Ronald M. Cervero

Planning responsibly for adult education : a guide to negotiating power and interests

UNDERSTANDING THE PRACTICE OF PROGRAM PLANNING. 1. Practical and Political Dimensions of Planning. 2. Planning as a Process of Negotiating Interests. NEGOTIATING INTERESTS IN PLANNING PRACTICE: THREE CASES. 3. Fixing an Organization Through Management Education. 4. Updating Practitioners in University Continuing Education. 5. Promoting Social Change in Community--Based Education. GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSIBLE PLANNING. 6. To Plan Responsibly, Be Political. 7. Represent Interests Democratically. 8. Develop Skills and Knowledge to Negotiate Responsibly. 9. Understand Planning as a Social Practice.

Mentoring in black and white: the intricacies of cross‐cultural mentoring

Cross‐cultural mentoring relationships can be sites of struggle around the issues of race, class and gender. In addition, the mentor/protégé relationship offers micro‐cosmic insight into power relations within western society. The authors of this paper, a black woman associate professor and a white male professor, use the example of their mentoring relationship to illustrate six common issues facing academicians involved in these relationships: (1) trust between mentor and protégé; (2) acknowledged and unacknowledged racism; (3) visibility and risks pertinent to minority faculty; (4) power and paternalism; (5) benefits to mentor and protégé; and (6) the double‐edged sword of ‘otherness’ in the academy. Literature is used for review and critique of mentoring in the academy while offering personal examples to illustrate the complexity and success of a 13‐year mentoring relationship between a duo who began their association as teacher/student.

Impact studies in continuing education for health professions: Update

Introduction: This article critiques the questions asked and methods used in research syntheses in continuing education (CE) in the health professions, summarizes the findings of the syntheses, and makes recommendations for future CE research and practice. Methods: We identified 15 research syntheses published after 1993 in which primary CE studies were reviewed and the performance (behavior) of health professionals and/or patient health outcomes were examined. Results: The syntheses were categorized by the research questions they asked using a wave metaphor. Wave One (n = 3) syntheses sought to establish a general descriptive causal connection between CE and impact variables, asking. “Is CE effective, and for what outcomes?” Wave Two syntheses (n = 12) sought to explain the relationship between CE and impacts by identifying causal moderators, asking, “What kinds of CE are effective?” Discussion: Wave One findings confirm previous research that CE can improve knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior, and patient health outcomes. Wave Two syntheses show that CE, which is ongoing, interactive, contextually relevant, and based on needs assessment, can improve knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior, and health care outcomes. The most important implication of the present review is that there are differential impacts of CE programs, and the reasons for those impacts cannot be fully understood unless the context of the program is considered.

Professional practice, learning, and continuing education: an integrated perspective‡

The popular wisdom among professionals is that the knowledge they acquire from practice is far more useful than what they acquire from more formal types of education. This observation contradicts the dominant viewpoint in society and the professional education establishment that has given legitimacy to knowledge that is formal, abstract and general while devaluing knowledge that is local, specific and based in practice. This viewpoint has strongly influenced continuing education, which has followed the model set at the preservice level in focusing on the transmission of formal, abstract knowledge. In this paper, I describe and provide evidence for three propositions that build on the importance of knowledge gained from practice. These are: (1) the goal of professional practice is wise action; (2) knowledge acquired from practice is necessary to achieve this goal; and (3) a model of learning from practice should become the centrepiece of systems of continuing education for the professions. ‡This paper was ...

An Analysis of the Educational Narratives of Reentry Black Women

The purpose of the study was to examine the educational narratives of reentry Black women in an effort to determine how the dynamics of the larger society, which often negatively impact their lives, are played out in higher education. The adult education literature portrays reentry women as a generic class and does not consider the actual cultural diversity of the group. The sample consisted of graduate and undergraduate Black women, including the author, between the ages of thirty-four and fifty-four. Narrative analysis was the methodological approach used and Black feminist thought provided the theoretical framework. Findings revealed that these Black women regularly faced issues involving power relations based on race, gender, class, and color. In responding to these systems of oppression, these women used strategies of silence, negotiation, and resistance.

