Adult Education

Pomiędzy alienacją a emancypacją: rola rad doktoranckich w ustalaniu pozycji doktorantów na przykładzie Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego

by Piotr Kowzan

1. Kowzan, Piotr, Krzymiński, Dominik. (2012). Pomiędzy alienacją a emancypacją: rola rad doktoranckich w ustalaniu pozycji doktorantów na przykładzie Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. [w:] Marta Trawinska, Małgorzata Maciejewska (red.). Uniwersytet i emancypacja: wiedza jako działanie polityczne, działanie polityczne jako wiedza. Wrocław: Interdyscyplinarna Grupa Gender Studies. s. 57-73. ISBN 978-83-935286-0-8

Measuring Quality - framing what we know

by Azumah Dennis

Transitions in lifelong learning: public issues, private troubles, liminal identities

by John Field

Published in special issue of Studies for the Learning Society, an open access journal. See: http://versita.metapress.com/content/l07478170466/?p=cfe4336e822e4b03aea50a8b297aadc4&pi=0

We need to reconceptualise the significance of transitions in adult learning. The paper starts by considering how... more We need to reconceptualise the significance of transitions in adult learning. The paper starts by considering how lifelong learning and mobilities of various kinds have become absorbed into, and expressed in, the policy mainstream. It then discusses the ways in which researchers are addressing this topic. While researchers are pursuing many lines of inquiry into transitions, and using a wide range of methods (including new statistical techniques), the analysis in this paper is primarily concerned with questions of identity, and particularly the idea of learner identity. and it concludes by proposing the idea of a liminal identity, understood as shaped through social and cultural processes which are formed and re-formed in dynamic relationships with others.

Unions, Adult Education and Post-war Citizenship: The WEA and the Construction of Trade Union Education

by John Holford

Published in S.K. Roberts (ed.) ‘A Ministry of Enthusiasm’: Centenary Essays on the Workers’ Educational Association (London, Pluto Press, 2003), pp. 153-175.

GSU Spring 2012 Teaching Evaluations

by Robin Kemp

Struggling to unite: the rise and fall of one university movement in Poland

by Piotr Kowzan

Co-authored with Magdalena Prusinowska and Małgorzata Zielińska. Published in 'Interface: a journal for and about social movements', 4(1), 2012

The recent wave of student protests in Europe, which gained momentum in 2008, has had some impact on appearance of a... more The recent wave of student protests in Europe, which gained momentum in 2008, has had some impact on appearance of a number of Polish student movements, such as one movement in Gdańsk, called OKUPÉ – Open Committee for Liberation of the Educational Space. Using international student networks as background for our analysis, we focus on OKUPÉ, which
we were participants of. The movement had an active beginning and managed to gather a considerable number of people demanding changes at the university, including relations of power, surveillance policy, equality issues, participation in decision-making processes and spatial planing at the
new campus.

However, the promising beginning has not yet led to a continuous mobilisation and the movement had to face internal conflicts, burning out of the members, fragmentation of interest and problems with decision-making and communication. The methods of decision-making brought from other European movements have not worked properly in the local context. In this
paper we are going to describe the rise and fall of OKUPÉ, giving special emphasis to the possible reasons for the latter. We are arguing that in the specific context of academia, where conflicts may be perceived as beneficial for its members, balance – that is, avoiding opponents and meeting friends –
is often not sought, which suggests that balance theory may not have an explanatory power in this particular case.

Learning to Challenge Time in Adult Education: A Critical and Complex Perspective

by Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Alhadeff-Jones, M. (2010). Learning to Challenge Time in Adult Education: A Critical and Complex Perspective. In B. Merrill (ed.) Proceedings of the 40th Annual Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults (SCUTREA).

Considering the political nature of conflicting experiences of time, promoting a complex understanding of time becomes... more Considering the political nature of conflicting experiences of time, promoting a complex understanding of time becomes critical. This paper claims that learning to discriminate, evaluate, interpret, argue, judge, and challenge experienced temporalities and rhythms should be at the core of original forms of critical theory and practice in adult education.

Transformative Learning, Life History and the Temporalities of Learning

by Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Reference: Alhadeff-Jones, M. (2010, September). Transformative Learning, Life History and the Temporalities of Learning. Keynote lecture given at the Hellenic Adult Education Association 2010 Meeting, Athens, Greece.

This text is a revised version of two keynote lectures given respectively at the Hellenic Adult Education Association... more This text is a revised version of two keynote lectures given respectively at the Hellenic Adult Education Association 2010 Meeting, Athens, Greece (September 17th, 2010) and at the Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece (September 18th, 2010).

This presentation is organized around three simple questions. I have been asked to talk a little about transformative learning. It starts therefore by answering the question: why do I believe transformative learning theory is relevant for me considering practices related to higher and adult education? After having answered this question, I thought it might be meaningful to discuss the way I relate to this approach in my own practice at Teachers College, through the use of educational biography and life history. Finally, this lectures concludes with some elements of my current reflection on time, as they express well what I have learned around transformative learning theory through my current practice in education.

