Critical events in Leonard Matlovich's life depict a reluctant activist for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/gender diverse, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) equality. He served in the US military and subsequently came to personify the broad social challenges to the military's homophobic culture and recruitment practices. Matlovich's experience of a series…

Traci L. Hodges is a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Her research interests are comparative adult education, African American adult education, and critical education. Having witnessed freedom protests in Madrid, Spain, and Ferguson, Missouri, she shares her…

Transformational learning, narrative learning, and spiritual learning frame adult experiences in new and exciting ways. These types of learning can involve a simple transformation of belief or opinion or a radical transformation involving one's total perspective; learning may occur abruptly or incrementally. Education should liberate students from…

The difficult times in which we live require innovative, creative, and hopeful pedagogies of adult education. This article describes a nontraditional experiential, "empathy-invoking" approach to the teaching of a graduate course on the theory and research of adult learning. The approach begins with the building of a safe learning…

An understanding of learning theories can help adult educators become more effective practitioners and meet the needs of the learners they serve. Adult educators who understand how individuals learn can be better prepared to use effective strategies during the learning process. This article addresses the use of concept maps as a strategy to engage…

The purpose of this article is to provide a conceptual framework for mentoring as an added component of a learning organization in the context of adult learning and development theories. Mentoring is traditionally a process in which an experienced person (the mentor) guides another person (the mentee or protégé) in the development of her or his…

Professionals in the field of adult and higher education recognize the path into any learning community is riddled with complexities of life exigencies. This author states that he found "light at the end of the tunnel" in an experiential, transformative study abroad course in Spanish language and culture. Transformative learning abroad…

Adult education in healthcare comes in several forms: degree and certificate programs aimed at preparing better academic and clinical educators; and community education programs aimed at wellness, rehabilitation, or learning to live with chronic diseases. Patient-centered healthcare, however, is part of something new: coordinated and transitional…

A disorienting dilemma is related to a sense of loss of balance or normalcy complicated by a problem that seemingly has an unsatisfactory solution. According to Mezirow (1998), disorienting dilemmas are also connected to events that have been set into motion, causing a learner to engage in self-examination resulting from feelings emanating from an…

This reflective paper discusses aspects of the author's personal development as an adult learner. Though that development is reflected in her practice as an adult educator, she does not explore those implications in the paper. Instead, she grapples with what it means to make meaning, to determine how she knows what she thinks she knows. The author…

Emotional reactions to text are manifestations of learners' inner selves. Adult learners can engage in the process of meaning making by working with images and integrating them into their holistic beings. (SK)

Many adults search for spiritual guidance and direction and persist in seeking answers to life in today's fast-paced world. With burgeoning economic challenges, political corruption, war in Iraq, poverty, health care concerns, environmental concerns, rising fuel costs, violence, racism, and oppression, many adults seek solace and greater…