Third Update on Adult Learning Theory


Book Description

This Third Update on Adult Learning Theory follows two earlier volumes on the same topic, the first published in 1993 and the second in 2001. Only one topic, transformative learning theory, can be found in all three updates, representing the continuing developments in research and alternative theoretical conceptions of TL. Thanks to a growing body of research and theory-building, three topics briefly touched on in 2001 are now separate chapters in this third update: spirituality and adult learning learning through the body narrative learning in adulthood Also new in this update is a chapter on non-Western perspectives on learning and knowing. New developments in two other areas are also explored: understanding the connection between the brain and learning, and how modern and postmodern ways of knowing are converging and are bring expressed in social movements. The concluding chapter identifies two trends in adult learning theory for the twenty-first century: attention to context, and to the holistic nature of learning in adulthood. This is 119th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education is an indispensable series that explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.




Adult Education and the Pursuit of Wisdom


Book Description

Delve into the nature and mystery of wisdom in adult education, and what it might mean for the practice of adult education in the complexity of changing times. This issue begins with a look at the nature of wisdom, the wisdom of nature, and how it relates to current issues in the field of adult education. It then looks to neuroscience and the evolution of sacred knowing to explore the connection between learning and wisdom. Covering transcendent and practical wisdom, the issue then draws on Eastern, Western, and Mideastern cultural and religious perspectives to develop a fuller understanding of wisdom. Finally, it covers the aspects of gender and/or culture in relation to wisdom, though in quite different ways. This is the 131st volume of the Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, this indispensable series explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.




The Neuroscience of Adult Learning


Book Description

This timely volume examines links between the emerging neurobiological research on adult learning and the adult educators' practice. Now that it is possible to trace the pathways of the brain involved in various learning tasks, we can also explore which learning environments are likely to be most effective. Topics explored in The Neuroscience of Adult Learning include: basic brain architecture and "executive" functions of the brain how learning can "repair" the effects of psychological trauma on the brain effects of stress and emotions on learning the centrality of experience to learning and construction of knowledge the mentor-learner relationship intersections between best practices in adult learning and current neurobiological discoveries Volume contributors include neurobiologists, educators, and clinical psychologists who have illuminated connections between how the brain functions and how to enhance learning. Although the immediate goal of this volume is to expand the discourse on adult teaching and learning practices, the overarching goal is to encourage adult learners toward more complex ways of knowing. This is the 110th volume of New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, a quarterly publication published by Jossey-Bass.




Financial Literacy and Adult Education


Book Description

Many adults attend financial education classes to help them make more informed financial decisions, based on their knowledge of their financial situation available cash or funds planned expenditures. This volume brings together scholars from the fields of adult education and financial literacy and covers topics that reveal the interrelatedness of the two fields. They show how concepts and knowledge about adult education can be utilized in and illuminate financial education, and they offer insights about how financial education, as an eminently practical subject, shows adults learning and putting their new knowledge into action. This is the 141st volume of this Jossey-Bass series. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of adult and continuing education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.




Creating Practical Knowledge Through Action Research


Book Description

This issue is a nuts-and-bolts guide to action research, a powerful technique for identifying and meeting instructional challenges and for improving programs for adult learners. The authors outline the action research process step-by-step, provide a convenient project planner, and present examples to show how action research yielded genuine improvements in six different settings, including a hospital, a university and a literacy education program. This sourcebook is intAnded for educators and trainers of adults in formal settings, such as higher education; continuing progessional education; corporate training; adult basic and literacy education; and religious or health education. It is also intAnded for those working in many of the informal adult education activities, including volunteer training, some types of distance education, and community development work. In any of these settings, action research provides a systematic discovery process that has helped hundreds of adult education practitioners understand, analyze, interpret, and resolve day-to-day problems in the educational workplace. This is the 73rd issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. For more information on the series, please see the Journals and Periodicals page.




