ERIC Number: EJ874415
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1045-1595
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Meaning Depends: Learning about Me and My Learning
Smith, Janice E.
Adult Learning, v20 n3-4 p26-29 Sum-Fall 2009
This reflective paper discusses aspects of the author's personal development as an adult learner. Though that development is reflected in her practice as an adult educator, she does not explore those implications in the paper. Instead, she grapples with what it means to make meaning, to determine how she knows what she thinks she knows. The author explores the tension between external authority and self-authorship, between dualistic and dialectical thinking, and between a single and multiple identities. She provides examples of the power of reflection and reflective writing for making meaning. A constructivist view of meaning making is implicit in her reflections. The author explores the embedded assumption of self-agency in this view and questions whether she can really escape the sociocultural filters as she chooses who she wants to be. The author concludes with a celebration of her development to date and a determination to keep on learning.
Descriptors: Adult Learning, Adult Students, Reflection, Individual Development, Self Concept, Adult Educators, Hermeneutics, Constructivism (Learning), Sociocultural Patterns, Transformative Learning
American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. 10111 Martin Luther King Jr. Highway Suite 200C, Bowie, MD 20720. Tel: 301-459-6261; Fax: 301-459-6241; e-mail: aaace10@aol.com; Web site: http://www.aaace.org/publications/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A