Adult education scholarship has been racialized through the lens of Eurocentric theory and research. Theoretical paradigms such as Africentrism struggle to gain academic legitimacy as discourses of transformative learning, critical thinking and self-direction--all grounded in the European Enlightenment tradition of the individual pursuit of…

This article reviews the core process of critical thinking--hunting assumptions--and explains how this process differs according to the context of what is being taught and the different intellectual traditions that inform teachers' own backgrounds. It outlines a basic protocol of critical thinking as a learning process that focuses on uncovering…

Critical theory is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks influencing scholarship within the field of adult and community education. This chapter outlines what constitute the chief elements of critical theory using Horkheimer's (1937/1995) classic essay as a touchstone for this analysis. It argues for a set of adult learning tasks that…

This major contribution to the literature on adult education provides adult educators with an accessible overview of critical theory's central ideas. Using many direct quotes from the theorists' works, the author shows how critical theory can illuminate the everyday practices of adult educators and help them make some sense of the dilemmas,…

Reexamines critical theory as a response to Marxism and repositions ideology critique as a crucial adult learning process. Argues that a critical theory of adult learning should focus on how adults learn to recognize and challenge ideological domination and manipulation. (Contains 31 references.) (SK)

Examines two theoretical frameworks: (1) second-generation critical theory, in which African-Americans reframe criticality as awareness of the struggle against racism; and (2) Africentrism, which reconceptualizes criticality as an alternative discourse. Explores their compatibility, their challenge to the concept of criticality in adult education,…

Although Herbert Marcuse did not write as an adult educator, his analysis of subjectivity, criticality, and inclusivity has implications for adult education. He demonstrated how apparently humanistic tolerance for diversity can be manipulated to reinforce dominant ideology, and he made a case for aesthetic education as a site for critical…

Erich Fromm proposed that learning to penetrate ideological obfuscation and overcome the alienation it generates is the learning task of adulthood. He believed adult education would make people aware of ideological manipulation and prepare them for participatory democracy. His was a Marxist humanism aimed at the creation of democratic socialism.…

The work of Jurgen Habermas is often cited in adult educational literature as underpinning dialogic traditions and practices central to the field. But to many adult educators the density of Habermas's analysis and complexity of his language limit his influence on their practice. This article's intent is to render a comprehensive analysis of the…

This response to Mayo's book emphasizes its Gramscian aspects and explores two dimensions not addressed in the original. The first is Cornel West's attempt to racialize Gramsci and examine how his ideas might serve the interests of African-Americans. The second is Michael Newman and Ian Baptiste's exploration of the partisan, directive role of…