So, what exactly is narrative learning? And why should adult educators know about it and use it in practice? Well, the short answer to both questions is that one makes sense of all experience by narrating it (constructing it as a kind of story), so understanding how narrative works will make the practice of adult educators more effective. But…

This article concludes a volume on emotions and adult learning with a conversation about the book itself. In this article, the authors reflect on the ways in which the preceding articles contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of emotions in adult learning.

This summative chapter reviews the models and theories of adult development discussed in this issue. Adult educators are challenged to see what has been less visible, hear what has not been heard, and think creatively about the connection between development and learning. (SK)

Somatic or embodied learning recognizes bodily experience as a source of knowledge. Narrative learning involves examination of personal stories as a process of meaning making and identity development. Both offer creative alternatives for adult learning. (Contains 28 references.) (SK)

Discusses definitional issues and tensions around adult development theory. Presents a typology of developmental theories: biological, psychological, sociocultural, and integrative. (SK)

Transformative learning shapes the learner in profound and far-reaching ways. Conceptualizations by Mezirow, Freire, and Daloz are based on viewing learning as change in consciousness, of humans as free and responsible, of knowledge and personal and social construct, and belief in liberal democratic society. (SK)

Mezirow's theory of transformational learning--extraction of meaning from experience--fails to account for context. Locating perspective transformation in the individual and basing it on a decontextualized concept of rationality ignores the relationship between individuals and the sociocultural, political, and historical contexts in which they are…

A survey of 405 adults and interviews with 19 showed the majority of learning experiences were informal. For learning to be significant, it must personally affect the learner by expanding skills or causing a transformation, and it must be subjectively valued by the learner. (SK)

This article examines the potential of personal storytelling as a pedagogical method. When incorporated into the educational experience, autobiographical stories serve as a primary and fruitful link between lived experience and curricular content, a connection integral to adult learning. These stories enable learners to identify congruencies and…

A study examined how one group of marginalized women, the incarcerated, construct their sense of self. Using the notion of nonunitary subjectivity to analyze life history narratives, the study demonstrated how they create and sustain thematic coherence in their sense of self and how they manage contradiction, primarily through constructing a split…

To understand how work, love, and learning are interrelated in adults' lives, data were collected in two ways: through a life-history type instrument and through in-depth interviews with 19 men and women. A life event framework was chosen to illustrate the broad constructs of work and love. Respondents identified in two columns major life events…

This book contains 11 theory-based chapters reporting the findings of a study on patterns of work, love, and learning in adulthood. (The study gathered data about events related to work, relationships, and learning from 405 adults and graphed them to identify life patterns.) The following topics are covered: (1) the origins and development of the…