tourist dollar, the environment and local cultures.
Research Methods
Primary research ( interviews and questionnaires) to analyse the feasibility of the project. Secondary research - internet, journals, books.
Contact local government and bank institutions to find out the incentives for new businesses. Link to others countries which have developed eco-tourism successfully. Search for UK an Brazilian tour operators to evaluate the tourism demands in Brazil.
Potential problems : difficulty to interview professionals in the hospitality and tourism industry. Raise interest on the local government to back the project. Legislation and regulations connected to the development and sustainability of the site.

References

Brazilian Tourism Board
Empirical visit to the area 1998, 2000, 2002.
Books, journals, web sites
Contact hotel consultants to evaluate the projectxplain what tourism development program ( prodetur/ NE II) is about



5.0 METHODOLOGY
5.1 Description of the methodology

In this chapter, the barriers to entry to a niche market (i.e., ecotourism in Brazil) were analyzed, in order to investigate the current trends and accessibility of a segment or a niche market within the hospitality industry. This was done by exploring the needs of the service, and the efficiency in the industry at large, and also by evaluating the possibilities of developing an eco-tourism hotel in Brazil.
Primary data to support these aims was collected through interviews and questionnaires. An interview is a face-to-face situation where the interviewer asks
questions and the interviewee responds. According to Bell (1999), observing the way people respond to a question and examining their facial expressions, their patterns of hesitation and their gesticulations may provide the interviewer with different answers to those that would be gained through solely written responses.

5.2 Interviews

The interviews were undertaken directly and indirectly: in the direct interviews, the interviews were conducted by myself in Brazil, over the period July to August 2002; in the indirect interviews, a second or third person under my direction conducted the interviews on my behalf. The people interviewed included the following: Maria Julia de Jesus, the Owner and General Manager of Piccollo Aubergo, an Eco-tourism Hotel in Maresias, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Jose Emmanuel Franca Falcao, a Post Graduate in Hotel Management, who is responsible for five hotels in Brazil; Gemauro Santos, a University Lecturer in Hotel and Management at Sao Paulo University; Sergio Tavares, Professor of??; Mr. Caio de Carvalho, the Minister for Tourism and Sports (who was interviewed on 13th November 2002 at the London Excel World Travel Market); Luis Trigo, the Course Co-ordinator (Tourism) at SENAC, and Mariangela Storani, the Owner of Eco-trekking at Vinhedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The results from these interviews gave me a more realistic feeling for my investigations, and directed my investigations, such that I was able to draw more precise conclusion from the research than if I had not undertaken the interviews.

5.3 Questionnaires
Using questionnaires enables the analysis of the data gathered by both quantitative and qualitative methods. The use of questionnaires is a faster alternative to interviews, and often provides more exact answers to the questions given. Care, however, needs to be taken in the design of the questionnaires, which should be unbiased, not sexist, and should not discriminate against race, religion, those with disabilities, etc.
I used two questionnaires. The first was designed to investigate travel agencies in Brazil: 45 agencies were approached, and 30 responded. The second questionnaire was designed especially for travelers, in order to determine if leisure travelers knew of the existence of an eco-friendly segment in Brazil, and if not, to determine if there was sufficient interest for a new niche to be created. The questionnaire was also intended to determine the level of interest from potential future travelers to stay in an eco-environment establishment. The different needs of leisure and corporate travelers, when choosing a hotel were also intended to be established through the questionnaire. 80 travelers responded to this questionnaire.
The data collected would give more realistic quantitative data to establish
whether there was a current trend towards implementing an eco-tourism enterprise in
the northeast of Brazil. Therefore, this study would highlight whether a niche market could develop in this part of Brazil, or if ? intrinsically - Brazilian people would see eco-tourism differently from other countries, due to the fact that the country is endowed with a vast concentration of natural resources.
Similarly, secondary data was processed via academic literature review, journals, magazines, websites, which related to the subject. The results of the investigations are given after the Introduction in the chapter one, and some of the resources used in this literature review are given in the Bibliography.
I have visited Brazil many times, over a number of years, and over this time, I have been able to collect empirical evidence concerning the development of eco-tourism, and moreover, to study the socio-cultural aspects of Brazilians. This evidence could consolidate my findings detailed in the current thesis, added to the fact that the analysis of the questionnaires and interviews presented here is intended to show the current trend in tourism, to provide the reader with information which might prove that eco-tourism in Brazil is in the early stages in the life cycle curve.
5.4 Preliminary Findings of the Literature Review

Due to the fast development of eco-tourism and the risks to its sustainability, a wider view of the subject was prudent. Analysis of statistics, literature and websites, were therefore undertaken, to provide a more in-depth view of the limitations that sustainable tourism would offer. Moreover, the work of pressure groups like Greenpeace, Unep, Unesco and others, offers a wide range of supportive data, on socio-cultural and socio-political aspects of the preservation of the world?s (and Brazil?s) natural resources.
Through the background research on sustainable tourism, it was found that more people now understand the need for the development of sustainability, from community-level upwards. Due to the ever-increasing levels of destruction of the planet Earth, leaders from all over the world met at the Rio Summit (in 1992) to examine the causes and effects of the degradation, and to make amendments in the legislation in order to abate this destruction. It was, however, also identified that sustaining development through eco-tourism in small communities is debatable, and adds a great many more risks to the potential for degradation that is already present: a great deal of damage can be done to the environment and to the communities if an appropriate action plan is not efficiently followed. Moreover, there are so many interpretations of what ?eco-tourism? really is,
that a substantial analysis of the subject is extremely important, in order to use the opportunities to develop sustainability and to protect biodiversity and the ecosystem in a positive manner.