Rethinking Self-development Practices at Work in an Increasingly Insecure and Ever-changing Environment: A Case Study to Explore some Theoretical and Practical Contributions of a Post-modern Approach to Adult Education

by Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Alhadeff, M. (2001). Rethinking Self-development Practices at Work in an Increasingly Insecure and Ever-changing Environment: A Case Study to Explore some Theoretical and Practical Contributions of a Post-modern Approach to Adult Education. In E. Lourenço (Ed.) Wider Benefits of Learning: Understanding and Monitoring the Consequences of Adult Learning (pp. 204-213). Lisbon (Portugual): ESREA & Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore some theoretical and practical contributions of a post-modern approach to... more The main purpose of this paper is to explore some theoretical and practical contributions of a post-modern approach to Adult Education. To put forward the relevance of such a theoretical framework to think wider benefits of Adult Learning, our analysis will be based on a case study which is representative of contemporary work environment. This study will focus on the main stakes of a self-development training offered to employees to cope with insecurity and uncertainty featuring an organizational restructuration.

First, I will introduce the assumptions of a post-modern position. Then, the main stakes of a self-development training will be shortly introduced. The third part of this paper will bring to light some of the main limits of such an educational practice, looked upon as a prototypical 'modern' practice. The fourth part will draw some practical and theoretical considerations, inspired by a post-modern view, to rethink this kind of training. Finally, this paper will introduce some wider benefits and some limits inherent to a post-modern view in Adult Education.

Complexité de la critique et critique de la Complexité en formation

by Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Alhadeff, M. (2005). Complexité de la critique et critique de la Complexité en formation [Complexity of Critique and Critique of Complexity in Adult Education]. In J. Clenet & D. Poisson (Ed.) Complexité de la formation et formation à la complexité [Complexity of Adult Learning and Learning to Deal with Complexity] (pp. 227-241). Paris: L’Harmattan.

L'approche proposée dans cette communication se situe au centre d'une boucle qui cherche à relier les enjeux inhérents... more L'approche proposée dans cette communication se situe au centre d'une boucle qui cherche à relier les enjeux inhérents à ce que peut susciter en formation les notions de "critique" et de "complexité". La réflexion développée interroge ainsi la façon de concevoir dans le champ de l'éducation le développement d'une posture de remise en question à visée émancipatrice inspirée par ce paradigme. Pour se faire, la démarche adoptée s'inspire des sept principes formulés par Morin autour d'une pensée complexe. La notion de "critique" en tant qu'analyseur est ainsi revisitée de façon complexe à travers le traitement qu'elle a reçu dans les Sciences de l'Education de langue anglaise et française au cours de ces dernières décennies. Dans une perspective récursive et critique, l'approche adoptée amène finalement à
questionner les présupposés à partir desquels le paradigme de la complexité lui-même est appréhendé du point de vue de la formation.

Adult Learning Styles and Technology-Driven Learning for Online Students

by Aikyna Finch

Authors: Dr. Aikyna Finch and Dr. Emad Rahim

Study Circles in Sweden: An Overview with a Bibliography of International Literature

by Henrik Nordvall

Co-authored with Staffan Larsson, published at Linköping University Electronic Press, 2010.

This text aims to give an overview of the study circles as a tradition and state of the art at present time. The point of departure is primarily the Swedish context, even though there are some comments about study circles elsewhere.

Biographical disjunctures: identifying disorienting experiences in the educational biography of adult educators

by George Koulaouzides

According to the theory of transformative learning, the start of a learning process which may lead to the... more According to the theory of transformative learning, the start of a learning process which may lead to the transformation of the frame of reference starts with a disorienting experience. A disorienting experience may be experienced during a crisis or during an important transition in the life of a person. A personal experience which usually leads to transformation is related with the confrontation of an atypical situation (the nature of which may oscillate between shallow distress to trauma) or with a personal testimony which is challenging to our individual or social meaning schemes. In any case, such an experience is triggering a process which leads to the reformation and the reconstruction of our personal beliefs and practices towards a new schema of perception and existence.
The aim of this paper is to present the outcomes from an empirical qualitative research which explored the relationship between disorienting experiences in the lives of adult educators and their present understanding about the role of the adult educator. For the scope of our research a purposeful sample of fifteen adult educators was selected. The principal method of collection was through a biographical interview. For the specific group of adult educators who participated in our research we argue that the existence of specific disorienting experiences influenced their perception about their role as adult educators towards the adoption of a facilitative understanding about it.

