Andragogy was the first adult learning model to identify adult learners' characteristics and provide a pragmatic framework for responding to them. It is still considered a foundational and significant contribution to understanding adult learners despite substantial critique over the last 50 years. Current research supports the notion that…

This article considers the potential benefits of integrating the knowledge base on adult learning with teacher inquiry. The first part of the article provides an overview of key concepts discussed in the literature on adult learning, including the characteristics of adult learners, self-directed learning, experiential learning, transformative…

The purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which meditation practice can be used as an online pedagogical method based on adult learners' experiences with various forms of meditation practices. To arrive at this purpose, the researcher found it necessary to gather data about frequency of use, preferences, and related transformative…

The Labour Party's manifesto aims to reform further and higher education by integrating business, training providers and unions within a governmental effort to ensure a highly trained workforce. Skills England will align training with labour market needs, empower local leaders and enhance support for job seekers. However, the focus on young people…

The funding model for further education and training (FET) in the Republic of Ireland currently describes provider and learner success in narrow quantifiable terms as captured on the national Programme Learner Support System (PLSS). FET practitioners have grappled with the restrictive rigidity of these outcomes and measures of success for adult…

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…

COVID-19 and the looming economic recession threatens adult educators' long-fought battle to create dialogical spaces for transformatory learning. Previous experience of designing and delivering community programmes to marginalised, non-traditional students, has taught us the necessity of building strong tutor-student and student-peer…

This study utilizes the personal critical narrative of myself, a woman from the Chaoshan region in China, as the primary data source to explore the impact of traditional gender roles and patriarchal values on women's personal growth transformation through a feminist lens. Integrating feminist and transformative learning theory, it encompasses my…

Service-immersion programs are prevalent at many universities, often housed in ministry, mission, or service-learning departments. These experiences vary from domestic to international exploration, often lasting five to twelve days. Unlike study abroad programs that usually last a semester, service immersion "trips" are shorter and often…

In this paper, I explore the ways that educators can nurture transformative learning for adult students by engaging emotions, particularly shame. I discuss how shame mitigates adult student experiences, successes, and failures in higher education, and how a relational pedagogy of vulnerability can support adult learners. This approach not only…

This paper explores futures learning strategies enacted by ecosystem building futurists working with organizations and communities for social transformation and adaptation to uncertain futures. The research is based on interviews with futurists who work as ecosystem builders to understand the "what," "how," and "why"…

Many teaching strategies exist to develop critical thinking with students. Art students engage with critical thinking in a "Connected Art" workshop, implemented in three diverse Higher Education (HE) learning environments. Participants are interdisciplinary adult learners in the UK, Germany and Spain. Using joint practice development,…

This article reports on a qualitative study that examined why adult daughters of abused mothers (N = 38) pursue and complete postsecondary education. Through the use of purposive sampling and the grounded theory method, participants' motivation to complete an undergraduate (n = 24) or graduate (n = 14) degree involved distancing from their…

This article focuses on the trajectories of adults returning to full-time study in technical and vocational education and training. The results presented are drawn from a critical ethnography conducted in a General and vocational colleges (referred to as cégep, their French acronym) in Montréal, Québec. The aim of the study was to describe and…

The most influential element in any educational system is to develop high- quality learners to effectively participate in their community. The body of research ascertains that Experiential Learning (EL) develops the learners' transferrable skills such as communication, responsibility, and social skills. Therefore, there is a push in adult…