Introduction
The essence of scholarship is the reshaping of knowledge. Classically, of course, this happens through discovery of the new: previously unknown facts, or new theories, models and perspectives which enable us to understand afresh what we already know. But scholarship is not just a matter of discovering the surprising or unforeseen, of radically new insights and wholly new theorisations. Very often, new discoveries and interpretations are incremental: âstanding on the sho[u]lders of giantsâ, as Newton (1676) famously put itâor, more modestly, peeping over the shoulders of colleagues. This is no less true in lifelong education and learning as in any other field of inquiry, and in this Handbook we emphasise the need for continual intellectual work on the nature of our field. For this reason, we do not see territorial boundariesâconceptual or geographicalâas fixed or defined once and for all: in our field as in others, landmarks change and contours shift; fences are erected, eroded or torn down. The label we use for the field of academic enquiryâadult and lifelong education and learningâitself points to this volatility.
The chapters in Part I explore some of the contours and complexities of the field: they encourage us to think about it and to rethink it, and show some ways in which this can be done. The chapters are arranged in three sections. Those in the first, Theoretical Landscapes, explore theories and perspectives that have become well-established frames of reference. To begin with Richard G. Bagnall and Steven Hodge look at the epistemology of contemporary adult and lifelong education and learning, illuminating the âvocationalisationâ that dominates policy and provision. Prevailing cultural contexts, they argue, selectively favour particular epistemologies, and this explains the episodic flourishing of constructivist and emancipatory epistemologies. Neoliberalism, seen as a context, explains the shift from âeducationâ to âlearningâ and the ascendency of a âvocationalistâ epistemologyâthough they also suggest the rise of a situational epistemology may herald its future decline. In the second chapter, Chad Hoggan engages with transformative learning, one of todayâs most prominent paradigms. This suffers, he argues, from conceptual âevacuationâ: that is, the term is used to refer to such a wide variety of phenomena that it has lost any distinctive meaning. Transformative learning is a âmetatheoryâ, but he suggests a typology of outcomes that can generate some clarity.
Mezirow was clear about transformative learningâs links with Habermas, but arguably its influence rests on its âmetatheoreticalâ nature. Some educational theories take root across a wide intellectual, political and pedagogical spectrum. In different ways the remaining three chapters in this section engage with the genealogies, challenges and potential of theories rooted in this emancipatory tradition. Stephen Brookfield explores two major traditions of critical analysis that have framed much adult educational theorising: Marxism and the Frankfurt School of critical social theory, and the critical pedagogy tradition associated with Paulo Freire. He also touches on the influence of transformative learning and other critically-inclined streams of theorising such as feminist theory, queer theory, Africentrism and critical race theory on adult education. In all, of these he suggests, theory is to play a part in dismantling structures of power by critiquing the ideologies that keep these structures in place.
John D. Holst looks at the connections between âradical adult educationâ and âsocial movement learningâ. What, he asks, is the relationship between our scholarship and the socio-political and economic contexts in which adult education researchers and social movement actors and organisations operate. He addresses this historically, focussing on the USA and the Americas since 1945. In contrast, Palle Rasmussenâs discussion of adult learning and communicative rationality is set in a profoundly European frame. âLearningâ (as opposed to the more humanist idea of âeducationâ) has been much used in policy discourse of late: Rasmussen discusses philosophical criticisms of learning, the significance of the German tradition of Bildung, the significance of learning theorists such as Knud Illeris, and the contributions of two critical social theorists: JĂŒrgen Habermas and Oskar Negt. He sees these as substantiating the interactive dimension of learning: the link between individual learning processes and the complexity of contemporary social life.
The section on Generative Pathways explores various scholarsâ original theorisations. Their work draws on different traditions and disciplines, but they adopt critical, self-reflective, and personal lenses. We begin with Terri Seddonâs discussion of âAdult Education and the âLearningâ Turnâ. As lifelong learning has replaced adult education (from the 1990s) âlearning as performanceâ has displaced the established world of adult and lifelong self-development. Using the concept of âanalytic borderlandsâ, she traces global transitions through the âlearning turnâ in Australian adult education. âLifelong learningâ, âadult educationâ and âlifelong educationâ are, she argues, historically specific forms of more general political rationalities, institutionalised spaces and necessary utopias. Danny Wildemeersch then explores the paradox that while adult education typically aims at encouraging its participants to be socially or politically critical, it often results in inequality rather than emancipation. He suggests that by taking âequality of intelligenceâ (in RanciĂšreâs sense) as the point of departure, participants can take their emancipation in their own hands. In the following chapter, Emilio Lucio-Villegas ârevisitsâ Paulo Freire and the idea of adult education for emancipation. Starting from Freireâs key conceptsâculture, dialogue, literacy method, the duality of oppressor/oppressed, conscientisation, and the role of the educatorâLucio-Villegas updates Freireâs thought for todayâs social and educational environment, where policies and practices focus so strongly on the labour market.
Henning Salling Olesenâs chapter introduces a psycho-societal approach to theorising learning, combining a materialist theory of socialisation with a hermeneutic interpretation methodology. Individual psychic development, he maintains, produces an inner psycho-dynamic that is a conscious and unconscious resource in the individualâs future lifeâbut this occurs in large part through symbolisation and language. Laura Formenti also explores the significance of individualsâ biographies, but sees complexity theory as a way of overcoming disconnections and dichotomies. Looking for a âpattern which connectsâ can, she argues, move us to a more cooperative notion of adult education.
Finally, the section on Conceptual Sites addresses political and economic influences and tensions in rethinking adult education and learning. This is, of course, only one âsiteâ within the larger landscape of adult education and learning research, butâbecause of its contemporary relevanceâwe feel it deserves particular attention. In the first chapter, Richard Desjardins explores three political economy perspectives, linking them to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)âs shifting policy agenda on adult education over the last five decades. These perspectives, he argues, are of central analytical and political significance when studying adult education policy. Next, Tonette S. Rocco, Sunny L. Munn, Joshua C. Collins consider how various critical theories generated space for the creation of critical human resource development, and how critical race theory is taking HRD in a more radical direction. Alan Brown and Jenny Bimrose argue for the importance of exploring learning at work in relation to identity development: they map changing ideas about the development of identities at work and outline two models of learning to support identity development at work.
Pepka Boyadjieva and Petya Ilieva-Trichkovaâs chapter on âlifelong learning as an emancipation processâ explores the heuristic potential of the capability approach in conceptualising lifelong learning, and tests its empirical value. Drawing on the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, they develop an index of fairness in participation in adult education and, drawing on it, explore obstacles to participation. Finally, Bente ElkjĂŠrâs chapter considers the role universities play as institutions of knowledge production in todayâs knowledge-based economies. University scholars, he points out, participate not only in their home university and in global social worlds of knowledge production; they are also, he points out, influenced by local traditions, such as the Nordic countriesâ tradition of active participation from âbelowâ.
Reference
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