Social Science Theories In Adult Education Research

The relationship between adult education research and theory is one of tension. On the one hand, there are several empirical studies carried out without any theoretical guidance. On the other hand, there is theorizing and theory building taking place without any empirical support. Social Science Theories in Adult Education Research, the third volume of the Bochum Studies in International Adult Education series, pleads for the importance of the combination of empirical and theoretical work in a symbiotic way. Good empirical studies need theoretical guidance and good theory building needs a solid empirical basis; thus the book explores and displays the most often used theories and theoretical perspectives in adult education research in the last decade within the European discourse and analyzes their potentials for adult education research. The chapters presented in this volume have a more or less similar underlying structure. They display the most important contours of the theory or perspective in question; they analyze and discuss the relation to adult education research, focusing on examples of other researcher's work; and they give an outlook on what can be expected of the respective paradigm's in the future.

The authors argue that the aim of research should be to improve practice through a process of critical reflection. Focusing clearly on the everyday concerns and problems of practitioners, they emphasize the importance of practical knowledge. Their definition of ‘practice’ is wide, and includes the generation of theory and the doing of research as well as front-line teaching. They show how notions of ‘adult learning’ and ‘the adult learner’ have been constituted mainly through theory and research in psychology and sociology, and examine action research as a mode of understanding. They conclude by looking at the curriculum implications for the teaching of adult education as reflective practice.

This book discusses the current state of the art in research on the education and learning of adults, and how such research has been transformed through contemporary policy and research practices. Gathering contributions from leading experts in the field, the book draws on previous research, as well as new findings in order to provide a map of this research field and its contemporary history. The chapters address a number of questions, including: What constitutes this research field? What theories and methodologies dominate within the field? What “invisible colleges” are active in shaping this academic field, in marking out its contours and in transforming its contemporary battle zones? Who is publishing in the field and who is deemed worth citing? What is the relationship between the shift in state policy on adult education and the research that is conducted on the education and learning of adults? How has the research field changed over time in various western countries? What do these meta-reflections of the field tell us about possible future research endeavours? Rather than speaking from within the field, this is a book about the research field. The diversity of the chapters provide a fascinating resource for anyone interested in research on the education and learning of adults.

Originally published in 1989, this book presents a variety of perspectives on the definition of knowledge and of adult education, by leading authors and practitioners in the study of adult education in the UK and USA. This collection of different and often contradictory views makes a detailed analysis of the epistemology and practice of adult education. Three major views are reflected within the book, all of which focus upon the role of the conventional disciplines as a 'theoretical' basis for adult education curricula and professional practice.

Originally published in 1992 this book looks at the phenomenon of adult education by exploring the nature of the motivation that moves people to return to school or to seek involvement inorganized learning activities. The book challenges the psychological emphasis of much research on adult learning. It concentrates on the concept of social participation and its implications for a reinterpretation of adult learning as an aspect of a person's involvement with his or her community or society.

Adult Learning and Education The graduate student guide in adult education explores theories of adult learning and adult education participation. It provides a frame of reference for understanding the development of a rapidly evolving field and for enhancing knowledge and competencies in this professional domain. The publication is divided into two sections: a section on adult learning theories and a section on adult education participation theories. If Adult Learning and Education (ALE) is now a recognised professional field, the theoretical perspectives, underlying practices and policies draw on a variety of academic disciplines. Various theories of learning and of adult education participation shape the practice and the “engineering” of adult learning. In the first section, this study guide provides a review of the most important learning theories, including behaviourist, cognitive, and constructivist approaches, their modern development, as well as specific developments in adult education theory. The second section examines the psychological and sociological theoretical backgrounds of adult education participation in order to understand the factors at work in participation patterns along the adult life course and between different social contexts. Observing the relativity of social reproduction allows to identify the conditions and variables that need to be addressed in order to alter prevailing trends.

Critical Theorist Carlos Alberto Torres offers a political sociology of adult learning and education, based on Critical Social Theory and the always inspiring work of Paulo Freire. Empirically grounded and theoretically sophisticated, this new book follows the footsteps of his classic book published in the early nineties The Politics of Nonformal Education in Latin America. Torres book offers comparative and international sociological analyses of adult learning and education, an area in which there is an obsession with ‘practice’ and an aversion to theory, with some notable and laudable exceptions, but which has the potential to provide avenues for social justice education in ways that no other systems and policies can. This book revitalizes social theory in education, and provides ample evidence of the power of adult learning and education, examining a variety of policy documents connected with the various adult education congresses promoted by the UNESCO, which are thoroughly scrutinized for what they bring to or omit from the policy agenda. In the context of new developments in adult learning and education, particularly the impact of multiple globalizations, neoliberalism, and the new role of international organizations in reconceptualizing lifelong learning, new evidence-based research, new narratives, and the vibrancy of social movements striving for a new and possible world, it is clear that new theoretical designs were needed making this is a must-read book.

This book provides a comprehensive sociological overview of adult and continuing education. It draws on all branches of sociology rather than advocating one approach. It examines the theories of all the significant sociological writers in the field such as Knowles, Marx, Freire and Gramsci and sets them in the broader intellectual context. It also considers the content of the curriculum in adult education and the place of adult education in society at large. The author indicates the strengths and weaknesses of the different sociological perspectives and demonstrates how they can be used to analyse the function and purpose of adult and continuing education.