In Brazil, figures collected from the Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE) were extremely important in giving background information about the geo-political and economic structures of Brazil; the Brazilian Association of Hotels Industry (ABIH) similarly so, for information on the Brazilian tourism trade.
Through visits to local and regional hotel businesses in Brazil, from the south to
north of the country, and through interviews with hotel proprietors, and general managers, I have tried to create and analyze a profile for each individual establishment, which would give me the essential knowledge about how such businesses are run in Brazil. The analysis of the profiles of these businesses is intended to identify specific and realistic supply and demand needs for a new organic eco-tourism enterprise to be developed in a particular region in Brazil. The findings would show the feasibility of Brazil to be the host of one or more eco-tourism enterprises, which would be self-sufficient and sustainable.
Furthermore, the questionnaires and interviews were directed to corporate businesses travelers, who use the hospitality industry as a channel to develop their businesses, by promoting events and conferences. The aim of giving these questionnaires to corporate travelers was to give further data about their expectations and needs when hiring a hotel to hold their seminars. Moreover, these questionnaires were intended to give a more accurate picture of how a new eco-tourism enterprise could exceed its corporate needs and expectations, such that a new niche could be identified.

It is evident that corporate traveling is a segment of the hospitality industry with a high financial potential and one that can also sustain growth, due to the intrinsic need to meet their customers? or employees? business demands. Consequently, encouraging corporate businesses to participate in the development of eco-tourism hotels would, in my view, give organizations a new dimension through which to help the environment and to follow the necessary codes of ethics. In addition, incorporating the needs of corporate travelers would allow a better understanding of what can be done to stimulate corporate travelers to be interested in supporting an eco-friendly environment.

Surprisingly, even with the September 11th attacks of 2001, tourism in Brazil is still increasing, with a yearly growth of 7% (EMBRATUR). Therefore, the results from the suggested interviews and questionnaires would confirm whether there will be a sustained increase in sthe current trends of corporate and leisure travelers looking for a more eco-friendly environment in Brazil.

LITERATURE REVIEW

7.1 Introduction

This chapter provides an understanding of the literature which has been published in the area of studies of sustainable tourism and eco-tourism. Firstly, I will be giving definitions of what is Sustainable Tourism. Secondly, a brief review of economic impact in tourism development. Finally, a description and definition of Eco-tourism and what studies have been published on the subject matter.



Tourism is an activity which was developed from the needs of individuals from discovery and trade to adventure and relaxation. According to Rejowski (1998), the first demonstration of tourism is dated from 1870; however the studies were linked directly with economy and geography. Nowadays tourism is a global interactivity; it has gained a diversity of roots and branches, adapting to needs of people .



A brief and simplistic chronological description of the tourism development:

i) Adventurers set to discover other lands (eg Captain Cook)

ii) Travellers for scientific research (eg Darwin)

iii) Business travellers (trade)

iv) Visiting friends and family (social),

v) Leisure travellers (relaxation)

vi) Eco-Travellers (learners).



The development of tourism has influenced people to create thousands of organisations national and international, governmental or non governmental. Thus evolved the creation of million of jobs worldwide, in what is today is one of the fastest growing world industries.

Tourism has led people to accept different attitudes and admire eclectic cultures. In addition, to be able to understand these cultures, society at large had to adapt to the pluralism of cultures by learning languages, gastronomy, music, religion and an infinity of elements.

Accordingly to Kaluf (2001), the development of tourism has been presented all over the world, it has been sustaining growth of 20% in last five years, 5% in mass tourism and incredibly 15% in eco-tourism. With an increase in the world population and high demands of tourism, either mass or eco-tourism, the only question to be answered is: Can the planet sustain such growth? Let?s see what the experts have to say about the development of sustainable tourism.


7.2 Sustainable Tourism Development

Tourism is regarded as one of the most important sectors to enhance economic growth in developing countries. Therefore governments and organisations invest in tourism projects. At the same time the need for investments in sustainable development increases: natural, socio-cultural and economic resources should be secured for future generations. Sustainable tourism development aims at enhancing the contribution of tourism to sustainable development, thereby creating sustainable tourism.

Efforts to create sustainable tourism should focus on both large scale development and small scale projects: the sustainability of tourism depends on the major players in tourism such as airlines, international tour operators and national governments, but cannot do without the participation and support of local communities.

Both sustainable development and tourism development are complex processes, with many interests and parties involved. To deal with these complexities, planning methods have been designed. In these methods quite often the interests of local communities are not taken into account.

According to a definition put forward by the World Bank, sustainable development can be characterised by three principles:

* The rate at which renewable resources are used must not exceed the rate at which they are regenerated.
* The rate at which non-renewable resources are used must not exceed the rate at which renewable substitutes are developed.
* The rate of emissions of polluting agents must be in accordance with the environmental capacity to assimilate them.


Martins (2002) mentions that there are different points of view of the meaning of sustainable development and sustainability. People look at it economically and politically, it all depends on the interests behind each organisation. He argues that each point of view should be analysed in the economic and the natural resources aspects of tourism. He maintains that sustainability carries an ethical concept, which relates to the economic system, and has to be taken into consideration: the limited natural resources, population growth, change of trends, natural disasters, these elements influence the way tourism develops and how it can sustains its capabilities and communities.

 DO NOT USE MATERIAL AS OLD AS 1987 IN THE LITERATURE REVIEW THE TEXT BELLOW HAS TO BE REWRITTEN

Inspired by the way the expression ?sustainable development? has been used in the literature at large, the 1987 Brundtland Commission Report (Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norwegian Prime Minister) define says simply that: the term sustainable development, is: ?meeting the needs of the current generations without compromising the ability or opportunity for future generations to meet their needs?. Martins (2002) and Lemos (1999). The Brundtland Commission Report presented some public political suggestions, which could promote a sustainable development. Therefore, the following measures are suggested to be adopted:

i) limited population growth;

ii) long term assurance of food supply;

iii) the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystems;

iv) decrease of energy consumption, and development of renewable technological sources of energy;

v) to supply the basic human needs;

vi) the increase of industrial production in less developed t countries, by using eco-friendly technology;

vii) control the fast urbanisation of population; and,

viii) better integration between city and the country.

Therefore, according to the Brundtland report, it is fair to say that every country should adopt an ecological political approach which will benefit the global population and protect nature. Dickstein et al (2001:2) affirm that most definitions of sustainable development include the Brundtland Commission''s report, and furthermore, sustaining ecological systems requires sustaining human systems; the two go hand in hand.


