Mezirow’s theory of perspective transformation has proved to be a great asset to the scholarship of adult education and has provided a solid theoretical base for understanding complex learning phenomena. However, in the discussions surrounding Mezirow’s work, a certain "stuckness" appears which we think is unproductive. Critiques of Mezirow are often repeated, secondhand or thirdhand, causing important issues and tensions to become simplified and dichotomized, which causes complex aspects of the theory to lose the nuance that a good theory provides. This article draws on recent contributions to the literature in order to elaborate on the theory of perspective transformation in light of these recurring critiques. In so doing, we introduce three key concepts to the lexicon of perspective transformation: continuity, intersubjectivity, and emancipatory praxis. For each, we address the underlying omission or weakness in Mezirow’s theory and offer revised conceptualizations of the theory.
This study investigated the relationship among adult affective factors, engagement in science, and scientific competencies. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to select 504 participants between the ages of 18 and 70 years. Data were collected through individual face-to-face interviews. The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that while controlling demographic variable factors, science-related affective factors held explanatory power for scientific competencies. Among those factors, the explanatory power of self-efficacy was the greatest, followed by enjoyment and interest in science. While controlling antecedent factors, engagement in science held explanatory power for scientific competencies. It is suggested that improving affective factors and engagement in science may enhance adult scientific competencies. In terms of adult education, this study suggests that with more accessible science resources, adults may have the potential to trigger their interest, increase their self-confidence, and engage themselves in scientific issues.
This study investigated profiles of autonomous and controlled motivation and their effects in a sample of 188 adult learners from two Portuguese urban areas. Using a person-centered approach, results of cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of covariance revealed four motivational groups with different effects in self-efficacy, engagement, and learning. The study showed that groups of learners who have high autonomous motivation in the beginning of a course score higher in self-efficacy and later on in behavioral engagement and use of deep-learning strategies, whereas those who have controlled motivation alone or low levels of both types of motivation have worse results. Additionally, the study showed motivational differences according to adult learners’ gender, educational level, and occupational status. The influence of the Portuguese adult education system on the results and the implications of the study for the practice of adult education are also discussed.
Two core adult education outcomes for advanced adult learners in U.S. states under the National Reporting System are learning gains in adult secondary education and entry into postsecondary education (PSE). Advanced learner outcomes are associated with key functions in an adult education programming framework, as well as with adequate instructional staff time, location, or exposure to quality services. In this article, the trend in the relationship of instructional staffing patterns with both outcomes from 2006-2007 to 2011-2012 is examined. With fewer adult secondary learners and rising exposure, outcomes fluctuated. Profile analysis revealed that states with more full-time instructional staff had increasing amounts of PSE enrollment during the 6-year period. Moreover, the positive relationship of full-time instructional staffing with PSE entry appears to have gained strength from 2009-2010 onward. Implications of findings for adult educators and recommendations for future research are discussed.
This case study examines, Al Bawsala, a nongovernmental organization and a female cyber social activist, Amira Yahyaoui, in the aftermath of Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution through the lens of adult education. The theoretical frameworks of conscientization and third space are employed to describe Yahyaoui’s development of the watchdog political organization, Al Bawsala, for the purpose of democratic learning and popular education in Tunisia. Through interviews with Yahyaoui as well as content analysis of social media platforms used by Al Bawsala, the findings suggest popular education praxis of conscientization and third space are operative and central to Tunisia’s relatively nonviolent path toward democratization after the Arab Spring. The authors further suggest that Al Bawsala’s work is one approach for moving forward in a postrevolution context, and that adult education is central to that process.
This qualitative study explored the connection between art and adult education for critical consciousness from the perspective and work of conceptual artist, Luis Camnitzer. The theoretical framework is grounded in the critical public pedagogy literature. Data collection methods included interviews with conceptual artist Luis Camnitzer and with others familiar with his work, as well as textual analysis of his writing and visual art. The findings focus on the theme of exile in the life of the artist, his thoughts on the relation of art, politics, and education, and the role of conceptual art’s potential for creating "dialogue" in the mind of the viewer by re-presenting reality in unexpected ways. The discussion of the findings focuses on re-examining and redefining the concept of "dialogue" for art and adult education for critical consciousness in nonformal settings.
The catalyst for learning and change in transformative learning theory has mostly been explained in terms of a disorientation in a relatively stable life. This article explores a South African, nonformal adult learning program, as a source of orienting dilemmas, which catalyze learning and change in lives that are regularly and repeatedly disrupted, such that disorientation has become normalized. The article opens a conversation about transformative learning theory in a postapartheid South African context, marked by high levels of violence, poverty, and inequality. It thus responds to critiques of the dominance of Western cultural values and lives in transformative learning theory literature and contributes to the theory in Southern, developing contexts, with greater recognition of the significance of context. The article shows how an early life of repeated disruption and difficulty can be transformed through emancipatory education initiatives. Such programs can introduce orienting dilemmas, which catalyze transformative learning.
