Upolitycznienie znaczenia edukacji dorosłych

The author of this article tries to consider the problem of justification of adult education from the perspective of two discourses. The one treats adult education as the instrument of civilizing the society; the other concentrates on producing skills which one needs to become an employee and a consumer. Both treat adult learners instrumentally despite their various ideological justification. The author believes that the meanings of adult education have been always rooted in the social and economic interests of political system rather than in the needs of adult people – participants of adult education. That is why the question ‘What is the mechanism of creation of educational needs in society?’ is still important, especially if we treat emancipation as the substance of education of adults, without ignoring the variety of aims, interests, expectations and political explanations.