The Impact of CME on Physician Performance and Patient Health Outcomes: An Updated Synthesis of Systematic Reviews

Introduction: Since 1977, many systematic reviews have asked 2 fundamental questions: (1) Does CME improve physician performance and patient health outcomes? and (2) What are the mechanisms of action that lead to positive changes in these outcomes? The articles purpose is to synthesize the systematic review literature about CME effectiveness published since 2003. Methods: We identified 8 systematic reviews of CME effectiveness published since 2003 in which primary research studies in CME were reviewed and physicians’ performance and/or patient health outcomes were included as outcome measures. Results: Five systematic reviews addressed the question of “Is CME Effective?” using primary studies employing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or experimental design methods and concluded: (1) CME does improve physician performance and patient health outcomes, and (2) CME has a more reliably positive impact on physician performance than on patient health outcomes. The 8 systematic reviews support previous research showing CME activities that are more interactive, use more methods, involve multiple exposures, are longer, and are focused on outcomes that are considered important by physicians lead to more positive outcomes. Discussion: Future research on CME effectiveness must take account of the wider social, political, and organizational factors that play a role in physician performance and patient health outcomes. We now have 39 systematic reviews that present an evidence‐based approach to designing CME that is more likely to improve physician performance and patient health outcomes. These insights from the scientific study of CME effectiveness should be incorporated in ongoing efforts to reform systems of CME and health care delivery.

Power dynamics in teaching and learning practices: an examination of two adult education classrooms

The purpose of this research was to determine the ways in which power relations that exist in the wider social context are played out in the teaching and learning dynamics of adult education classrooms. The research design was a qualitative comparative case study of two courses taught by the authors in a university setting. Data sources included students’ evaluations, teachers’ observations, interviews with students, interviews with both teachers, and conversations with similarly situated faculty members. The themes of mastery, voice, authority and positionality found in previous research were used to organize the results. The results showed the many complex ways in which power relations based on race, class, gender, disability and sexual orientation played out across all four themes and how these dynamics directly influenced the teaching and learning process. The positionality of the teachers and learners, in particular the racial category of whiteness, emerged as a key power relationship mediating class...

Strategic Choices for the Academy: How Demand for Lifelong Learning Will Recreate Higher Education

Part One: The Bases for Change 1. Pressures on Higher Education in the Information Age 2. Strategic Change in the Wake of Controversy 3. Cultivating Internal Readiness for Change 4. Analyzing Global Responses to the New Learning Needs Part Two: Strategic Response to the Need for Learning 5. Serving the Lifelong Learner 6. Creating a Flexible Concept of Academic Organization 7. Achieving Strategic Fit Between Strengths and Opportunities 8. Expanding Channels for Instructional Delivery Part Three: Re-Creating Higher Education Through Strategic Choices 9. The New Learning Infrastructure 10. The Faculty, Facilities, and Administration of the Future 11. Partnerships to Produce and Transfer Knowledge 12. The Academy of the Future Scenarios and Models 13. Achieving Strategic Transformation.

Rooted in the Soil: The Social Experiences of Black Graduate Students at a Southern Research University

The social experiences of Black graduate alumni, 1962 to 2003, at a major Southern Research University were examined in a comprehensive forced choice and open-ended survey. Characteristics that distinguish this study from others include the large sample of 678 participants and the longitudinal span of four decades.

Impact studies in continuing education for health professionals: A critique of the research syntheses

Documenting impact has been a continual pursuit in continuing education (CE) for health professionals. Hundreds ofprimary impact studies have been published, along with 16 impact study syntheses that have sought to generalize about the effectiveness of CE and sometimes how and why the effects occur This article describes and critiques the methodology of the 16 syntheses and summarizes their findings. Afirst wave of syntheses established a general causal connection between CE and impacts, but explained impact variability only in the dependent variable-knowledge, competence, performance, or outcome. A second wave added a search for causal explanation through analysis of variables that moderate impact. This wave has begun to identify the most appropriate types of programs for promoting performance changes. The article concludes by suggesting questions and methods forfuture primary studies and meta-analyses, including improved experimental and metaanalytical methods, along with case and naturalistic studies and action research.