Cross-organizational "learning conversations" are an important source of informal learning among professionals, though little is known about whether specific characteristics of conversational interaction contribute to different learning outcomes in such conversations. This mixed-methods study examined the relationship between what (learning outcomes) and from what (specific conversational contributions) 79 executives from 22 organizations reported they learned from informal, peer-led conversations. Findings suggest that (1) there are unique associations between different types of reported learning outcomes and specific types of conversational contributions that are controversial, narrative, and inquiry in nature and (2) higher and/or lower proportions of certain conversational moves may support particular types of learning outcomes. We conclude with a discussion of findings and how they can support developing more nuanced taxonomies of effective discourse for informal learning, and identify areas for future research.
Using Harper’s anti-deficit achievement framework as a theoretical guide, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the academic and social experiences of four nontraditional, high-achieving, Black male undergraduates attending one historically Black university. Findings show that the participants were intrinsically motivated to succeed in college to make a better future for themselves and their families. Support from their peers, family, and children also played a role in their success. Last, the university cultivated a campus environment that affirmed the participants’ identities as Black males and nontraditional students. These findings present a counternarrative to deficit-oriented research about Black males generally and nontraditional Black male collegians specifically.
Academic language is a challenging yet increasingly important skill for Adult Basic Education/English as a Second or Other Language learners. Related to academic language learning is an adult’s developmental perspective. Developmental perspectives have been shown to vary in adulthood and shape qualitatively distinct ways of reasoning and learning experiences. Using Kegan’s constructive-developmental theory, which derives from Western psychology but has been implemented cross-culturally, this qualitative case study explores the academic language–learning experiences of nine Adult Basic Education/English as a Second or Other Language learners. The data include 18 semistructured qualitative interviews and class observations. Analysis includes the dual lenses of grounded theory and constructive-developmental theory. Findings suggest that developmental perspectives made a qualitative difference in how learners experienced academic language learning. Notably, "instrumental" learners described what looks like struggle, but from their developmental perspectives, represents a logical pathway toward success. Learners transitioning toward "self-authoring" brought unique learning agendas and capacities for self-monitoring.
Clothing is an integral part of our lives, yet modes of producing, using, and disposing of apparel have significant impacts on the environment. Our research explored the role transformative learning plays in the transition to more sustainable thinking and actions about clothing to illuminate instrumental learning processes and examine the relationship between instrumental and communicative learning. Using a qualitative case study approach, we gathered data on behaviors and attitudes (n = 32), and examined in depth the learning participants underwent and the action they took (n = 17). The data reveal that instrumental and communicative learning outcomes were plentiful, with participants discussing the array of skills, knowledge, and communicative insights they learned. Results indicate that instrumental learning makes action possible by allowing individuals to identify problems and solutions and to develop plans of action. Results also reveal the important interaction among instrumental and communicative learning as an individual seeks to understand an occurrence.
In this selection, the author provides a re-representation of data that honors the voice of participants, allowing readers the opportunity to draw their own interpretations about what the participants’ lived experiences mean. Developed from a study designed to explore the lived experiences of 18- to 25-year-olds transitioning from high school into adult basic education programs, the narratives of 12 GED students are presented here in the form of an ethnodrama. The script is meant to open a space to vocalize tensions felt among the participants regarding their experiences in school and their transitions to adult education, while at the same time fracturing what adult educators believe they know about high school leavers.
Research funding, promotions, and career trajectories are currently increasingly dependent on the emerging economy of publications and citations across the globe. Such an economy encourages scholars to publish in international journals that are indexed in databases such as Scopus and Web of Science. These developments place an increased emphasis on the question of who is allowed to publish in the journals listed there and whose research counts as valuable. Based on bibliographic data from articles submitted to three main journals in the field of adult education research between 2005 and 2012, we scrutinize the extent to which the emerging economy of publications and citations is dependent on national and regional boundaries. Our results show how four Anglophone countries dominate the field in relation to both published articles and the share of most cited articles and where the publication pattern of these authors are national and regional rather than international.
