Adversity has always been a part of life, however, today's hurricanes and earthquakes in increasingly populated areas, violent unrest creating a global refugee crisis, battlefield stress and work-place harassment, and the challenges of aging populations are demanding a better understanding of how individuals cope with adversity regardless of the…

After more than three decades of development, transformative learning theory is currently a major theory of adult learning. It has also attracted substantial critique, leading to further development, application and differentiation. Recent contributions to this vast scholarship show a quest for a more unified theory. This article examines…

The catalyst for learning and change in transformative learning theory has mostly been explained in terms of a disorientation in a relatively stable life. This article explores a South African, nonformal adult learning program, as a source of "orienting dilemmas," which catalyze learning and change in lives that are regularly and…

This paper critically engages observations from a school that was aligned with a resistance movement in Lebanon during a post-war period of sustained political violence (2006-2007). Focusing on the pedagogical practices at one community-centered and community-led Shi'a Islamic urban school, the paper draws on extensive ethnographic data to…

This article develops a complex understanding of safe space in relation to adult refugee learners' oral literacy practice of telling stories of violent life experiences in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms. A rhizoanalytic approach brings theoretical and empirical elements into conversation to ask two questions. Can the exigencies of…

This paper describes a public pedagogy project embedded into The Global Teacher, a subject within the Bachelor of Education program for student teachers at an Australian university. The subject provides a global perspective on socio-political issues that shape education. In 2013, The Global Teacher introduced an approach that asked student…

This social constructivist/constructionist research explores changes in female therapists' intimate relationships after they began working with survivors of female sexual violence. Discourse analysis found that working with survivors shifted participants' initially naive understanding of female sexual violence, as they developed a critical…