Adult Education Quarterly recent issues

Transformational Learning in Botswana: How Culture Shapes the Process

Merriam, S. B., Ntseane, G. — 2008-04-15

Transformational learning as presented by Jack Mezirow has been critiqued for its Western, rational, and cognitive orientation. This qualitative study was conducted in the African nation of Botswana and examines how that culture shaped the process. In-depth interviews were held with 12 adults who acknowledged having an experience that had profoundly changed their view of themselves and/or their perspectives on the world. Spirituality and the metaphysical world, community responsibilities and relationships, and gender roles are 3 culturally specific factors embedded in how participants constructed the meaning of their experience; these factors are also evident in their changed perspective.

Overlooked and Understudied? A Survey of Current Trends in Research on Adult English Language Learners

Mathews-Aydinli, J. — 2008-04-15

This article provides a synthesis and review of 41 recent research studies focusing on the population of adult English language learners (ELLs) studying in nonacademic contexts. It notes the unique qualities and importance of understanding the English-language needs of this population, provides a critical overview of the existing literature, and concludes that both more research and research from diverse methodological perspectives are necessary.

First- Versus Continuing-Generation Adult Students On College Perceptions: Are Differences Actually Because of Demographic Variance?

Giancola, J. K., Munz, D. C., Trares, S. — 2008-04-15

The profile of students is changing, with an increase in first-generation and adult students. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in college perceptions between first-generation and continuing-generation adult undergraduates while controlling for demographic variables. The study and hypotheses are grounded in the Model of College Outcomes for Adult Students. It was hypothesized that first-generation students would report higher importance and lower satisfaction scores on the following variables: instructional effectiveness, academic advising, registration effectiveness, campus climate, safety and security, academic services, admissions and financial aid effectiveness, and service excellence. The results revealed that sex (more females) accounted for variance between first- and continuing-generation students on importance. There were no differences regarding satisfaction. With a higher number of female adult and first-generation students, higher education should better examine how to meet these students' needs. Recommendations for future research and practical implications are provided.

From Autonomy to Reciprocity, or Vice Versa? French Personalism's Contribution to a New Perspective on Self-Directed Learning

Eneau, J. — 2008-04-15

After many years of research focused on the individual and psychological aspects of self-directed learning, the field has taken into consideration the context and situation surrounding the education of an adult, placing the development of individual autonomy into a constructivist perspective. But it is only recently, in France at least, that researchers have begun to look more closely at the interpersonal dimensions of learning and that new theoretical approaches have introduced the ideas of reciprocity and exchange, allowing the consideration of the construction of this autonomy in new ways. Referring particularly to French personalist philosophy, following Mounier's and Ricœur's line of thought, Labelle's theory of educational reciprocity reverses the perspective, seeing the process of an adult's autonomization as the result of the reciprocal relationship between him or her and another person.

Book Review Essay: Using Narratives in Research and Practice: Narrative and the Practice of Adult Education (Professional Practices Series), by Marsha Rossiter and M. Carolyn Clark. Malibar, FL: Krieger, 2007. 187 pp., $27.50 (hardcover). Using Biographical and Life History Approaches in the Study of Adult and Lifelong Learning: European Perspectives, edited by Linden West, Peter Alheit, Anders Silig Andersen, and Barbara Merrill. New York: Peter Lang, 2007. 310 pp., $62.95 (paper)

Wiessner, C. A., Pfahl, N. L. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Enhancing Learning Through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: The Challenges and Joys of Juggling, by Kathleen McKinney. Bolton, MA: Anker, 2007. 201 pp., $27.95 (softcover)

Rowland, M. L. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Democratic Practices as Learning Opportunities, by R. van der Veen, D. Wildemeersch, J. Youngblood, and V. Marsick (Eds.). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2007. 204 pp., $49.99 (paperback)

Brookfield, S. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Social Science Theories in Adult Education Research, edited by Agnieszka Bron and Michael Schemmann. London: Lit Verlag, 2002. 344 pp., CAD$29.95 (paperback)

Remtulla, K. A. — 2008-04-15

Radical Questioning on the Long Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela and the Practice of Critical Reflection

