Adult education and training as corporate social responsibility (CSR) : an exploratory study

This paper is an inquiry into a relatively untouched perspective in adult education research – Adult Learning and Education as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Two key developments generated the interest for this exploratory study. First, news that made headlines in my home country, Ghana, after the country discovered Oil and Gas in commercial quantities was that several millions of dollars has been spent on what was described as capacity building. In other words, training had been provided to a section of the populace to equip them to work in this new field of extraction business. The second development came when I realized through my ’Foundations of Adult Learning and Education’ (EDST 503) course, that, many adult education activities go unnoticed in society. For me, these two developments had a meeting point - adult education and training programs provided by corporate organizations as part of their corporate social responsibility can sometimes go unnoticed. And this had to be explored. This paper mainly focused on how adult education forms part of the CSR activities of Canadian Mining Corporations. Themes explored in this paper include community development, health and safety, environmental sustainability, corporate-community engagement, and issues of power relations. Considerations for future research was also discussed.