Explores the postmodern critique of dominant conceptions of the self in adult education: psychological/humanistic and sociological/critical. Identifies valuable aspects of the critique, for example, showing how individuals participate in their own subjugation with adult educators as accomplices. (SK)

Transformative learning is a theory based on the premise that all individuals have perspectives derived from experiences, thoughts, values, and insights. Adult educators create meaning out of their experiences as practitioners and as learners. (JOW)

Examines differences among types of critical reflection, the role of critical reflection of assumption (CRA) in the transformative theory of adult learning, and philosophical foundations of CRA. (SK)

Describes the use of transformative learning theory to evaluate a family-empowerment project focusing on life skills (N=34). Results reveal evidence of transformative learning outcomes such as an empowered sense of self and new connections with others. Participants also spoke of factors built into the program designed to foster transformative…

Contrasts Western traditional objectivism with the interpretist paradigm explaining cognitive processes. Describes the transformation theory of adult learning based on the emancipatory paradigm. (SK)

Adult educators can use the concepts of chaos, emergence, creativity, and transformation from biological and physical sciences and evolution theories to reassess the prominence of transformation as an educational orientation. Developmental potential can be facilitated in learners who are at crisis points, struggling with inner turbulence, or…

Adaptation of a project-based learning model aimed at linking student learning to community problems for South African adult education can potentially result in action-oriented, socially relevant knowledge construction, collective learning, and critical reflection. However, project-based learning might also be used to support the "new…

In-depth interviews with 12 ethical vegans revealed the process of becoming vegetarian. Transformative learning proved to be a journey rather than a one-time decision. Mezirow's transformative theory does not adequately account for the power relations central to this process. Therefore, transformative learning should be viewed more holistically.…

With the premise that schooling should make a difference in students' everyday experience, the authors synthesize research on the influence of school learning on students' out-of-school experience by addressing the contributions and shortcomings of four research areas: (a) transfer, (b) out-of-school learning environments, (c) school-prompted…

This article reflects on Peter Mayo's synthesis of ideas from two key figures in critical educational studies: Gramsci and Freire. The author identifies a number of distinguishing features of Mayo's work and considers some of the implications of his analysis for our understanding of transformative intellectual activity.

In a reflection on her teaching practices, Wendy Bishop in "Teaching Lives" suggests that over time she became a "social expressivist," in that by writing about her own teaching she learned "to develop a personal voice within the public matrix of professional communities" (ix). For the compositionist committed to the…

How do issues of equity inform music teaching and learning? What does it mean to teach music through the lens of social justice with social consciousness? The two authors of this paper challenged each other to reflect on these questions and how they pertain, past and present, to their lives as performers, pedagogues, and researchers in various…

R. D. Howell, E. Breivik, and J. B. Wilcox (2007) have argued that causal (formative) indicators are inherently subject to interpretational confounding. That is, they have argued that using causal (formative) indicators leads the empirical meaning of a latent variable to be other than that assigned to it by a researcher. Their critique of causal…

Learning how to conduct qualitative research may seem daunting for those new to the task, especially given the paradigm's emphasis on complexity and emergent design. Although there are guidelines in the literature, each project is unique and ultimately the individual researcher must determine how best to proceed. Reflexivity is thus considered…

As the process of evidence-based practice (EBP) gains a foothold in the curricula of schools of social work and the various helping professions, instructors have been encountering a unique set of challenges. On one hand, educators must develop new curricula to convey material that is often complex and is, even in its most advanced state, still in…