This article traces the development of the "second" and arguably more well-known "genre" of participatory action research (PAR). The article argues that the origins of PAR are highly distributed and cannot really be traced back to the ideas of a single person or even a single group of researchers. Instead, the development of PAR is tied to social movements of the 20th century, in particular land reform, anticolonialism, and need for a new research methodology, occurring simultaneously across multiple continents. The origins of PAR have little to do with the action research that developed in the United States. For that reason the PAR referent can sometimes be confusing or even misleading. We suggest that the second PAR also be recognized through its mirror concepts of vivencia, praxis, and conscientization—PAR/VPC. We discuss the core underpinnings of PAR/VPC and its evolution with strong ties to the sociopolitical context of developing societies and their fight for liberation. We also suggest our reflections of future of PAR/VPC with integration of feminist perspectives and inclusion of youth in the education movement.
This study explored the processes by which a group of breast cancer survivors experienced positive learning and growth from their cancer experiences. The author argues that such learning and growth can be considered transformative learning, especially from ontological perspectives of the theory. The participants’ change process consisted of different types of experiences that can be classified as Crisis, Coping, and Engagement. These types of experiences illustrate a process of adaptation to a new context. The findings suggests that the specific context in which transformative learning occurs has a profound effect on the epistemology used to negotiate that learning and growth, and in turn shapes and informs the types of change that occur.
Mission statements of universities in developing countries usually include serving the surrounding communities. Often this service does not reach beyond lip service. This article puts into context the experience of developing an adult education research program responding to the needs of the surrounding community in a historically disadvantaged rural area. The areas of research were adult education needs assessment and community development, young adults at risk, adult health education, and policy and implementation issues. Globalization, social exclusion, and lifelong learning were key concepts tailored to the specific context of the rural areas in South Africa. The first two authors of the article were personally involved in the program, as a visiting professor from the Netherlands and his South African successor, respectively. The third author worked in a similar program at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique.
Self-help literature has become an important domain of adult learning in North America. Self-help books offer readers advice on how to take charge of their lives and achieve goals such as prosperity, love, happiness, wellness, and self-actualization. Despite the popularity of self-help books, there has been little research about them from scholars of adult education. Furthermore, existing literature has tended to be speculative rather than empirical: few studies have assessed learning processes and other subjective outcomes among those who read self-help books. Through presenting results of qualitative interviews with female readers of self-help books, this article demonstrates how informal adult learning takes place through interaction with products of popular culture. The article argues that self-help reading should be included in the study of public pedagogy and that further empirical work is needed to understand the impact of reading such books, among other experiences of popular culture, on adults.
Step-by-step teaching is a researcher-designed innovative process that takes the adult learner, step-by-step, from his present level of understanding to the required level. The technique is based on well-researched and accepted pedagogical practices set in their psychological, sociological, and andragogical perspectives. Using a convenience sample of 35 students and a pretest, posttest, control group quasi-experimental design with semistructured interviews and unobtrusive observation, the experimental group outperformed their untrained counterparts. They reported gains in their understanding of fundamental concepts that hitherto had presented them challenges for several years. There was an overall positive change in mathematical achievement, attitudes, beliefs, and self-confidence toward mathematics learning. This research could be a catalyst for more work in this understudied area.
This article presents the findings related to teaching beliefs and pedagogical practices of a study that examined how financial literacy educators educate adults from underserved population groups in community-based settings. The study is theoretically framed in the teaching beliefs and culturally responsive education literature. Findings reveal a complex interaction of educators’ teaching beliefs that affect their pedagogical approaches: financial literacy as understanding, the importance of the cultural context, and emotions and money. These beliefs resulted in a pedagogy that highlighted the everyday financial realities of learners’ lives in a cultural context.
This article describes a case study of adult learning in a Canadian multisite Community Cardiovascular Hearts in Motion program. The researcher highlights the informal learning of 40 adult participants in this 12-week community-based cardiac rehabilitation/education program in five rural Nova Scotia communities. The effects of this learning and barriers are examined, along with aspects of program design and facilitation that support learning and transformation. The researcher points to the role of emotion in this transformative learning process, and links are made between individual and collective processes in the transformative learning. Transformative learning theorists and health and adult education practitioners can see in this case study how individual and collective health interests can be incorporated into program planning for the community.
Intentionally designing international perspectives into adult educator preparation programs is a step toward developing instructors’ social and instructional cache of understandings about learning, knowledge, and facilitative methodologies that transcend their own Western cultural influences. In a class offered through an MA in adult learning and teaching program at a large Southwestern university, students examined their personal perceptions about adult education and investigated adult learning and knowing in international settings. Through symbolic convergence and narrative analyses, the research found that the use of a collaborative, comparative inquiry framework indicated an initial Western educational metanarrative. Throughout the course, the framework also provided a cognitive and emotional scaffold to underpin the social nature of transformative learning and to inspire a global educational vision.