Transformational learning as presented by Jack Mezirow has been critiqued for its Western, rational, and cognitive orientation. This qualitative study was conducted in the African nation of Botswana and examines how that culture shaped the process. In-depth interviews were held with 12 adults who acknowledged having an experience that had…

In this updated landmark book, the authors have gathered the seminal work and most current thinking on adult learning into one volume. This book addresses a wide range of topics including: Who are adult learners? How do adults learn? Why are adults involved in learning activities? How does the social context shape the learning that adults are…

The purpose of this monograph is to serve as a primer for practitioners on the foundational theories of adult learning. It begins with an explanation two lenses through which learning theory is viewed: behaviorism and constructivism. The next section defines andragogy and delineates Knowles's five assumptions about adult learners. This is followed…

The relationship between imagination, the individual, and the global media was examined. The examination focused on two underpinning theorizations of individuality, namely, the notion of the "discursive construction of subjectivity" that draws on the work of various poststructuralist thinkers and Judith Baker's notion of the…

Malcolm Knowles' theory of andragogy asserts that adult learners learn differently from younger learners and hence require a different kind of education. According to Knowles, andragogy is characterized by the following hallmarks: adult learners are self-directed, have accumulated vast experiences that add to their knowledge, are at a stage in…

The roles of spirituality and spiritual learning in transformative learning are discussed. The discussion was initiated from an anti-colonial perspective on engaging spiritually in the political project of transformative learning, and it is grounded in issues of African education and in the principle of teaching critically so that education serves…

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…

The literature on transformative learning theory and the literature on cross-cultural adaptation were analyzed to identify links between both bodies of literature. The notion of an unexpected phenomenon that influences individuals residing in an unfamiliar culture was shown to be a common thread linking the two bodies of literature. Transformative…

A study explored how adults perceived program learning; whether program learning helped them enact a particular social role; and whether they changed while participating in the program. For a year or more, researchers studied experiences of learning and change of 41 adult learners enrolled in three programs--at a community college, family literacy…

This book examines the ideas of Antonio Gramsci and Paulo Freire regarding radical education and adult education's role in the struggle for liberation from oppression. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the following topics: Gramsci and Freire's theories; publications about both men in the adult education literature; and the principles of…

As part of a larger study (not discussed) ten educated Malaysian citizens were interviewed to find whether their rising political consciousness, over a ten year period (1988-1999), indicated that their transformation was influenced by their culture. The subjects were between 35-45 years old, married, with an average of four children. All were…