Adults in their place of employment learn through both structured and informal formats. Structured formats include trainings, conferences and seminars. Through training sessions, individuals learn how to perform work tasks according to a company's specifications. Conferences and seminars provide advanced or additional training in a field.
Life does not come with a handbook. Adult individuals assume new roles throughout their lives when they have a partner, get married, become a parent and/or are the caregiver of their parents. Incidentally, adults learn by default how to adapt to these new situations, but sometimes they need extra guidance. For example, a woman pregnant with her first child might take birthing classes to prepare her for delivery and her new role as a mother. Adult education programs can help nurture the developmental routes that shape an adult's life.
Personal experiences in the life of an adult can present challenges that require extra guidance and education. For example, an immigrant might take English classes to gain a better understanding of his new surroundings and to get a job. An individual might decide to get a graduate degree so she can teach others in a formal setting or get a promotion or pay increase. In these instances, adult education programs serve as a device of social action and change, according to Sharan B. Merriam and Ralph G. Brockett, authors of the book, "The Profession and Practice of Adult Education."
Adults cannot help but learn from the world surrounding them. The media, recreational activities, friends, popular culture and the influence of faith create the desire within the adults to broaden their view of education, according to authors Merriam and Brockett. Adult education programs that help adults learn more about a culture engage students in philosophical thinking as they seek contradictions and similarities in their beliefs, figure out sources of those beliefs and determine which personal beliefs they might want to change.