Although it has been given qualified approval by a number of philosophers of education, the so-called "therapeutic turn" in education has been the subject of criticism by several commentators on post-compulsory and adult learning over the last few years. A key feature of this alleged development in recent educational policy is said to be the…

This dissertation was an in-depth investigation of successful online teaching in the context of higher education. It is presented in nontraditional dissertation format as approved by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Iowa State University. This dissertation includes three publishable journal articles that would represent Chapter 2, 3…

The purpose of this research is to study the learning experiences of participants in the Student Interracial Ministry (SIM) of Union Theological Seminary in New York. SIM provided the seminarians with an intense learning environment in which they crossed borders including race, gender, class, and culture. For many of these participants, this…

Nine independent women over age 55 who traveled internationally were investigated through a qualitative case study. The purpose of the study was to explore the women's attitudes, actions, and motivations during and after their international travel experiences. The adult, aging, experiential, and transformational theories of researchers such as…

"Transformative learning" is a term used by Mezirow (1991) and his followers to designate a specifically "adult" kind of learning that involves shifts in how learners view the world and themselves. New research into learning in VET suggests that in some subject areas transformative learning may play more than an incidental…

The European Union funded LITERALIA project connected adult language learners from four countries with the help of an online workspace and supported visits. The project was based on Tandem principles, whereby learners of different languages support one another in learning one another's language and culture, in turn taking on the roles of learners…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to determine how Baby Boomers make meaning out of disorientating dilemmas and challenges as they enroll in community college for career training. The dilemmas include: retirement, layoffs, shrinking job market, returning to school, and dwindling retirement accounts. Understanding Baby Boomers'…

For the past 40 years adult learning theory has stressed the need for adults to share in the planning of their own learning and socially construct new knowledge by building on their background knowledge and life experiences. Despite growing acceptance of social-constructivist pedagogies in community-based literacy programs and even corporate…

This phenomenological study describes seven stages of learning to teach at the university level. Through the use of narratives, twelve Canadian university professors reveal their beliefs and attitudes about teaching and learning as they struggle to become better teachers within various academic settings. The purpose of the study was to develop a…

This book assembles over 50 papers from the 7th Triennial European Research Conference of the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults (ESREA), which was held from the 4th to the 7th of September 2013 at Humboldt-University in Berlin. The title of the conference was "Changing Configurations of Adult Education in Transitional…

This article describes the transformational learning of our educational leadership faculty team as we developed assessments for an equity-centered pedagogy. This piece is taken from a larger study of new leaders' action research projects. The Equity Plan is designed to disrupt inequitable schooling practices by engaging students of educational…

The sacrament of reconciliation has fallen into disuse among Roman Catholics. For the Holy See this signifies a loss of a sense of sin and reconciliation, rightly connecting moral consciousness and faith in salvation with sacramental celebration. Cultural studies underscore the importance of ritual practices as an essential element of religion's…

Effective communication with teachers is a critical element of any successful professional development. Teachers are the foundational component of any educational system. It is vital that adequate attention is focused on appropriate and effective training of these teachers. Ideally, professional development offers a means of collaborative support…

This art-informed, reflexive, autobiographical inquiry explores the struggles of a feminist academic committed to transformative adult education and subsistence learning, while engaged in program planning for fire service education. The author chronicles how her approach within the applied practice in a traditional, male dominant workplace setting…

Although the loss of certainty in the age of postmodernism is questioning knowledge production in general, the emerging discourse of lifelong learning demands a different theory of adult learning in particular. This article aims to offer a conceptual tool for describing learning in adulthood in terms of postmodern and lifelong learning conditions.…