This article argues that philosopher Martha Nussbaum's reflections on the role of the emotions in human flourishing can contribute in important ways to our understanding of the emotions in adult education contexts. The article summarises Nussbaum's exploration of the contributions of classical philosophers like Socrates, Aristotle, and…

In recent years academic interest in social movement learning (SML) has flourished. "Studies in the Education of Adults" has arguably emerged as the premier international forum for exploring the links between adult learning and movements for progressive change. In parallel to this subfield, yet largely in isolation from it,…

In this paper I reflect autoethnographically on my experiences of writing as part of a professional doctorate. I draw on the research journals that I kept during a particularly challenging time in the dissertation process and in particular on the method of journal writing that I used to help me through this time. This storied account offers an…

Adult education institutions face a variety of challenges in "migration societies". This paper first analyses the marginal adoption of the topic by researchers in a German-speaking context and points out the dominance of a target group approach in the past. To open up alternative perspectives, I will discuss challenges for adult…

In the past, non-formal education in South Africa was committed to supporting the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) in opposition to apartheid. Such non-formal political education was concerned with education for democracy. Post 1994, South African adult education policy has exclusively concentrated on vocational training, shifting the focus away…

This article considers the role played by adult education in a temporary community called Resurrection City in 1968. It draws on primary source documents and oral testimonies from three archives. Social movement theory and the ideas of Freire and Gramsci provide a conceptual framework. In May 1968 around 6,000 poor people from across the United…

Traditionally, adult education has had a focus on learning connected to social purpose. In the current neoliberal climate, lifelong learning is increasingly defined as an endeavour whereby individuals must situate themselves in a competitive position in order to succeed in the global marketplace. Radical educators who believe that education should…

In this article I will use an example of current adult education practice, the Glory and Dismay Football Literacies Programme (GDFLP) to appraise the value of critical discourse analysis (CDA) for adult learners, both individually and collectively, and for adult education practitioners with an interest in developing critical literacy skills. The…

This article discusses initial findings from a study exploring the pedagogical functions of popular culture. The study was framed by a neo-Gramscian theoretical framework which connects adult education and cultural studies, and asserts that culture underpins important informal adult learning. We used two television shows, "Grey's Anatomy" and…

This paper explores learner progression for participants in community-based adult learning (CBAL) provision in Scotland. It focuses on learners' perceptions of progression drawn from analysis of life history interviews carried out with ten adults who had participated in community-based adult learning. The analysis of data was undertaken in three…

In 1947 the Truman Commission on Higher Education accentuated the importance of adult education in its report entitled "Higher Education for American Democracy". In 1970 a new US "Handbook of Adult Education" signifying the move to a more professionalised field of study and practice was published. The intervening years encapsulate a time of…

Universities traditionally construct ethical, as well as educational goals in their mission, which they attempt to promote not only through their graduates, but sometimes directly to the wider community. This study explores how targeting lifelong learners through the medium of educational tourism might be one such way in which universities can…

In critical and feminist educational circles there has been a lively debate between those who call for more emphasis on contextualisation and concrete practices and those who defend a more generalised view of critical pedagogy. The unceasing march of corporate globalisation and neoliberalism make it absolutely urgent that educators and organisers…

This article has three primary goals centring on a re-examination of the research frameworks we use for understanding the politics of social movements. First, I detail the ideological and methodological deficiencies of the old social movement/new social movement framework. Second, I highlight the positive contributions of research that favoured or…

The Landless Workers' Movement (MST) is recognized as Brazil's most successful social movement. Although its goal is agrarian reform, the MST has been the subject of significant educational scholarship due to the emphasis it places on education reform, and formal and informal education. The MST's pedagogy has been extensively analysed. However,…