Another vision which equates to Martin?s views is by Cater & Lowman (1994) who argue that sustainable development depends on diversity of interests: what seems to be sustainable from one point of view can be opposite from another. All depends on political and business interests and how they follow ethics and show respect to people, the environment and indigenous communities. There are many interpretations of sustainable development, it all depends the economic environment and its capability to sustain economic growth by exploring the natural resources carefully.



On the other hand, opposing some points in the Brundtland Commission Report, Gomes (1995) argues that contain utopia suggestions that sustainable development requires. He points out that, when it is suggested that society should fulfil human needs, therefore, it is necessary to increase production potential in order to guarantee that all human beings have equal opportunities to use the environment. Taking Brazil as an example, where 54 million people are considered poor and 51% of the poverty lies in the Northeast of the country (IBGE 2002), where those people make their living from the use of natural resources which is the only means of living, one can agree with the author above mentioned, that is utopia.


Creating sustainable economic development. According to Dickstein et al. (2001) looking into systematic points of intervention can influence sustainability along a production continuum or life cycle. The table below shows factors which influence production. Ideally, sustainability is achievable by focusing at the early stage of production processes, in order to create viable businesses, adding value to communities, protecting the environment. Each point along the continuum has distributional impacts for people and communities. However, this continuum can be harmed if new policies from federal, state, regional take place.*




7.3 Economic Sustainability

Sustainable tourism is measured by the principle of a qualitative economic growth. In the short and long run, this principle contributes to diversified incomes - taking into account the ecological and social costs and benefits of growth. Tourism can contribute to the welfare of destination regions by protecting local sources of income and improvements of local living conditions. Additionally, tourism can contribute to facilitating disadvantages or even to equalling structural disparities of remote areas. Tourism needs to be integrated in the local economical structures in order to maximise its contribution to the regional value added. The use of social values and the formulation of appropriate regulations and legislation should be the key to all tourism destinations, to avoid deterioration of the environment.


Martins (2002) points out that a sustainable economy is one where the natural resources should be maintained for generations to come, again emphasised in the Brundtland Commission Report. Therefore, the capability of diversification of sustainable environment resources should minimise waste and maximise the natural resources to be regenerated. Therefore, stimulate input as much as the output.


Cuera (2001) mentions that it is fundamental not only to incorporate in sustainable environment planning and economic factors, but also social and environment changes. In addition, the consequences of these actions in the long term should be considered, equally short term results.


In spite of the different thoughts and theories of economists and environmentalists, the key to the development of sustainable tourism is in the hands governments and large corporations who should consider nature before profits. However, individuals can pressurise these institutions to act for a cleaner environment.

If we do not drastically slow the growth of the human population, then no amount of regulation and energy-efficient technology (short of resorting to a Neolithic lifestyle) will help us. According to the US Census Bureau, the world''s population was 6,157,756,751 this year, with an increase of more than 76 million people since last year?s figure. That takes account of deaths. And we are only going to get exponentially bigger.

Craig Stern
Copyright 2001 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 142, No. 59 (Monday, April 16, 2001), beginning on page 6 and ending on page 13.

7.4 Eco-tourism

There are many definitions of eco-tourism. According to Rolim de Moura (2001) eco-tourism is: ?a segment of tourism activity which utilises in sustainable form, the natural and cultural heritage, and envisages the formation of a collective environmentalist consciousness which by conceptualising the meaning of environment, promotes the welfare of the global communities?. Another vision of eco-tourism is: ? Eco-tourism aims to provide tourists with opportunities to experience the attractions of global resources and local people, whole maintaining their social and economic stability and conserving their resources? (MK).

In western society, travel to experience wild nature is an old and well-accepted phenomenon. Starting in 1872 in the United States with Yellowstone Park, in 1879 in Australia with Royal Park and in 1885 in Canada with Banff Park and Niagara Falls, governments set aside natural areas for protection and recreation in the form of national parks. Eagles (1997:4). I was convinced that eco-tourism dated further back and that has been confirmed by Cater & Lowman (1994) when they mentioned that Charles Darwin as being one of the first eco-tourists in world.

7,5 Management Issues in Eco-tourism

Issue
1. Tourist Travel Motives and Marketing
2. Management of Environmental Quality
3. Limits of Acceptable Change
4. Management of Tourist Use
5. Allocation of Access
6. Market Specialisation
7. Management of Recreation Conflict
8. Enforcement and Monitoring
9. Consumer Assurance of Quality
10. Facility Design
11. Community Development
12. Financial Viability
13. Public and Private Sector Co-operation

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: North Korea Weapons of Mass Destruction

Total Pages: 1 Words: 401 Sources: 0 Citation Style: APA Document Type: Essay

Essay Instructions: Atleast 250 words which provides a geographic description of the spatial, and political aspects of Weapons of Mass Destruction problem in North Korea. This will be part of a bigger paper.

Excerpt From Essay:

Title: Sork

Total Pages: 2 Words: 689 References: 0 Citation Style: None Document Type: Research Paper

Essay Instructions: You are to write a full 2-page paper. Read the article below and answer the discussion questions. State the Question First and then continue to answer. ‘Do Not Use Outside Sources.’ **When Quoting from Reading Use APA Format. **

Questions
1.What does Sork means by the “technical-rational” approach to program planning?
2.What does he sees as the limitations of this approach?

