he rapid expansion o f continuing education opportunities T and the increasing interest in it has given rise t o a number o f myths about continuing education, Perhaps the greatest myth o f all in this country is that education will solve all our problems. Certainly the concept o f education for all-a truly American idea-has had a tremendous impact on the social and economic development of this country. N o one can fault the importance o f education, but equally important is a recognition that it will not solve all our problems. This is not an anti-education approach. I am committed t o the concept o f lifelong learning and recognize the need for continued learning for both one's personal and professional lives. Kather, I wish t o encourage readers to reexamine some commonly held beliefs about continuing education, for the critical reappraisal o f these beliefs is essential to thc future of continuing education.
1. Coritinuirig education mid coiitirizred lraniirig w e syiionyrrious.
Another way o f stating this myth is that attendance at a conference or other organized learning experience assures learning. The rapid proliferation of continuing education providers and courses during the last decade attests t o the belief in this myth.
Some believe that if only you can get people to m e n d a conference, they are bound t o learn something. This is the "mud-on-the-wall" theory: if you throw mud against a wall, some o f it is bound t o stick; ergo, if you throw a l o t o f content at conference participants, they will learn some o f what was presented.
The fallacy in this theory is that it has not really been tested. With most conferences, few efforts are made t o ascertain what participants kdrned or how much they knew before the conference. Even fewer efforts are made t o determine