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 feminist content analysis of selective adult education journals and conference proceedings draws on feminist aesthetic theory to develop a deeper understanding of women adult education scholars' work with/in the arts. Four major categories identified were community cultural development, aesthetic civic engagement and knowledge mobilization,…

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…

Without adult education, there would have been no Communist government in China. Once the Long March arrived in Yan'an, Mao and Communist leaders used adult education in informal and nonformal settings to build momentum for revolution. This article analyzes the theory and practice of adult education during the Yan'an "golden years" (1936-1939) of…

The article identifies dispositions from a thematic investigation of the pedagogical practice of Ernesto Che Guevara and various social movements in the United States. The article outlines and places these dispositions within the context of debates over social justice and dispositions for education program accreditation in the United States that…

Adult undergraduate student identities at research extensive universities were uniquely coconstructed, shaped by this selective and competitive youth-oriented cultural context. Drawing upon social constructivist theory, this study explored this coconstruction through positional and relational adult student identities. Positional identities were…

Synthesising Martha Nussbaum's study of the emotions and the capabilities approach to human development with Charles Taylor's claim that authentic identities ought to be constructed dialogically against "horizons of significance," the author identifies critical features of authenticity that are then applied to the context of adult educators,…

As the number of nontraditional-age students grows on college campuses, it is essential for higher education practitioners to understand if and how older students, especially women, become and remain engaged in their education. A review of the educational engagement literature reveals images of disengaged adult learners whose work and family…

Transformative learning has been important in the development of adult education since Jack Mezirow proposed it more than 35 years ago as a theoretical description of the steps learners undergo in changing their worldviews. However, despite much qualitative research, little quantitative study has been made of the incidence of transformative…

This article examines the experience of suicide bereavement through the lens of transformative learning. Its purpose is twofold: first, to analyse the dynamics of the grieving process and the transformative experience of the bereaved; second, to use this analysis to draw implications for theory, practice, and research on transformative learning.…

Supportive social relationships are an important dimension of marginalized women's participation in community-based adult education programs. However, policy makers and researchers often consider these social dimensions to be tangential or secondary to instrumental outcomes such as obtaining employment or increasing standardized test scores.…

This article examines the learning occurring within the voluntary simplicity social movement, focusing specifically on the learning and development of identity via "moral agency" in those individuals who embrace and practice voluntary simplicity. Four key findings are discussed. First, simplifiers craft new identities in a consumption-driven world…

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,…

The study of the process of reflection has a dignified history. However, few have linked reflection to the development of the self in such a way that the form of reflection is understood to influence the resultant type of self. This article explores the process of reflection using a framework of meaning making, internalization, and externalization…