A Brief Genealogy of Planning Theory
In North America the origins of adult education planning theory are easily traced to the work of Ralph Tyler and Malcolm Knowles. Tyler's basic principles of curriculum and instruction in 1949 were essentially an elaborate syllabus for a course he taught at the University of Chicago. This small, unpretentious book presents an approach to curriculum planning that has influenced adult education for 50 years. What came to be known as Tyler's Rationale is organized around for fundamental questions, which must be answered in developing in curriculum and plan of instruction, which focused on purposes, content, method, and evaluation. Although Tyler clearly had elementary and secondary schools in mind when he developed his rationale, his for questions -- reworded in a variety of ways -- provide an attractive framework used by others to produce models suitable for adult education. Knowles informal Adult Education 1950 was one of several early efforts to differentiate adult education from school base education and argue for involving learners directly in making decisions about instruction. Knowles believe that program should address these needs of learners and suggested an approach to planning and conducting instruction that put the interests and experiences of learners in the foreground. According to Wilson and Cervero 1997, informal adult education is not a primitive attempt to theorize planning practice but rather a mature statement of planning theory, one that represents the culmination of the previous 25 years of discussion into the codification of planning principles that will come to dominate the procedural discourse of planning theory for the next 40 years. Between 1950 and 1970 only a handful of books on program planning was produced most of which focus on either training in business and industry or general adult education. Most of these books presented conventional forms of planning base more or less on the Tyler Rationale and elements that reflected new knowledge about adult learning. A notable exception to this pattern was social action and interaction in program planning. This book was unique because of sociological orientation and focus on agricultural extension programs related to rural life. Although it do not raise critical questions about existing social structures it did foreground social and political aspects of planning that had largely been ignored by others.
As Wilson and Cervero 1997 demonstrate that forces of professionalization exerted a strong influence on how program planning was understood and represented. From 1950 to 1970 technical rationality was the dominant discourse throughout education -- including adult education. The dominance continue on to the 1970s and 1980s but this was also a time when other approaches to planning were beginning to challenge the technical rationale tradition. In 1970 Knowles published the modern practice of adult education which extended and updated his work in informal adult education and began to popularize andragogy as an alternative education process to pedagogy. Although his efforts to clearly differentiate andragogy from pedagogy and his argument that andragogy was the best approach when working with adults met with heavy criticism this book was highly influential and added to the momentum of the technical rational tradition. Also published 1970 the English translation of Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed introduced adult educators to a fundamentally different way to think about the purpose of process of education. Although not a tax on program planning this book directly challenge many long-held beliefs about adult education including the motion to teachers could be neutral or objective and that the curriculum should avoid content that was explicitly political. Freire was committed to the idea that learning should in power the oppressed. His approach to adult literacy and Brazil was deliberately designed to alter the power relations in society by helping peasants understand and challenge the forces of oppression. His ideas contrasted sharply with those of mainstream theorists like Tyler and Knowles who focused on the individual largely ignored power relations and who was soon bad reasons and consensus were dominant features of planning.
In part as a rejoinder to Knowles, Houle published the design of education in 1972. Houle did not except the distinctions made by Knowles between a doubt and non-adult learners or between andragogy and pedagogy. Houle’s fundamental system includes a framework of decision points ranging from identifying the possible educational activity to measure and appraising the results. Although the diagram he uses to summarize these points suggests that they are sequential he maintains in the next text that they are a complex of interacting elements. This framework is clearly in the Tylerian technical rationale tradition but Houle fully acknowledged the need to modify planning to take in account of the wide variation in purpose, context and structure found in practice. Other planning models were introduced in the 1970s but the works of Knowles, Freire, and Houle dominated this decade. In 1980 Knowles responded to his critics by issuing a revised edition of the modern practice of adult education. Changing the subtitle from pedagogy versus andragogy signaled he has softened his earlier position about the difference in learning between children and adults at his approach to planning did not change in any fundamental way. Numerous other planning books were written for both general and specific audiences all of which continue the technical rational tradition while incorporating some unique features to accommodate differences in context. Although the technical rational tradition continued to dominate into the 1990s there were signs that its influence was waning. Its continued dominance was reflected in the character of the planning book published most of which were new additions of books originally released in the 1970s and 1980s. A recent book by Rothwell 1997 focuses on planning continuing education and human resource development programs. Although it does not introduce any fundamentally new ideas about planning it does incorporate the findings from a survey of practicing planners to illustrate the extent to which they engage in certain planning task and their beliefs about the usefulness and effectiveness of various planning and instructional techniques. Another recent book edited by Cookson 1998 contains several chapters that question conventional wisdom about planning but most of the chapters present updated ways of thinking about and engaging in planning firmly anchored in the technical rational tradition. A noteworthy exception to this trend is in the work by Cervero and Wilson 1994 -- 1996 in which they suggest a radical shift of focus from technique of planning to the people work of planning. Their work is grounded in critical theory especially the work of Forrester (1989, 1993) -- and suggests that the best way to understand planning is to focus on how the actors negotiate plans with any complex social arena characterized by competing interests and asymmetrical power relations. Their work represents a fundamental break from the technical rational tradition and forces us to view planning with a different set of lenses. Instead of treating program planning as a stepwise process of selecting and applying tools and procedures Cervero and Wilson urged us to foreground the dynamic interaction of power in interest and to rethink what it means to be responsible planners. Although I have some concern about how well negotiation works as a key analytical concept, I have been convinced by their work that the socio-political dimensions of planning have been seriously neglected and deserve more attention. In other noteworthy development in the 1990s was the increase in the number of books that focus on planning program that employ a wide range of information technology -- particularly the Internet. Examples include the works of Burge and Roberts 1998 and Driscoll 1998. These books continue in the technical rational tradition by providing practical guidance, suggestions, and checklist for deciding programs nubile for adults that incorporate various electronic resources and both synchronous and asynchronous interaction.
