Amazon.com description: Product Description: In Adult Education as Vocation, Michael Collins points out the dangers of pushing vocation to the margins by concentrating too heavily on technical expertise. In place of the narrowly determined focus on the characteristics and deficiencies of individual learners, Collins suggests that adult educators should concentrate more on improving their own practice and understanding their own motivations. He defines vocation as a thoughtful ethical commitment, vital to the teaching profession but often overlooked in an era which emphasizes upward social mobility and personal advancement. By concentrating on vocation and its practical manifestations, this book adds significantly to the professionalism debate.