Physical Education

Adulthood as a social construction
Pogson and Tennant provide a perspective of adulthood as a social construction. They say that the concept of a life's course varies for different individuals and different cultures; therefore trainers and adult educators should be wary of definitive views of adults and their behaviour.

Burns would probably support this view as he discusses the notion that 'definitions of the adult are not clear' and says 'the same is true of adult education'. He discusses the 'petrol tank' view of school education: 'fill the tank full at the only garage before the freeway, then away we go on life's journey' He goes on to discuss that problems can arise when people have not had their tank filled completely at school and he extends the metaphor to suggest that there should be service stations along 'the length of the highway of life'.