Priority one of the Marrakech Framework for Action (MFA) involves promoting adult learning and education (ALE) within a lifelong learning perspective. This article intends to describe how the MFA places lifelong learning into a new era of ascension that will be transformational towards ALE, sustainable development goals, the world promise of…

Educators can help adult learners experience identity transformation and initiate lifelong learning by designing curriculum centered upon transformative learning objectives (TLOs) and experiential learning competencies (ELCs). TLOs point learners to the specific ways of thinking, feeling, and being in the world to which a course or other learning…

Addressing the worldwide challenges threatening humanity today, such as the global pandemic and climate change, requires learning and action at scales including and extending far beyond personal development. The concept of andragogy popularized by Malcolm Knowles focuses on the individual and does not attend to wider social contexts and collective…

Artistic Literacies (AL) can be a catalyst to creative, imaginative, and potentially, transformative learning (Blackburn Miller, 2020). Artistic literacy texts include storytelling, creative writing, popular theatre, music, dance, poetry, fiction, or memoir, and visual art. Creative possibilities for diverse adult literacy learners can open when…

This article develops a framework for this special issue of "JTE," and assesses the assessment of transformative learning. What and whom are the contributors assessing? For what ends? And how effectively? The call for manuscripts cited two "megatrends" in the transformative learning literature: (1) the importance of deep and…

This chapter examines the development of emerging leaders in the digital age and the intersection of adult transformative learning concepts with that phenomenon.

This article aims at expanding transformation theory through the work of the philosopher Richard Rorty. His concept of redescription allows us to distinguish between good learning and transformative learning and to counteract the critique of conceptional looseness. In addition, Rorty's thesis of contingency and his notion of irony are going to be…

Mezirow relies on the critical theory of Habermas to give his theory of transformative learning rigor. Yet critiques persist and focus on whether the theory has an adequate understanding of the social dimension of learning and whether it is overly rational. This article addresses these issues and explores relevant ideas from Habermas and Honneth.…

"Generative Knowing" explores the mystery of learning from the unknown in ways that reveal that learning is a dynamic phenomenon, encompassing both personal and societal contexts. Dewey defines learning in terms of experience, reflection, continuity, and interactivity. When learning happens, it eventually solidifies into reliable truths…

This article seeks to begin a conversation about pedagogical responses to the current moment. Specifically, I argue that two of adult learning's most venerated practices--transformative learning and the use of personal narrative--are insufficiently nuanced to respond effectively to the political divisions and the epistemological chaos represented…

Imagine a school community in which all children and youth have equal opportunities to thrive. Social and cultural markers no longer negatively predict young people's academic, social, and emotional outcomes or their life chances. This is the community the authors aspire to build. Their work necessarily focuses on both youth and adult social and…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the advantages of combining place-as-text curriculum with an oral history collection to act as catalysts for transformational learning. These experiential and service learning practices complement each other to enrich the encounters students are afforded. First, the nature and procedures of place-as-text and…

The purpose of this work is to assist partners in identifying, naming, and facilitating dynamic relational forces and learning processes that shape the effectiveness of community engagement practice and partnerships. We offer a hypothetical case to assist in framing and discussing concepts of reciprocity and power in partnerships and how these…

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…

In order to better understand the importance of adult learning theory to museum educators' work, and that of their profession at large, museum professionals must address the need for more adult learning research and practice in museums--particularly work informed by existing theory and work seeking to generate new theory. Adult learning theory…