Brookfield, S. — 2008-01-03

Nelson Mandela's autobiography The Long Walk to Freedom describes how an iconic political activist and freedom fighter reflected on, and sometimes modified, four core assumptions at the heart of his struggle to overturn the White supremacist, minority hegemony and create a free South Africa. Critical reflection's focus is on understanding the dynamics of power (and how to manipulate these) and on uncovering (and combating) ruling class hegemony. Although clearly unaware of adult education's utilization of the idea of critical reflection, Mandela's reasoning on tactics and strategy, his awareness of the need to reappraise assumptions that previously were viewed as gospel, and his use of multiple lenses through which to view his actions as a freedom fighter, exemplify the practice of critical reflection. The article does not presume any sort of historical accuracy, conducting instead a thematic content analysis of Mandela's own personal account of events, which others have challenged.

Women Learning in Garment Work: Solidarity and Sociality

Fenwick, T. — 2008-01-03

This article explores processes and possibilities for critical learning in the workplace, with a focus on workers laboring in what are often exploitive and dehumanizing conditions. The argument is based on a study of work-life learning of women, mostly new immigrants, employed long-term at an Alberta garment manufacturing plant. It is argued that their negotiations of work conditions are nested in various areas of learning associated with everyday practices, small communities, labor organizing processes, and English learning classes. These are argued to have generated solidarity through learning about sociality, resistance, and personal worth. These solidarities appear to be configured by energies of both transformation and reproduction that are threaded together and generated simultaneously as women learned to survive within the system while supporting one another in a vital interdependent social network. The discussion explores how these dynamics unfolded, and their effects on how different women positioned themselves and their knowledge.

Knowledge Networking: a Dilemma in Building Social Capital Through Nonformal Education

Shrestha, M., Wilson, S., Singh, M. — 2008-01-03

This article reports the results of an inquiry into the embeddedness of nonformal education (NFE) in the work of knowledge service providers, analyzing the dilemmas they experience in their operations around a public housing precinct. It explores the proposition that the networking of NFE providers is a mechanism by which a fragmented community might be repositioned socially and economically. NFE is seen as a bridge for extending and deepening existing social capital. The learning activities offered by the knowledge service providers are compared with the lifelong learning outcomes expected through NFE. The analysis positions these NFE providers in terms of their relative strengths and weakness, and indicates how these impacts on their projected sustainability. Community learning through non-formal education via the networking of knowledge providers is shown to involve serious tensions.

Learning Through Participatory Resource Management Programs: Case Studies From Costa Rica

Sims, L., Sinclair, A. J. — 2008-01-03

Based on an ongoing qualitative case study in Costa Rica, this article presents the participatory work that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) is doing with farmers to protect watersheds from erosion and contamination. Specifically, it includes a description of ICE's Watershed Management Agricultural Programme and how farmers participate in it and a qualitative analysis of the kind of learning that participants are experiencing. ICE uses collaborative and hands-on activities to raise awareness and promote alternative environmentally sustainable farming practices and technologies. These activities result in instrumental and communicative learning as found in transformative learning theory. The instrumental learning that occurs includes acquiring skills and information, determining cause–effect relationships, and task-oriented problem solving. The communicative learning that occurs includes understanding values, concepts, and others' points of view. In conclusion, the learning that occurred resulted in transformations in the conditions of life that promoted sustainability.

Facets of Adult Development: A Book Review Essay: Adulthood, (Routledge Modular Psychology Series), by Evie Bentley. London: Routledge, 2007. 121 pp., $14.95 (paperback). Middle Adulthood: A Lifespan Perspective, edited by Sherry L. Willis and Mike Martin. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005. 440 pp., $65.95 (hardcover). Identity Development: Adolescence Through Adulthood, (2nd ed.), by Jane Kroger. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007. 320 pp., $79.95 (hardcover)

Baumgartner, L. M. — 2008-01-03

Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives, edited by James A. Banks. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. 485 pp., $28.00 (paperback)

Ming Yeh Lee, — 2008-01-03

Unequal Chances to Participate in Adult Learning: International Perspectives, by Richard Desjardins, Kjell Rubenson, and Marcella Milana. Paris: UNESCO Institute for Educational Planning, 2006. 128 pp., $12.00

Donaldson, J. F. — 2008-01-03

University Extension and Social Change: Positioning a University of the People in Saskatchewan

