The aging population is a worldwide challenge. Understanding how older adults have been portrayed would provide a foundation on which future scholarship can build. This study assesses and critiques the assumptions underlying the portrayal of older adults and their learning in adult education journals from 1980 to 2006. On reviewing 93 articles in…

What counts as knowledge and truth in an African context is deeply embedded in the community and is a product of age and experience, in contrast to "the western strategy of convincing with arguments. From the African point of view, arguments are a sign of weakness, of lack of power and vitality. A good, forceful truth does not need arguments.…

Transformational learning as presented by Jack Mezirow has been critiqued for its Western, rational, and cognitive orientation. This qualitative study was conducted in the African nation of Botswana and examines how that culture shaped the process. In-depth interviews were held with 12 adults who acknowledged having an experience that had…

Andragogy and self-directed learning were early attempts to define adult education as a unique field of practice. Both have been criticized for focusing on individual learners while ignoring sociohistorical context. Both continue to contribute to adult education theory and practice. (Contains 44 references.) (SK)

Interviews with 20 people involved in Wiccan communities of practice revealed a trajectory of participation from the periphery to the center of the group, experiential learning that combines formal and intuitive knowledge, and a process of identity development in becoming a witch. To an extent, the community's marginality shaped learning and…

Discusses a framework for approaching the literature on adult learning that enables people to identify a focus and the supporting literature for their activity. Proposes a matrix that can be used to categorize this literature. (JOW)

In the areas of adult development and adult learning, research is seldom confined to observable behavior. Therefore, documentary records of human experience should be used. (JOW)

Adult life consists of alternating periods of stability and transition. The nature of life transitions in adulthood and their potential for learning and development are the focus of this chapter.

Interviews with 20 adult Wiccans explored why they undertook learning that will marginalize them. The Wiccan learning process reflected elements of socially acceptable learning. They were motivated by intense curiosity and the search for meaning; they undertook self-directed exploratory study, focused formal learning, experiential learning,…

A complete theory of adult learning must take into consideration the learner, learning process, and context. Andragogy, self-directed learning, consciousness, critical theory, feminism, transformational learning, and situated cognition contribute to understanding of this complex phenomenon. (SK)

Assesses the state of the art of theory building efforts in adult learning. Theories are divided into three categories: (1) those based on adult learner characteristics, (2) those emphasizing the adult's life situation, and (3) those focusing upon consciousness changes. Common components are identified. (Author/CH)

Early efforts to understand adult learning were by psychologists studying learning in general. Adult educators added such theories as andragogy, self-directed learning, and perspective transformation. New perspectives (sociocultural, critical theory, and feminist) are adding to understanding. (SK)

Reviews concepts of meaning making in classical and contemporary writing. Examines models of cognitive and ego development linked with meaning making and draws a model of the relationship of meaning making to adult learning and development. (SK)

Malaysian adults aged 60-83 (n=19) were interviewed about aging and learning activites. They primarily engaged in nonformal and experiential learning. Learning was communal and religious/spiritual in orientation; it was shaped by cultural context and values. (SK)

As the population of older adults increases, the field of adult education needs to respond accordingly. The study reported in this paper examined motivations for learning among older adults actively engaged in formal lifelong learning. One hundred eighty-nine members of a Learning in Retirement institute were surveyed using Boshier's Education…