A Convergence of Critiques
In the last 20 years several strong critical perspectives have influenced the work of adult education scholars. Because these perspectives have really been applied directly to program theory it is not always evident what their implications are for this area of work. But even if their implications are not clearly evident ignoring them is dangerous because they speak to important issues that have not received adequate attention. What follows are brief summaries of three of these perspectives with some observation and how they are revealed flaws in conventional planning theory. Feminist critiques of adult education have raised important questions about the origins and relevance of our comfortable assumptions and widely accepted principles especially in relation to adult education, adult development, and the research enterprise. Feminist critiques of planning have also challenge the legitimacy of conventional planning. Based largely on the exclusion of women from development and the absence of gender as an important consideration. Although several women have authored and edited books on program planning these include no substantive discussion of the rolled gender and planning. There is a great deal of literature on women as learners and the role of gender in education but very little of his work has been incorporated directly or indirectly into planning theory. I have tried to envision what a book on program planning written from a feminist perspective which include and how it would be organized but that is a difficult task because of the many different forms of feminism and the continuing debates about who can speak for whom. I would be surprised if such a book did not foreground relational aspects of planning the role of intuition and insight and the gender power nexus. What I fear is that there is much a wide gulf between the dominant tradition and feminism that no one will attempt a difficult task of rethinking planning from various feminist perspectives. Postmodernism as is the case with feminism there are many different forms of postmodernism. Postmodernist would consider it and I run a contradiction to claim that there was one true way of understanding postmodernism or even a generally accepted definition of the term because postmodern always involves challenging generally accepted notions and the deconstructing dominant discourses. Lyotard 1984 defines the postmodern as incredulity toward meta-narratives while Foucault 1977 writes of the insurrection of subjugated knowledge. Postmodernism challenges planning to the extent that planning is construed as a process involving set ends that are unproblematic and scientifically determined means that are instrumental to achieving them. Various adult education scholars have critiqued the field from a postmodern perspective and in doing so have raise questions about theory and practice that are difficult to ignore. Two examples of the kind of critique that has effectively undermined traditional notions about adult education are found in Briton 1996. Briton develops the outline of postmodern pedagogy that he views as responsive to the challenges of postmodernity . What I am left with are many questions about the might be called postmodern planning war these ways of thinking about planning that acknowledged the postmodern critique. It seems futile to develop even more sophisticated and detailed planning models because doing so assumes that a coherent set of task or steps can be described that will somehow lead to the development of effective programs. A postmodern approach to planning would be more sensitive to the particularities of context would treat the ends and means as mutually determined would avoid prescribing task -- like assessing needs and developing objectives -- without first surfacing the assumptions underlying them and understanding how they are socially constructed and whose interests are served by the process. Critical theory of the three perspectives presented here critical theory has received the greatest attention in program planning primarily through the work of Cervero and Wilson 1994. As mentioned earlier their work is based on the critical planning theory of Forrester 1989-1993 who focuses on how power and interests influence deliberate efforts to bring about change. Cervero and Wilson have shown how planning can be understood by carefully analyze in the power and interests embedded within it and how planners negotiate what other stakeholders to arrive at program design. They acknowledge the powerful role occupied by planners who often control school sits at the planning table and what is open to negotiation. Critical theory is concerned with change particularly fundamental social change that reduces or eliminates oppression. Freire’s work is a good example of adult education based on critical theory. Critical theorist have helped us understand the central role that power plays in education in maintaining the hegemony of privilege individuals and groups existing class structures access to limited resources and control of productive capacity. It is not too difficult to see why critical. And its approach to research have resonated with adult educators. Its discourse of basic social needs of distortion and false consciousness, of critical dialogue, and is foregrounding of Praxis, provide an appealing foundation of theory and practice for radical adult educators committed to social action. Its aim of emancipation and empowerment provides a purposive goal for educational activity. Emancipation and empowerment resonate strongly with many adult educators but these aims are not shared by all. There is a clear perception among some scholars that adult education has lost its social change focus and must work hard to reestablish a commitment to it. My view is that we never lost his focus but it became much less visible as the field expanded and its form of practice diversified. What is clear to me is that very little literature on program planning is oriented to a social change focus so those whose interests are best served by maintaining the status quo. There are other perspectives from which one recently criticized the literature on program planning include the domination of English-speaking, North America, white writers, but these three examples seem sufficient to make the point that there are some important limitations in this body of work as we enter the 21st century. The convergence of these critiques represent a powerful condemnation of planning theory that should give Paul's to those of us who have contributed to its development who teach it in its academy and who use it in our work. Since I have done all three and have yet to find a 12-step program to help me recover, I want to propose a framework for thinking about planning and I hope avoids the limitations of the technical rational tradition recognizes the merits of various critiques and places the work of model building where it rightfully belongs in the hands of those who are doing the work.
Putting Life into Planning Theory and Planning Theory into Life