McLean, S. — 2007-10-30

There are two predominant interpretations of the history of Canadian university extension. The "liberal or institutional" perspective argues that extension has been a means for universities to disseminate resources, foster progress in society, and meet the learning needs of individuals. The "critical or nostalgic" perspective claims that university extension once resisted dominant forms of power relations but now supports such relations. This article challenges these two interpretations through exploring the sociological concepts of subjection and modes of production and through presenting a historical case study of extension at one Canadian university. The article narrates the evolution of official claims made regarding extension at the University of Saskatchewan from 1908 to 2007 and argues that this evolution was influenced by changes to the mode of production in the province. This argument encourages adult educators with interests beyond university extension to reflect on their agency as scholars and practitioners.

What Do You Mean By "Authentic"? A Comparative Review of the Literature On Conceptions of Authenticity in Teaching

Kreber, C., Klampfleitner, M., McCune, V., Bayne, S., Knottenbelt, M. — 2007-10-30

"Authenticity in teaching" has been recognized as an important yet under-researched phenomenon. To gain greater insight into the meaning of authenticity in teaching in adult and higher education settings, the authors delved into some of the philosophical and educational literature on authenticity, giving particular attention, but not confining their review, to the work of Taylor, Heidegger, and Noddings. This study is one of "making sense of authenticity in teaching" in light of the conceptions of authenticity underlying the reviewed texts. Authenticity in teaching emerged as a multidimensional phenomenon, and the findings are presented in the form of multiple features associated with it. Inspired by Taylor's concept of horizons of significance and Palmer's notion of the subject-centered classroom, the authors further propose that one dimension of authenticity in teaching relates to educators' care for the subject matter and thus engaging students in genuine dialogue around ideas that matter.

Wrapping the Curriculum Around Their Lives: Using a Culturally Relevant Curriculum With African American Adult Women

Sealey-Ruiz, Y. — 2007-10-30

This study examines how African American adult female students respond to a culturally relevant curriculum. Research confirms that adults enter college classrooms with a variety of experiences that they value and experiences to which they wish to connect. Black female students in particular possess knowledge unique to their positionality in American society, and they want to apply this knowledge to what they are learning. A curriculum that speaks to their personal experiences and ways of knowing can be a bridge to connect what they want and need to learn. Three themes emerged from this study involving Black women and culturally relevant curriculum: language validation, the fostering of positive self and group identity, and self-affirmation or affirmation of goals. The study's findings reveal that the approach of integrating students' experiences as an explicit part of the learning agenda encourages them to participate to the fullest extent in their own education.

A Developmental Re-Forming of the Phases of Meaning in Transformational Learning

Erickson, D. M. — 2007-10-30

In this study of peer instructors in three Learning in Retirement Programs, the constructivist elements embedded in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning are examined at the theoretical intersections of transformational learning and developmental constructivism, specifically the work of Robert Kegan, resulting in a suggested developmental reforming of the phases of meaning in transformational learning.

Book Review: Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (3rd ed.), by Sharan B. Merriam, Rosemary S. Caffarella, and Lisa M. Baumgartner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. 533 pp., $52.00 (hardcover)

Bettinger, T. V. — 2007-10-30

Book Review: Global Issues and Adult Education: Perspectives from Latin America, Southern Africa and the United States, edited by Sharan B. Merriam, Bradley C. Courtenay, and Ronald M. Cervero. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006. 520 pp., $48.00 (hardcover)

Nesbit, T. — 2007-10-30

Book Review: Adult Learning, Adult Teaching (4th ed.), by John Daines, with Carolyn Daines and Brian Graham. Cardiff, UK: Welsh Academic Press, 2006. 214 pp., {pound}14.95

Thompson, P. — 2007-10-30

Book Review: Widening Access to Education as Social Justice: Essays in Honor of Michael Omolewa, edited by Akpovire Oduaran and Harbans Bhola. Amsterdam: Springer, 2006. 490 pp., $34.95 (paperback)

Kyle, K. — 2007-10-30

Literacy for What? Literacy for Whom? The Politics of Literacy Education and Neocolonialism in UNESCO- and World Bank-Sponsored Literacy Programs