Training for cultural competence: Individual and group processes

by Charmaine C. Williams

Studying a bit different than at a home university

by Piotr Kowzan

Authors: Piotr Kowzan, Aleksandra Kurowska, Magdalena Prusinowska, Małgorzata Zielińska (2009)
Published in a book: Learning in academia: socio-cultural and political perspectives. ed. by M. Cackowska. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. pp. 163-175

The aim of this article is to present different sources of learning while studying abroad. All the four authors of... more The aim of this article is to present different sources of learning while studying abroad. All the four authors of this text have at least twice taken the opportunity to study in a different
country, not only being exchange students at foreign universities (in Linköping and Bremen), but also enrolling to Folk High Schools or doing an internship abroad. We have
also met other international students and used the opportunity to inquire about their experiences. We will attempt here to create a mulitidimensional picture of the international students’ course of learning, showing both the most easily noticeable sources of learning as well as the more subtle ones.

Life history approaches to access and retention of nontraditional students in higher education: A cross-European approach

by John Field

Co-authored with Barbara Merrill and Linden West

Higher education participation has become an important focus for policy debate as well as for scholarly research.... more Higher education participation has become an important focus for policy debate as well as for scholarly research. Partly this results from ongoing attempts to expand the higher education system in line with wider policies promoting a ‘knowledge economy’; and partly it results from widespread policy concerns for equity and inclusion. In both cases, researchers and policymakers alike have tended to focus on access and entry to the system, with much less attention being paid to the distribution of outcomes from the system. This paper reports on a multi-country study that was aimed at critically understanding the experiences of non-traditional students in higher education, and in particular on the factors that helped promote retention. In doing so, the study straddles the sociology of social reproduction and the psychosociology of learner transformations.

From High Skill to High School: The Social Organization of" Canadian Work Experience" for Immigrant Professionals

by Bonnie Slade

My Doctoral Thesis completed at the University of Toronto in 2008.

This thesis examines the concept of Canadian work experience to explore its origins as an ideological construction... more This thesis examines the concept of Canadian work experience to explore its origins as an ideological construction whose constituent work practices can be traced. Canadian work experience has no stable inherent meaning; its meaning is relational, contingent upon processes of gender, race, ethnicity, and their interconnections. Employing Dorothy E. Smith‘s (2005) institutional ethnography, I begin with the experiences of immigrants in a school board co-op program and investigate the policies and work practices of people that give shape to the meaning of Canadian work experience. The vibrancy of the participants‘ life stories are conveyed through a Reader‘s Theatre, an arts-informed research tradition. Within the taken-for-granted ideological frame of Canadian work experience, volunteer work is posited by many as a good strategy for immigrants to get established in the labour market. Immigrants often obtain volunteer experience though co-op programs, a large number of which are operated by school boards.

The co-op programs operationalize the absence of Canadian work experience as an individual deficit, and in so doing, position immigrant professionals in precarious employment relations. My research reveals that immigrant professionals with graduate degrees and years of international work experience are put through curriculum designed for adolescents with limited work experience, and, as part of the co-op program, often perform over 400 hours of unpaid work in private manufacturing companies, banks and other for-profit ventures. I argue that the co-op programs contribute to the stratification of the labour market along racial and ethnic lines as many co-op courses explicitly restrict eligibility to immigrants who speak English as a second language, and 75 per cent of immigrants are people of colour (Statistics Canada, 2008). The co-op program is one site where immigrants learn how their differences with respect to language and work experience are made to matter. Their past experience is not considered relevant, their educational achievements are downplayed and the value of their labour is eradicated. This repositioning – treating highly skilled immigrants, specifically non-native speakers of English as inexperienced high school students – is itself a process of racialization, but one that is cloaked behind the ideological construction of Canadian work experience.

From exploring practice to exploring inquiry: a practitioner researcher's experience (this PhD thesis gives the beginnings of "messy method")

by Nigel Mellor

Vist website www.nmellor.com for this thesis - on page called "messy method"

Transforming identities and enacting agency: the discourses of participatory development in training South African adult educators

by Caroline Kerfoot

‘From High Skill to High School’: Illustrating the Process of Deskilling Immigrants through Reader’s Theatre and Institutional Ethnography

by Bonnie Slade

Qualitative Inquiry, 18, 5, (June 2012)
DOI 10.1177/1077800412439526

From High Skill to High School details the experiences of immigrant professionals in an adult education employment... more From High Skill to High School details the experiences of immigrant professionals in an adult education employment program. This research reveals that immigrants with graduate degrees and years of international work experience are put through curriculum designed for adolescents with limited work experience, and collectively perform over 1.92 million hours of unpaid work annually in both community-based organizations and for-profit companies. In this mixed method research project combining Institutional Ethnography with Reader’s Theatre, the Reader’s Theatre serves as a powerful medium to detail the process of deskilling. While Reader’s Theatre complements the institutional ethnographic analysis by vividly bringing the data to life, representational issues emerge in combining the two approaches. For the playwright the Reader’s Theatre may seem overly detailed and less aesthetically pleasing. These details, however, are necessary to the analysis as they are vital clues to the social organization of power for the institutional ethnographer.