Before proposing a new framework for thinking about and engaging in planning it is first necessary to reveal my assumptions about what it means to be a capable planner. Being a capable planner involves developing understandings and skills and three closely related domains, the typical, the socio-political and ethical. The technically capable planner although in critiques of technical rationality might lead to the conclusion that a concern with techniques is misguided that would be a missed reading of these critiques. As a paradigm technical rationality has serious limitations that have been effectively argued by Adams 1991 and Cervero and Wilson 1997 among others. But a critique of the paradigm does not lead to the conclusion that the technical domain of planning should be ignored only that it should not be regarded as the essence of planning. Effective planning requires the judicious selection and throughout application of various techniques that fit in context and are consistent with the purposes and processes to which planners are committed. If planners aim to promote social transformation and wish to achieve it in an empowering highly democratic fashion than planning requires involving those with a stake in the program engaging them in conversation to arrive at a decision about intentions and actions to be taken and converting those decisions into program features. This is a complex process that requires the sensitive abdication of a broad range of skills and techniques. Those who overemphasize the technical domain of planning err either by not acknowledging the socio-political and apical domains or by presenting one set of techniques and implying that he can be universally applied. The technically capable planner develops a rich repertoire of techniques and has the sensibility to select those that best fit the circumstances.
The Politically Aware Planner
working effectively end the socio-political domains of planning involves becoming aware of the role of power, ideology, and interests and held these interact with people work collectively to make decisions about intentions and actions. Cervero and Wilson 1994 concerts that to act responsibly planners must be political because adult educators always planned programs in context defined by a concrete set of power relationships and associated interests. These concepts are working interests and their relationship structure planners’ actions in planning practice. Planning will not always involves reading these contexts for power and interest but also acting on and responding to them. This may involve deliberate attempts to alter power relations in order to avoid designing programs that reflect or reproduce these relations. Most planning models in adult education assumed that practitioners live in the world characterized by cooperative; consensus seeking people can reach agreement on complex issues after a suitable amount of civilized discussion. The case study of planning presented by Cervero and Wilson 1994 -- 1996 demonstrate that this assumption is simply wrong. These and other studies of planning more often reveal a complex web of conferencing interests and priorities that are difficult or impossible to reconcile. This creates a significant challenge for planners because we have few conflict base models or theories of planning to provide insights and suggests strategies. Although Cervero and Wilson claimed that negotiation is the primary strategy used to play and in such circumstances their cases also illustrate the use of mediation and manipulation -- among others -- to respond to asymmetrical power relations and divergent interests. Although mediation can be reviewed as a form of negotiation it assumes conflict and may therefore be a more productive metaphor and strategy for planning and highly political context. Manipulation is also evident in some of these cases along with all of its negative, connotation. If we except the observation that manipulation is a legitimate planning strategy then we can raise interesting questions about the forms of manipulation that argues and which ones can be regarded as ethically justifiable. Cervero and Wilson place a great deal of hope of substantively Democratic planners as a means to deal with asymmetrical power relations and divergent interests. If we accept their position been politically aware planners must also be capable of creating and sustaining substantively Democratic planning processes. The point of this discussion is not to reach firm conclusion about what it means to be a politically aware planner but rather to suggest that the socio-political domain of planning is exceeding important in understanding the dynamic of practice. There is a growing body of literature on the politics of difference that addresses issues of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation, among others. These important forms of differences are bound up in the personal identities that are brought to the planning table sold they are also important factors in the politics of planning.
The Ethically-Responsible Planner
concerns about the antics of planning has been reflected in the literature from more than 15 years but this concern has only recently been integrated into planning theory. Cervero and Wilson 1994 argued that planners make apical commitments when they decide whose interest count and how those interests will be reflected in programs. Rothwell and Cookson’s 1997 planning model in clues in acting a sense of apical responsibility as an integral element. And Sork 1997 outlines a planning framework that place is apical considerations at the deepest level of analysis. Although each of these authors have made apical consideration explicit in planning they do not provide much help in clarifying what it means to be an ethically responsible planner. There are references to the importance of having a clearly articulated personal philosophy to guide practice but such advice may not be particularly reassuring to practitioners who must act in specific contextualized situations surrounded by other actors whose interests, values, and moral commitments must be considered. A basic level of apical responsibility requires the planners recognize the moral commitments by they are making as they develop programs. Decisions about whose interests will be represented, what aim will be pursued, how the learner community will be defined, how resources will be allocated, what instructional approaches will be used, how the program will be financed, and how success will be determined all involve making moral commitments. Planners would achieve a more advanced level of apical responsibility continuously challenged themselves and others they work with to: make explicit the moral questions and issues embedded in planning, confront the conflicting moral positions brought to the planning table by various stakeholders, engage others and discussing more questions and issues in a way that leads to some resolution or agreement, and develop convincing moral justification for the decisions made and actions taken.
Rethinking Planning Theory
early in my career I'll was thoroughly socialized except the idea that planning models were useful prescriptions guides to practice. I knew that they do not describe what I as a planner but I thought this was because I was in experience. Only later did I realize that these models were simplified idealized versions of what someone else thought I should be doing and had little or no regard for the context which I worked or my personal style. So in rethinking planning theory I have struggled with a dilemma: should I propose a way of thinking about planning that will guide practice or one that can be used to describe and understand planning as it is practiced? Only once every 10 years is someone invited to preach from the pulpit that we desperately need to know more about what really goes on in planning the descriptive position and helping people engage in more effective and responsible planning the prescriptive position. I am skeptical about the prospects of developing a theory or model that is suitable for both purposes. Cervero and Wilson 1994 have nearly achieved this by framing planning as a process of negotiating power and interests. They and others uses frame to analyze a wide variety of planning cases and to mistreat the power and interests are important factors of planning. They also use this frame to suggest what planners need to know and to do act responsibly. But as pointed out above there seems to be much more going oh on and the cases that negotiation. By framing planning in this way they effectively exclude other equally plausible and more complete explanations of what is happening. And if there are other processes occurring beyond negotiation been their assertions about what skills and knowledge are needed to plan responsibly at best incomplete and at worst misleading. So I am the one thing how likely it is that a way of thinking about program planning can be developed ones that can be used in both explaining the complexities of planning and guide those involved. Part of our mandate from the editors of this handbook is to contribute to inform practice in a critically reflective manner. What I'm proposing here is the framework neither a theory or a model for thinking about and engaging in planning that has the following characteristics: it is generic and the sense that it can be used in a wide variety of educational context and does not assume that there is a particular value set or ideological system driving planning although there always is, it's generative in that it invites new and unique ways of understanding and engaging in planning. It assumes that each planning situation is unique and therefore requires a unique approach; it is derivative because it builds upon prior work and education planning and is informed by the limitations of other planning frameworks and paradigms.
