While spirituality has emerged as a topic of interest in adult education, much of the current scholarship considers spirituality as distinct from religion. This literature review questions those conclusions, including the use of theistic terminology to describe a concept (spirituality) that many posit is non-theistic. Spirituality is also…

This article presents a case study on the role of spirituality in adult education at a suburban senior center located in the southeast region of the country. The purpose of the case study was to understand the deeply personal role of spirituality in adult education as seen through teaching seniors and examine the personal manifestation of…

Adult learning today takes place primarily within walled classrooms or in other indoor settings, and often in front of various types of digital screens. As adults have adopted the digital technologies and indoor lifestyle attributed to the so-called "Net Generation," we have become detached from contact with the natural world outdoors.…

The purpose of this heuristic study was to explore the ways in which spirituality informed and impacted educators' own experience of learning as a transformative inner encounter. It inquired into the experience of learning from a spiritual perspective in order to determine the extent to which transformative learning could be described as a…

The purpose of this collective-case study was to explore the characteristics of transformational figures. This study revealed that interpersonal encounters were seen as a catalyst that assisted study participants through the process of transformation. Ten themes emerged from the cross-case analysis: Imposed and Intentional Influence; Metaphors of…

Educating adults to tap into the wisdom of their inner life can happen in many contexts: (1) higher education classrooms; (2) workshop and retreat settings; and (3) psychotherapy settings. Adults can also facilitate the development of their inner life through various self-directed learning efforts, by learning from life experience, and through…

Women of color, especially Black women, are underrepresented in the extant literature and research of adult development and mind, body, spirit leadership. This in-depth qualitative portraiture study explored the lives of three Black women who have been leading their communities as adult educators of mind, body, spirit practices. This examination…

This chapter discusses the challenges of fostering spirituality in the higher education classroom and its relationship to the practice of transformative learning.

This book discusses how spiritual development is informed by culture, how spirituality assists in meaning making, and how understanding the relationship between culture and spirituality can help adult educators make their students' educational experiences more transformative and culturally relevant. Particular attention is paid to spirituality's…

This book contains 11 papers on creativity, spirituality, and transcendence as paths to integrity and wisdom in the mature self. The book begins with the paper "Introduction--Creativity in Adulthood: Personal Maturity and Openness to Extraordinary Sources of Inspiration" (Susanne R. Cook-Greuter, Melvin E. Miller). The next four papers,…