It is argued here that ethical practice and being in adult lifelong learning are best understood as a feature of competing adult lifelong learning epistemologies informing practice and engagement in the field at all levels. The conceptions of ethics immanent to the epistemologies are not directly identifiable with any of the normative theories of…

This article traces three key critiques (insufficient consideration of emotions, insufficient attention to social interaction, and insufficient theoretical foundations) of Mezirow's theory of transformative learning in the field of adult education, with emphasis on discussions that have played out in the pages of the "International Journal of…

Jiddu Krishnamurti was a contemporary of the first non-European Nobel Laureate from Asia, Rabindranath Tagore. Their educational ideas and practices of reform were deeply informed by their own troubled experiences of schooling within the highly mechanised industrial model of education imported from colonial England. Both were school dropouts and…

Personal narratives can be seen as iterative theories-of-valued-selves: thick, deliberate outlines traced over and selectively enhancing and obscuring the finer details of life as lived. Through telling such stories we represent and orient ourselves towards certain potential actions while turning away from others. Biographical narration is in this…

'Quality' in education has become a global phenomenon, and is frequently discussed in transnational and national policy. In such discussions, 'quality' seems to be both worthwhile and demanded, but at the same time, the concept has also been criticised in previous research as it seems to have attained a 'common sense' status. In this context, the…

Laclau and Mouffe have long argued the democratic possibilities of 'left populism' underpinned by their agonistic critique of liberal democracy. We are currently witnessing the attempted application of their theories by European political parties. However, there remains very little international scholarship taking up the challenge of situating…

The German gymnasium teacher Alexander Kapp (1800-1869) was to all appearances the first one to use the "andragogy concept" as a term for "adult learning." In 1833 he published the book "Platon's Erziehungslehre, als Pädagogik für die Einzelnen und als Staatspädagogik. Oder dessen praktische Philosophie." This book…

In the wake of new museology and constructivist learning theories, the traditional unidirectional educational role of the museum has been contested and challenged. Museums have the potential to be progressive pedagogical sites and are an ideal terrain to explore educational theories and attitudes. Jacques Rancière, in his seminal book "The…

This paper establishes the basis for a pragmatist-inspired theory of human action to predominant ideas about knowledge, learning and education. As a necessary prelude to an examination of pragmatist theory's position on human action and its specific focus on habits and creativity, pragmatism is defined and then related to inquiry. Next, the fields…

In the wake of the world's fast-growing ageing populations and the increasing recognition of the benefits of later life learning towards successful ageing, opportunities for elders and senior persons to engage in learning have proliferated, resulting in an array of programmes and activities being planned and organized by governments,…

In times of global influence, compulsory education in the Nordic countries has promoted democracy as choice since the 1990s, as enhancing an individual good. Supporting education for democracy is a matter that concerns the world and society on the topic of "what shall he do? Shall he act for this or that end?". This indicates that…

The aim of this paper is to explore the historical representations of adulthood, citizenship and the ideal social bonds of an individual and the society in the transforming moral orders of Finnish adult education. The research is based on a thematic reading of data, which consist of texts written during the past 150 years by theorists of adult…

This paper analyzes the importance and role of the reciprocity relationship in education. It presents a review on the mobilization of the principle of reciprocity--in the anthropological but also sociological and economic senses--in educational processes, especially in adult education. The study is divided into three parts. The first part analyzes…

Experiential learning has explicitly, since the publication of the Kolb "treatise" been a cornerstone of youth work practice in the UK. It is the contention of this paper that there is a significant misinterpretation of Kolb's theory by those who have applied his theory to youth work. Not least that experience is framed as:…

The concept of lifelong learning implies a cycle where the learner contributes prior learning into a new learning environment and sees that learning upgraded. In recent years, a range of internal and external pressures have encouraged Australian universities to identify the meta or generic skills embedded in tertiary study. Using a content…