Adult English language learners who lack print literacy or experience with formal education encounter a unique set of challenges in their lives and their efforts to learn English. Educators and policymakers are similarly challenged by how best to help these adults acquire English literacy. This paper reviews a variety of research, including that…

This article argues that self-directed learning should be viewed not as the application of a particular technique but as the capacity of adults for critical self-reflection and for changing their lives. The author speculates on the purposes, processes, and conditions required for learning aimed at such awareness. (CT)

The brain, a pattern-finding organ, seeks to create meaning through establishing or refining existing neural networks; this is learning. Emotion affects what is learned and what is retained.

This chapter highlights the central role of experience in learning and consciousness; it also outlines experience-based instructional processes that adult educators can use. (Contains 1 figure.)

A study explored research data to see if evidence exists to support the assumption by adult educators that adults learn differently than children. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) documents, educational and psychological periodicals, and other resources were reviewed. It was discovered that most adult educators have dealt with…

Although adult education as a field has shown interest in theories of situated cognition, it has misappropriated some of its central concepts. Proponents of situated cognition posit that learning is not something that happens in independent isolation, or just inside the head, but instead is shaped by the context, culture, and tools of the learning…

This chapter is an introduction to how the learning process changes the brain, with special attention to the facilitative role of the adult educator/mentor.

This module on the learning process is the tenth of 11 modules in the set, Introduction to Teaching Adults. Designed to meet the learning needs of part-time continuing education instructors, these modules can be used as resource materials for local workshops or study-discussion groups, as self-instruction (each module takes approximately two…

A qualitative interpretivist study analyzed interrelationships among professional practice, knowledge gained in continuing professional education (CPE) programs, and context of employment. Eighty semi-structured, tape-recorded interviews were conducted with social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education…

This monograph presents an overview of experiential learning from five perspectives. Following a history of experiential learning in 20th century adult education, the essay first offers a summary of the reflective constructivist view of experiential learning. The constructivist approach is taken by educators seeking to enhance the process of adult…

This issue of a quarterly newsletter focuses on the theme of critical thinking skills. "Critical Thinking Skills: An Interview with Dr. Richard Paul" (Barbara Christopher) is the text of an interview in which the director of research at Sonoma State University's Center for Critical Thinking examines the meaning of critical thinking and…

A somatic approach to education implies education that trusts individuals to learn from and listen to the information they are receiving from the interaction of self with the environment. Somatic or embodied knowing is experiential knowledge that involves senses, perceptions, and mind-body action and reaction. Western culture has been dominated by…

Among 51 papers and 3 symposia are the following: "Learning What?" (Andruske); "Stories Adult Learners Tell" (Armstrong); "Towards a Pedagogy for Disempowering Our Enemies" (Baptiste); "Teaching Scholarly Writing to Doctoral Students" (Barnett et al.); "The Outcomes and Impact of Adult Literacy Education" (Beder); "A Feminist Critique of Human…