Theo Jansen

Social Learning: a new perspective on learning in participatory systems

Abstract In many cases experiential learning is located in individuals. Sometimes it is agreed that experiential learning can also be located in groups or social systems. Yet, little effort has been made to conceptualise these processes of “social learning”. In this contribution the authors point out the importance of social learning against the backdrop of changing circumstances in times of reflexive modernisation. Drawing on research, they develop an overall picture of four basic axes of social learning: action, reflection, cooperation and communication. They argue that social learning is all about balancing between various tensions which influence the decisions and directions of the learning systems. They also outline how power, responsibility and creativity hereby play a role. Finally, they formulate some insights about how these processes of social learning can be influenced by external or internal partners of participatory systems.

Reflexive Modernity, Self-Reflective Biographies: Adult Education in the Light of the Risk Society.

The aim of this article is to present a view on adult education in the light of the concept of ‘risk society’, as articulated by the German sociologist Ulrich Beck. In his view, there is no such thing as a post‐modern society; on the contrary we are rapidly entering into a new episode of history in which ‘simple modernization’ is transforming into ‘reflexive modernization’. This development confronts society, and adult education, with new themes such as ecological safety, the danger of losing control over technological and scientific innovations, the internalization of political structures, the growth of a much more flexible labour force, etc. A specific feature of risk society mentioned by Beck is the process of individualization: biographies become more ‘self‐reflexive’, i.e., what used to be a socially conditioned biography is gradually transformed into a biography in which the individual is free to make decisions about the organization of his life. In a way, biographies are de‐standardized; this devel...

Beyond the Myth of Self-Actualization: Reinventing the Community Perspective of Adult Education

In this contribution, we discuss two tendencies in mainstream adult and continuing education. First, there is the tendency to gear adult and continuing education towards individualized responses to present day processes of social transformation. We interpret these changes with reference to the concept of the risk society. Second, we comment on the tendency of adult and continuing eduction to increasingly frame these individualized responses in labor market terms. These tendencies provoke a privatization of identity development and may even contribute to new forms of social inequality. In contrast with these developments, we emphasize the importance of adult education for social participation and social responsibility. In this perspective we reconceptualize both the ethic and the aesthetic dimension of adult education.

Individualization, the new political spectrum and the functions of adult education

The ambivalences of individualization have triggered a new discourse on social policy. The central themes in this discourse are the promotion of social integration and participation. This new political discourse has thwarted the old left‐right continuum and given rise to a new political spectrum. On one side of this new political spectrum are political perspectives that emphasize integration, solidarity, community. The authors call these collectivistic perspectives. On the other side of the spectrum are perspectives that interpret individualization as the triumph of freedom of choice for individuals. The authors call these the individualistic perspectives. They then describe the spectrum between collectivism and individualism in detail and link each perspective to programmes in adult education typical of such a perspective. In conclusion, the authors summarize their own position in respect of the mission of adult education.

Adult Education and Critical Identity Development: From a Deficiency Orientation towards a Competency Orientation.

The translation of this paper has been made possible with the financial help of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences) In this paper the authors criticise the growing tendency to conceive of adult education as a qualification oriented field of practice. Especially with respect to disadvantaged groups in society this orientation could have a stigmatizing effect. Various agents of education consider them as deficient and hence describe their identity in negative terms. Contrary to this, the authors develop a more positive orientation towards identity development and outline a new understanding of adult education. Their approach is inspired by insights developed in an area of cultural studies.