This article, based on an ethnographic study of an urban General Education Development (GED) program, suggests that for some marginalized young men of color, Adult education programs are counter-spaces of spatial justice in opposition to previous negative school spaces. Framed by critical race theory (CRT) and drawing on critical geography and…

Storyville, the legalized red-light district of New Orleans (1897-1917), was a designated space containing informal opportunities for learning in which its residents practiced the sex trade. Although Storyville was created to regulate prostitution, prostitutes and madams learned the city's legal system, politics, and economics to survive in a…

This article explores the learning pathways of 15 Canadian and American female crime fiction authors. Using a critical feminist perspective, it argues that despite the neoliberal rhetoric of individual choice, as in most careers, there are social-structural factors that create opportunities and barriers for women mystery writers. The article…

This article analyses key events in the history of adult and community education in Aotearoa New Zealand. It draws on historical sources to examine the role of grassroots community activism and local and national networking in upholding a broad vision of adult and community-based education, in the face of a hostile policy climate. The authors…

This article presents the author's response to Michael Newman's "Calling Transformative Learning into Question: Some Mutinous Thoughts". Transformative learning has arguably become one of the most generative and provocative ideas in adult learning. More than 30 years ago, Mezirow (1978) introduced this idea to the field of adult education. During…

Informed by the Afrocentric learning paradigm, this conceptual piece argues that Mezirow's version of the theory of transformative learning is useful, but it would be more so if applied to be culturally sensitive. Using Botswana cultural learning values as an example, the article demonstrates how the theory can be made culturally sensitive to an…

There is a growing interest in the concept of critical reflection in the adult learning and management literature. In this article, the author examines four different intellectual traditions that inform the use of the term "critical reflection" on the different ideals they express and the different definitions of critical reflection they use. On…

Nongovernmental organizations, particularly those related to development work (local development-oriented nongovernmental organizations; LDNGO), and their agents have been assuming, in Portugal, an important role in the field of adult education. These organizations develop with the State, at the national level, and with supranational institutions…

This paper examines dialogue in the higher education classroom. Instigated by my teaching experiences and the paucity of empirical studies examining dialogue in the higher education classroom, I present a re-examination of data I collected in 1996 for an ethnographic study focusing on the experiences of the participants in an ethnic literature…

This qualitative study utilized the method of narrative analysis to explore the counter-learning process of an oppressed Kurdish woman from Turkey. Critical constructivism was utilized to analyze counter-learning; Frankfurt School-based Marcusian critical theory was used to analyze the sociopolitical context and its impact on the oppressed. Key…

Critical race theory (CRT) was developed to examine the persistence of racism. This literature review attempts to understand CRT as it has been applied in related fields such as higher education and possible reasons for its limited application in adult education theorizing about race and racism. This analysis of CRT is framed against a backdrop of…

This article reviews contemporary definitions of training in adult education literature with a focus on the narrowing of what is generally considered and not considered to be training today. The article then provides a number of historical and contemporary examples of training within the radical tradition. It argues that in the radical tradition,…

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…

The concept of governance has become increasingly popular over the past 15 years signifying its growing acceptance in a number of key sectors of society. Is governance a neutral term that is merely a synonym for government, or does it signify a shift to neoliberalism? Working from a political-economy perspective, this article will explore the…

The purposes of this article are to describe the adult learners' emotional experiences as a result of engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination, and to interrogate the ways in which critical emotional reflexivity emerges in the online format. The analysis is done in the context of an online course on diversity, inequality, and…