This paper has two purposes. The first is to underscore the relevance of historical events and social forces which influence the life experience of various cohorts of adults. To carry out this purpose, the study focuses on one particular cohort—a "cohort case study" as an example of how history and social forces shape the experiences as well as the educational needs of the adult population. The second purpose is to discuss some of the possible implications for adult education given these effects. The underlying assumption is that the more educators know about educational clientele—their social, historical, economic, and cultural pasts—the more successful will be the educational experiences.
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