Theorising adults, theorising learning

Hodge, Steven; Knight, Lizzie; Milana, Marcella; Waller, Richard; Webb, Sue

Abstract

The irony of all theorising is its propensity to generate, not an understanding, but a not-yet-understood. (Oakshot, in Muller, 2015, p. 1)

Adult learning theory is one of the central domains of lifelong education research. Anyone coming to the study of adults as they adapt to and change in life, work and education will encounter theories such as ‘behaviourism’, ‘cognitive psychology’, and ‘humanist psychology’, often expanded to include adult-oriented variants considered under headings like ‘andragogy’ and ‘transformative learning’ (Illeris, 2018). Students of adult learning theory will also find that ‘context’ has been recognised as a key factor for understanding this kind of learning, with critical and situated accounts highlighting that learning is not a purely personal event but is something that in an important sense goes beyond the individual adult (Merriam, 2015).

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 1, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 20, 2022
• Publication Date: Sep 3, 2022
• Deposit Date: Nov 17, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2024
• Journal: International Journal of Lifelong Education
• Print ISSN: 0260-1370
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-519X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 4-5
• Pages: 399-404
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2022.2116792
• Keywords: Life-span and Life-course Studies, Education
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10121771
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02601370.2022.2116792