Wickens, C. M., Sandlin, J. A. — 2007-07-12

This article explores literacy education, especially the kinds practiced and promoted by organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as a form of neocolonialism. Although researchers in other educational contexts have examined how schooling and education operate as a form of neocolonialism, little research has been conducted exploring this connection within adult literacy education. Using postcolonial theory and Thomas and Postlethwaite's framework for analyzing neocolonialism in educational systems, the authors present findings from a qualitative textual analysis of UNESCO- and World Bank—sponsored publicity and policy documents in which they examined two dimensions of literacy programs sponsored by UNESCO and the World Bank: (a) the purposes of literacy and (b) the funding of programs. Despite progressive shifts in how literacy is defined and practiced from colonialist Western control to local governance, for these shifts to continue, financial structures must be reorganized.

Welfare Reform and Black Women's Economic Development

Alfred, M. V. — 2007-07-12

In 1996, the United States Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, placing emphasis on individuals to take responsibility for separating themselves from governmental dependence by becoming economically self-sufficient through employment. Using a qualitative approach, this study explored the experiences of 15 African American women as they transitioned from welfare to determine the extent to which they were developing economic sufficiency as a result of their labor force participation. It also sought the perspectives of employers on the work-first approach to economic development among former recipients and their chances of becoming self-sufficient through employment. The study found three systems of barriers to impede the participants' economic progress: the "work-first" philosophy, labor market conditions and employment practices, and personal history and individual responsibility. These findings suggest that a more integrative approach is necessary, one that addresses both the personal and structural dimensions of women's economic development.

The Transition of Adult Students to Higher Education: Legitimate Peripheral Participation in a Community of Practice?

O'Donnell, V. L., Tobbell, J. — 2007-07-12

This article presents empirical research exploring adult students' transition to higher education (HE) through a program designed to enable that transition. Wenger's Communities of Practice theory has been applied to informal adult learning by Merriam, Courtenay, and Baumgartner (2003), who suggested its potential for understanding formal education. Using this theoretical framework, adults' transition to HE is explored in terms of learning, participation in practices, and identity. Students were interviewed, and qualitative data analysis revealed that although they perceived themselves to be peripheral participants in the community, university regulations, and academic procedures sometimes undermined their feelings of legitimacy. Their experiences of the community's practices were mediated by individual, shifting identities and a sense of belonging. Their experiences are discussed in terms of the power of practice to include or exclude, and the concomitant identity shifts which may lead to fuller participation. Implications for the design of transitional programs are also discussed.

The Untold Story of "Foreign Devil" Adult Educators in Shanghai Silk Factories (1920 To 1949)

Boshier, R., Huang, Y. — 2007-07-12

From the 1920s until 1949, foreign adult educators (mostly women) in the Shanghai YWCA worked to foster labor unrest and build a better world. Many started out as liberal Christians but ended up supporting Chairman Mao. They used street theater, mass singing, games, pageants, structured exercises, and "bible classes," where learners read Communist literature. Their extraordinary efforts are largely unrecognized because many self-identified as homosexual and Communist. This study involved interviews and a close reading of English- and Chinese-language materials. Its purpose was to document revolutionary adult education (mostly for young women) in the Shanghai silk filatures (1920 to 1949) and to create an understanding of the work of foreigners such as Rewi Alley and Maud Russell and visiting luminaries such as John Dewey and R. H. Tawney. In China, there is a tendency to ignore the past. Yet 21st century adult education could be improved by understanding adult education in 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s Shanghai.

Book Review: Conflicting Paradigms in Adult Literacy Education: In Quest of a U.S. Democratic Politics of Literacy, by George Demetrion. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005. 320 pp., $105.00 (hardcover)

Quigley, B. A. — 2007-07-12

Book Review: Technology Supported Learning and Teaching. A Staff Perspective, ed. John O'Donoghue. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing, 2006. 335 pp., $74.95 (soft cover)

Thompson, M. M. — 2007-07-12

Book Review: Building Professional Pride in Literacy, by B. Allan Quigley. Melbourne, FL: Krieger, 2006. 244 pp., $32.50 (hardcover)

Prins, E. — 2007-07-12

Book Review: On Spiritual Strivings: Transforming an African American Woman's Academic Life, by Cynthia B. Dillard. New York: State University of New York Press, 2006. 136 pp., $40.00 (hardcover)

Mont, M. A. — 2007-07-12