After more than three decades of development, transformative learning theory is currently a major theory of adult learning. It has also attracted substantial critique, leading to further development, application and differentiation. Recent contributions to this vast scholarship show a quest for a more unified theory. This article examines…

In this paper I reflect on epiphany moments in teaching and learning and the ways in which writing such moments can serve both to refresh and revitalise what Palmer calls the inner landscape of the educator, while also offering opportunities to enliven pedagogy. I use the notion of the liminal disposition to position such writing as an agentic act…

Events or experiences that have a transformative effect on people's lives can have an even greater impact if they are documented and disseminated through books, articles, or other forms of media. Whether one learns of such episodes through personal interaction or published sources, these personal stories enrich and inform one's own life, providing…

Which competences do professional adult educators need? This research note discusses the topic from a comparative perspective, finding that adult educators' required competences are wide-ranging, heterogeneous and complex. They are subject to context in terms of national and cultural environment as well as the kind of adult education concerned…

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…

This article explores details of research that examined how the personal backgrounds of educators connected with organizational contexts to inform teacher practice within the area of adult English language teaching. Using life history as a research methodology and basing research on a framework of teacher authenticity, the primary goal of this…

Organizational learning and transformation and attainment of organizational goals are not at odds. Those who value and consciously integrate whole-person and whole-body strategies in their formal and informal learning practices encourage people to bring their whole selves, including their emotional, physical, and spiritual life, to work. As…

Intentionally designing international perspectives into adult educator preparation programs is a step toward developing instructors' social and instructional cache of understandings about learning, knowledge, and facilitative methodologies that transcend their own Western cultural influences. In a class offered through an MA in adult learning and…

It is increasingly important for adult educators to articulate more clearly their understanding of the benefits and outcomes of adult learning. This paper reviews existing evidence of the impact of participation in education, and particularly explores the relevance of recent studies of how learning has influenced adults' health and well-being.…

The 42st annual conference of the Adult and Higher Education Alliance (AHEA) was held at the University of Central Florida in March 2018 and explored the theme, "Quality of Life in Adult Learning." The purpose of the Adult and Higher Education Alliance (AHEA) is to help institutions of higher education develop and sustain learning…

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…

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…

Emotion-laden images that arise within adult learning provide a symbolic language for helping teachers and learners understand and facilitate transformation at both the individual and group levels.

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)