Edward W. Taylor

Mentors and Muses: New Strategies for Academic Success

Mentoring programs in higher education institutions have met with mixed success. In response to the limitations inherent in the dominant approaches to mentoring, we present an example of a unusual mentoring program, the New Scholars Network (NSN). The NSN is a variant of traditional mentoring approaches, having evolved from mentoring into musing. Framed within a radical humanist philosophy, musing is a process of creating peer communities that facilitates connections between naturally developing relationships, shared power, and collective action. Through mentoring as musing new faculty have the potential to evolve as change agents in the institution, instead of assimilating into the existing system.

Transformative learning theory: a neurobiological perspective of the role of emotions and unconscious ways of knowing

Transformative learning as explained by Mezirow in the field of adult education has been criticized as a process that is overly dependent on critical reflection, such that it minimizes the role of feelings and overlooks transformation through the unconscious development of thoughts and actions. This paper further substantiates these concerns by exploring the emotional nature of rationality and unconscious ways of knowing (implicit memory) from the field of neurobiology and psychology and offers a physiological explanation of the interdependent relationship of emotion and reason and the role of implicit memory in transformative learning theory. Recent research not only provides support that emotions can affect the processes of reason, but more importantly, emotions have been found to be indispensable for rationality to occur. Furthermore, brain research brings to light new insights about a form of long-term memory that has long been overlooked, that of implicit memory, which receives, stores, and recovers outside the conscious awareness of the individual. From implicit memory emerges habits, attitudes and preferences inaccessible to conscious recollection but these are nonetheless shapes by former events, influence our present behaviour, and are an essential part of who we are. Finally, based on these new insights for fostering transformative learning is discussed, revealing the need to include practices inclusive of ‘other ways of knowing,’ and more specifically, from the study of emotional literacy and multiple intelligences.

Using still photography in making meaning of adult educators' teaching beliefs

Abstract Photography as a research tool has been under-appreciated and marginally used in the field of education and even less so in adult education. An area, where photography has potential is in the exploration of teaching beliefs. Teaching beliefs are important concepts when attempting to understand teacher thinking, thought processes and classroom practices. However, they are at times difficult for participants to articulate, particularly since they often operate on a tacit or subconscious level. Still photography offers a means of addressing these concerns, by helping elicit often hidden beliefs about teaching. In particular, two techniques, auto-photography and photo-elicitation help address some of the challenges found when trying to make meaning of teaching beliefs. This article will illustrate photographys potential through a review of related literature and a discussion of implications associated with the use of still photography in the exploration of teaching beliefs of adult educators.

Adult Education Quarterly from 1989 to 1999: A Content Analysis of all Submissions

The intent of this study was to conduct an analysis of all submissions (accepted and rejected) to Adult Education Quarterly from 1989 to 1999. Previous reviews of the journal had only analyzed published articles. Including all submissions revealed a more complete analysis of trends, and patterns of acceptances were revealed. Trends for the previous decade included continued dominance of academic, male, single-author submissions from North America. However; there have been increasing numbers of submissions by women, of a qualitative research design, and on topics about gender/diversity and training/continuing professional education. Also, acceptance rates were higher than average for men; academics; submissions from Australia/New Zealand, and Europe; qualitative research; and the subjects of adult development, gender/diversity, evaluation/testing, philosophy, and research methods. As a result, a more complete picture of the publication activity of the journal is possible when all the submissions, not just acceptances, are included in a content analysis.

Fostering transformative learning in non-formal settings: Farmer-Field Schools in East Africa

The purpose of this study was to explore the practice of Farmer-Field Schools (FFS) theoretically framed from the perspective of transformative learning theory and non-formal education (NFE). Farmer-Field Schools are community-led NFE programs that provide a platform where farmers meet regularly to study the ‘how and why’ of farming and engage in an instrumental and experiential learning process imbued with local knowledge expressed through song, dance and theatre. Through a qualitative design using multiple interviews and observations of the Luhya ethnic group in Western Kenya, involving participants of several FFS programs, the study revealed an intricate picture of fostering transformative learning within the context of NFE, where findings call into question some long-held assumptions about both.

Developing a Survey of Transformative Learning Outcomes and Processes Based on Theoretical Principles

The purpose of this research was to develop an inclusive evaluation of “transformative learning theory” that encompassed varied perspectives of transformative learning. We constructed a validated quantitative survey to assess the potential outcomes and processes of how transformative learning may be experienced by college-educated adults. Based on a review of the rational/cognitive, extrarational, and social/emancipatory perspectives of transformation learning theory, the survey reflects the assumptions underlying these perspectives through survey items and allows the survey to be used in multiple contexts both inside and outside the formal classroom. Survey development included a comprehensive review of the literature, external review by experts in adult education, focus groups for clarification of the items, the calculation of interitem correlations for each scale and cross-scale correlations, and the calculation of Cronbach’s α reliability coefficients. This survey has the potential to advance the study of transformative learning by being inclusive of several existing theoretical perspectives that have common outcomes.

Publishing Qualitative Adult Education Research: A Peer Review Perspective.

Abstract As interest in qualitative research has grown over the past decade in scholarly adult education publications, it has become increasingly varied in its application. However, there are no standards for reporting qualitative data. This poses a confusing dilemma for the emerging adult education scholar interested in submitting qualitative research to scholarly journals. One rarely investigated resource that offers insight into this challenge is peer reviewer assessments of qualitative research. The purpose of this study is to identify characteristics of publishable qualitative research to a major international adult and continuing education journal through an in-depth analysis of peer review comments. A grounded theory approach was used to design a content analysis of reviewer comments. From the findings, six major themes emerged as essential to the publication of qualitative research: What is the purpose of the study? How does the purpose build on previous research? How thorough is the methodology? How are the findings presented? What are the contributions, implications, and significance of the study? Is the manuscript organized, edited and well formatted? This article further guides the reader with explanations of what it means to publish quality qualitative research.

Seeking Authenticity: Women and Learning in the Catholic Worker Movement

Oral history interviews form the basis of an investigation into both the context and the everyday actions that contributed to the learning environment for women within the Catholic Worker Movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Findings reveal that narrators (a) were grounded in a variety of learning environments including family, Catholic Church, and school contexts; (b) sought adventure and authenticity as young adults; (c) practiced compassionate and critical-systemic faith within the Catholic Worker, which resulted in a new framework or way of seeing; (d) developed significant relationships that fostered learning in new ways; and (d) despite oppressive narrowing of opportunity for some because of their gender, learned to trust personal conscience as it guided them into positions of leadership that were unusual at the time within their local parishes. This study contributes to the expanding boundaries of the history of adult education by addressing issues of gender, spirituality, and learning in social movements.

Afterword Transformative Learning Met Bildung

In looking back over the array of the chapters in this book, it is important to reflect on what has been learned about the relationship between transformative learning and Bildung.