A Question-Based Approach to Planning
the framework I propose is a question based approach to planning. Rather than presenting a detailed description of technical planning task I offer instead a framework for raise important planning questions because I believe that posing and answering questions will lead to a better decision and therefore better programs. When he used to guide planning this framework should prompt those involved pose questions they believe are important to answer then consider what techniques from among the vast number of available might help answer each question. When used to analyze planning the framework conserved organize questions that are polls explicitly or suggested implicitly by the decisions or actions of the planners. For example it once observed a planning group discussing who might be invited to join, the implicit question might be who isn't here will should be and how can we get them involved? This question may never be made explicit but the actions of the planners might reasonably be interpreted as responding to this question. If the discussion turns to getting buy in from influential stakeholders then a further implied question might be, who are the important stakeholders and how can we get their support? Whether stated explicitly or inferred from the actions of planners such questions revealed a great deal about what issues are in the foreground of planning. Each element presents a cluster of possible questions, decisions, and actions involved in planning programs. The elements are arranged around an old bull to suggest that they are non-linear although in the left to right, top-to-bottom, clockwise Western world I live in it is not difficult to convincingly represent nonlinearity on a printed page. One of the advantages of viewing these elements as clusters of possible questions, decisions, and actions is that planners can substitute any cohesive set of elements that they find more compatible with their context or style. We know from studies of planning that the process is nonlinear so any framework that claims to be used in describing planning or in helping those who plan do so responsibly most certainly avoid linear logic. The pathway and around the outer rim is meant to suggest that it is possible to move from any element to any other element in any order. The smaller oval in the center –formative evaluation –represents and evaluated pathway for moving from one element to another; this evaluation aspect differentiates this path from the one on the rim of the oval that does not involve and evaluate the process. The word used to represent the elements of planning were carefully chosen to avoid some of the problems associated with overly technical models that assuming particular set of techniques can be applied to all planning situations.
Analyze Context and Learning Community
Context –or the complex milieu in which planning occurs – has long been regarded as an important consideration planning. In many respects the context of term ends what is possible. Context is dynamic rather than static and is subject to the actions of planners, so analyzing or reading the context is a precursor to acting upon. This context includes the organizational all social settings in which planners work, the socio- political environment, economic values and priorities, physical facilities, the policy framework, history and traditions, the role of education, cooperative and competitive relations, and so on. Also embedded in the context are frame factors, which are such factors that constrain the intellectual space and the space for action within a process, which the actors and each point of time during the process cannot influence or perceived they cannot influence in the short run. Although they are most often based on policies, procedures, power relations, and traditions that are thought to be nonnegotiable, frame actors can be anything that limits the options and options available to those planning programs. A particularly interests part of the definition of frame factors is the phrase or perceive they cannot influence because it’s just that planners made unnecessarily limit their choices. So analyzing the context includes understanding Frank doctors that the choices of the planners and being critically aware of the degree to which framed factors may unnecessarily restrict their options and choices. The learner community is a subgroup of all adult learners that the program is designed for or with. I used to work community to indicate that those who are part of the subgroup have something in common that explains why they might have a stake in the program being planned. What they have in common may be as simple as living in the same geographic area or as complex as sharing a set of demographic and social characteristics like age, gender, race, education and income level, occupation, and sexual orientation. To analyze a learner community is to come to an understanding of who might dissipate in the program and what about them – there biography, their life circumstances, their ideological commitments, their aspirations – might be important to take in account in planning.
Justify and Focus Planning
Planning often involves a set of activities that justify the effort and other resources being expended and provides focus to the process. Needs assessment is used in most planning models to accomplish this but there are many other possible strategies for justifying and focusing planning the requires less effort and less reactive in character and are less intrusive and what is often an organic, free flowing process. To justify and focus planning is to understand – individually and collectively – why it is important to devote resources to the design of a program and what the general character of the program will be. For decades the literature has presented needs assessment as if it were the best and only technique to use to determine what should be included in the program. Houle 1996 and Caffarella 1994 among others, recognize this problem and developed planning frameworks that treat needs assessment as one process among many that can be used to generate program ideas. Davidson 1995 argues, as have others, that needs are not out there to be discovered but socially constructed during needs making activities. Justifying and focusing planning may be one of the most challenging aspects of planning because it occurs when ambiguity and uncertainty are high. Working with the ambiguity and uncertainty to arrive at a clear understanding of what we are doing and why is what this element of planning is about and there are many different ways this can be done. Unfortunately, instead of exploring the variety of ways this is accomplished in practice and the context in which they are applied we have positioned needs assessment as a universal technical fix, which is, clearly is not.

