In a distinctly personal and highly entertaining style, Jane Vella offers a practical, proven, universally applicable approach to adult education. From a graduate school in New York to the mountains of Nepal to the drought-parched fields of Ethiopia, Vella draws on her rich personal experiences as an adult educator to reveal twelve basic principles of adult learning that transcend cultural differences. The principles include seeing the learner as decision maker in the learning process, building relationships for open communication, inviting participation by learners in goal setting through needs assessment, honoring cultural perspectives, and realizing the accountability of the teacher to the learners. Each of Vella's twelve stories describes a specific problem, analyzes the learners and their perceived needs, details the educational program and process, and examines one particular principle of teaching and learning. Every chapter concludes with a learning challenge, inviting readers to use the principle in some way that is appropriate to their own situation. Vella's stories reveal the courage of individual adult learners under often trying circumstances, and the power of dialogue to enable all to teach and all to learn.