Autobiography has generally been recognized for its literary and artistic aspects, and as a result has been largely overlooked as an instructional method in adult and continuing education. This paper argues for a wider use of autobiography in adult and continuing education programs, proposing that autobiography actually encompasses not only the…

Responses of students in an adult development course who wrote five chapters of their life stories suggest that autobiographical writing leads adults through a process of self-exploration and meaning making. The result is a transformed view of themselves and their world. (SK)

Subtle signs of change to which continuing higher education must respond include the global interconnected network; replacement of linear, top-down thinking with interrelatedness and connection; human potential for higher levels of complexity and integration; the search for meaning and significance; and development of community--working and…