Transforming Adults Through Coaching: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Number 148


Book Description

The field of coaching adult populations has grown dramatically over the past two decades. This volume brings together coaching scholars and experts to review this trend, examine some of the theoretical foundations of the field, and explore how coaching adults manifests itself in the workplace, at executive levels, and in educational and nonprofit organizations. Readers will: Gain understanding of this field of coaching adult audiences, Learn how adult development and adult learning theories undergird this work, and See applications of coaching approaches through numerous case studies. This is the 148th volume of the Jossey Bass series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums. This is the 148th volume of the Jossey Bass series New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Noted for its depth of coverage, it explores issues of common interest to instructors, administrators, counselors, and policymakers in a broad range of education settings, such as colleges and universities, extension programs, businesses, libraries, and museums.




Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education


Book Description

Drawing on the contributions of 75 leading authors in the field, this 2010 Edition of the respected Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education provides adult education scholars, programme administrators, and teachers with a solid foundation for understanding the current guiding beliefs, practices, and tensions faced in the field, as well as a basis for developing and refining their own approaches to their work and scholarship. Offering expanded discussions in the areas of social justice, technology, and the global dimensions of adult and continuing education, the Handbook continues the tradition of previous volumes with discussions of contemporary theories, current forms and contexts of practice, and core processes and functions. Insightful chapters examine adult and continuing education as it relates to gender and sexuality, race, our aging society, class and place, and disability.




Learning in the Workplace (Routledge Revivals)


Book Description

The nature of the workplace and the workforce has changed rapidly in post-industrial society. Most workers are now facing the need for high levels of preparatory education, retraining for new jobs and the ability to continue learning at work in order to keep up with new developments. The book, first published in 1987, argues that training in the workplace often fails because it is based on conditions that no longer prevail in modern organisations. The mechanistic approach of the behaviourist paradigm, it is argued, views the organisation as a machine and training as the preparation of workers for machine-like work according to their levels in the hierarchy, much as on an assembly line. The humanists’ advocation of collaborative learning has changed but not fundamentally altered this conception. This book will be of interest to students of education and business management.




An Update on Adult Development Theory: New Ways of Thinking About the Life Course


Book Description

Our approach to adult learners and the learning process is shaped by our knowledge of how adults change and develop across the life span. This issue of New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education reviews the latest work in adult developmental theory in the biological, psychological, sociocultural, and integrated domains, and explores the implications of this work for adult education. Chapters examine how gAnder, race, and sexual orientation affect our sense of self; explore spiritual development and theories of aging; and offer a way of understanding development in terms of how people use narrative to organize and make meaning of their experiences. This is the 84th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Adult and Continuing Development.




EBOOK: Dimensions of Adult Learning


Book Description

“Griff Foley has done those of us who are interested in adult learning a favour… Dimensions of Adult Learning provides an up-to-date, internationally relevant and comprehensive overview of an increasingly diverse field of study… an ideal introduction to the field for teachers, researchers and policy-makers." Journal of Education and Work “[The book] lives up to its ambitious name and has something to offer policy-makers and practitioners who want to take a fresh look at the expanding world of adult learning.” Talisman “This timely and valuable book makes an important contribution to our understanding of key recent developments in adult education and their significance. Reflecting the increasingly global nature of scholarship in the field, well-respected international contributors analyse issues facing practitioners today and consider how these can be most positively embraced to further the international cause of adult learning and social justice.” – Janet Hannah, University of Nottingham. This broad introduction to adult and post-compulsory education offers an overview of the field for students, adult educators and workplace trainers. The book establishes an analytical framework to emphasise the nature of learning and agency of learners; examines the core knowledge and skills that adult educators need; discusses policy, research and history of adult education, and surveys innovations and issues in adult education and learning. It also examines adult learning in different contexts: on-line learning, problem-based learning, organisational and vocational learning. Edited by internationally known academic Griff Foley, the book features chapters from leading contributors in the UK, North America, Australia and worldwide. Contributors: Damon Anderson, Francesca Beddie; Carmel Borg; Bob Boughton; Mike Brown; Shauna Butterwick; Tara Fenwick; Laurie Field; Keith Forrester; Vernon Galloway;Andrew Gonczi; Nancy Grudens-Schuck; Joce Jesson; Linda Leach; Peter Mayo; John McIntyre; Paul McTigue; Mike Newman; Tom Nesbit; Kjell Rubenson; Peter Rushbrook; Tom Sork; Barbara Sparks; Bruce Spencer; Peter Stephenson; Nelly Stromquist; Lucy Taksa; Mark Tennant; Shirley Walters; Michael Welton