Clarifying Intentions
Another enduring yet disturbing feature of planning models is the use of objectives as the primary means to clarify intentions. The literature reflects a strong influence of the objectives movement that swept through the North American educational landscape in the 1950s and 1960s pushed along the popularity of behavioral psychology. Because planning has always been concerned in part which clarifying intentions, objectives came to be viewed at the best and sometimes only, way of doing this. It was hard to counter the argument's that it educators know what they're doing they should be able to state in clear and unambiguous terms what learners should be able to do in order to demonstrate that they learned what was intended. This was after all a means of being accountable or considerable resources expended on education. Objectives were public proclamations of what programs would accomplish the form of objectives was important because only learner behavior matter. Spirited debates about what form objective should take more encouraged by various authors who presented compelling arguments in support of their own unique format. Object is fit well within the technical rational tradition because they provide a uniform way to communicate intentions in a more for less unambiguous fashion and make it much easier to hold educators accountable for their work. Of course objectives only appeared to be unambiguous and because that most trivial learning outcomes are the easiest right objectives for we appear to have mostly trivial intentions! There has been a discernible shift when more critical and conditional position on the usefulness of objectives in part due to the shift from a behavioral to a cognitive view of teaching and learning. Objectives are one of a variety of ways to clarify intentions so in analyzing and engaging in planning we should focus on understanding how intentions are clarified and what approaches seem best suited to the particulars of context.
Prepare Instructional Plan
every program has an implicit or explicit instructional plan that impacts the intentions of those will develop it. Instructional plans reflect decisions about how technology is employed what content is included, what instructional approach is used, how activities are sequenced, when and how feedback is provided, how transfer of learning is addressed, hell motivation is sustained, and so on. The instructional plan is the heart of the program it is the place where learning theory, philosophy, understanding of group dynamics, availability of technology, understanding a motivation; and so on interact to influence how instruction is visualized. There are many competing frameworks and perspectives to guide practitioners through this process each one is based on the authors’ assumptions about the adult learner and conception of what good instruction involves. We have a great deal of experience planning programs offered in physical sites to which learners much travel, but we have less experience using powerful information technologies in concert to deliver courses. Delivering programs electronically, for example, introduces many instructional challenges while making it possible to access resources and to involve learners in unique ways. On the other hand using the Web to offer programs raise new technical issues that if taken seriously complicate the instructional planning process.
Prepare Administrative Plan
programs are available because someone has looked after mundane details like arranging for space, developing a program budget, communicating details of the program to the learner community, finalizing contracts with instructors, scheduling support services, and so on. There is an important reciprocal relationship between instructional and administrative planning. Every substantive instructional planning decision has administrative implications and many elements of administrative planning have instructional implications. Even though instructional and administrative planning are closely related they are separate in this framework because there are aspects of administrative planning that are not directly linked to instruction. For example, decisions about summative evaluation and activities involved in justifying and focusing planning have resource implications that must be a part of the administrative plan. Flaws in administrative of planning can lead to program for lawyers as easily as flaws in instructional plans so this element is no less important than the others.
Develops Summative Evaluation Plan
the usual distinction made between formative and summative evaluation is that formative evaluation focuses on improving the program while it is being developed in its formative stages while summative evaluation focuses on determining the work or value of a fully formed program. There are many frameworks offered in the literature to assist planners in designing summative evaluations depending on the purpose of the evaluation, the resources available for evaluation, the intent of the program, who the stakeholders are, and what kind of information they expect to receive about the program. There is nothing particularly unique about the six elements of planning. They reflect the more general form of task described in many prescriptive planning models. What is unique in this framework is that these elements are not being proposed as steps or tasks that must be completed in planning but rather as descriptive categories that can be used to cluster related planning questions, decisions, and actions. But the six elements alone are not sufficient because there is also depth to the planning process that existing models have only begun to address. This depth is represented by what I call the third dimension of planning that is hidden beneath the six elements
Three Dimensions of Planning
suggests that there are three domains that exists beneath the surface of framework. I have made the domains equal in size not because they receive equal attention but because I consider them equally important it we are to develop a more complete understanding of planning practice. Not all questions will fall neatly in one domain there could well be many questions that spanned two or possibly all three domains. The technical domain most of the literature on program planning addresses questions in the technical domain. The questions raised in this domain largely focus on the how to of planning so I regard them as on the surface. Examples of typical technical domain questions are, how should I do find the learner community and what do I need to know about it? What is the best way to determine the kinds of programs the learner community wants? How should we decide the purpose of this program so that it will be supported by the institution? How much time should be allotted to the program and where should it be help? What is the best way to market this program? How much will the members of the learner community pay for this program? It is taken for granted in the literature that this domain is primarily concerned of planners and there's no question that being skillful in these matters is an occupational expectation. But I described it on the surface quite deliberately to suggest that the preoccupation with domain over emphasizes the craft of planning and neglects its artistry. Those who are uninterested in probing the deeper domains of planning are unable to respond to the challenges described above because these challenges are unconcerned with the technical domain -- it is the socio-political and ethical domains that provides based consider the thornier questions relevant to of early 21st-century planning.
The Socio-Political Domain
the lack of attention given to the socio-political domain has been highlighted by Cervero and Wilson 1994 who should be credited with shifting our attention away from the technical domain. This domain is concerned with questions about the human dynamics of planning including the interest involved, the power relationships at play, and what they mean for planning. Examples of questions in this domain include: why are not more women involved in planning this program and what will be the consequences of not changing this? What will happen to our credibility it continued to ignore the advice we are getting from key stakeholders? Why is X behaving this way and what can be done to get him on our side? Who is not here who should be and how can we get them involved? Why have we reached this impasse and how can we get beyond it? What will be the consequences if I just ignore her suggestions and do what I think is right?. As these example questions illustrate the socio-political domain is about how people engage with one another in planning what the consequences are and what responses are politically astute.
The Ethically Domain
this is the deepest domain in the framework and the one least often addressed in planning. Although planning is rife with ethical issues and decisions that have ethical implications it is a rare pleasure to find any discussion of planning issues using the language of moral discourse. Questions in this domain may resemble those in other two domains but there is an important distinction; questions here are framed in using the language of ethics and morality. A question like, is this the right thing to do? Is ambiguous because it might be referring to the technically, politically, or ethically right thing to do. Framing the question so that it is more clearly in the apical domain might produce something like, can I construct a convincing moral justification for doing it this way? Other examples include: is this action consistent with a commitment to social justice? How can this be done in a way that is consistent with the ethical of care that is the focus of the program? Can excluding men from this program be ethically justified? It is possible to plan programs without even addressing questions in the apical domain, what it is impossible to plan programs without making decisions and taking actions that have ethical implications. Answering questions in the apical domain requires moral reasoning and moral reasoning always has a point of reference a set of ethical commitments. These commitments may not be clearly articulated and they may or may not be informed by formal ethical theories but they exert a powerful influence on our actions. Posing questions in this domain forces the ethical commitment to a level of consciousness where they can be subjected critical reflection. It is only by critically reflecting on the ethics of planning that we can claim to be truly capable planners.
The Challenge Ahead
adult educators have spent the last 50 years trying to develop ever more sophisticated approaches to planning in the technical rational tradition. We have suffered from a fixation on linear, tidy, and familiar models that treat a complex social process as I'm problematic. It is time that we shift focus from finding the perfect planning model to asking the right questions. I have presented a planning framework intended to encourage a question based approach to educational design. I believe that this framework can be applied broadly in adult education to both understanding and guide planning but this bold and tended to claim must be tested. Part of this test will include subjecting the framework to critical analysis from a variety of perspectives. I wonder for example if the framework is flexible and robust enough to withstand challenges from those who work from feminist, postmodern, critical theory, and other perspectives. If they find the framework useful work questions will they consider important in each domain of planning? I wonder too how difficult it will be to redirect the attention of planners from applying techniques to posing questions. As a tool for constructing new knowledge about planning, what would use of the framework revealed that we do not already know? I am also under no illusions that the ease with which a transition can be made to a question based approach. It is more demanding than conventional approaches so to become widely adopted it will have to be considered worth the additional effort. What I am more certain about is that the program planning will remain a central activity in adult education and that practitioners will continue to look for conceptual resources that will help them in this challenging work. The quest for new more robust conceptual resources will sponsor new models, new research studies, and new critiques. A few years ago I fell into the depths of a postmodern funk from which I began to wonder if there was any future in planning. The postmodernists I was reading seem to be questioning the very foundations of planning. I try to envision a future without planners were planning -- both broadly defined -- and I do not like the chaotic images that emerged. I see planning is the struggle against entropy -- physical, social, intellectual, and emotion. Without thoughtful, effect of planning, complex cultures cannot survive. We have entered a new millennium that it not nothing else will provoke a great deal of debate and speculation about what lies ahead. I do not intend to claim that I have a clear vision of the future about adult education but whatever that future is will be determined in part by how well we plan education programs. Given the injustice, inequality, and environmental degradation that may exist in the late 20th century, we have a lot of learning to do in a short time. Maybe in an ideal world we would all be motivated, self-directed, liberated learners who do not require organize programs. But this utopia is unlikely to emerge in the time to save the planet so my conclusion is that at least during my lifetime planning will continue to be of central theoretical and practical interests in adult education.

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