Higher Order Thinking and Adult Learning

Merriam, S., Baumgartner, L. (2020). Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 9781119490487.

Chapter 16 Reflec ons on Learning in Adulthood

This book is tes mony to the fact that we know quite a lot about learning in adulthood. Each chapter speaks to some aspect of learning, whether it be the context, the learner, the process, or some combina on of these factors. In reviewing and reflec ng on all of this material, we arrived at our own understanding of learning in adulthood. This last chapter is our opportunity to ar culate what we ourselves have come to understand about this phenomenon.

Many who have wri en on the topic of adult learning have tried to delineate principles summarizing what has been learned from research or observed in prac ce that can be applied back to prac ce. Knowles's (1980) assump ons underlying andragogy, discussed in Chapter 5, are a good example of a set of principles about adult learners that has implica ons for prac ce. Others have advanced similar lists, o en with a dis nc ve orienta on. Smith (1982) dis nguishes the learning process from the learners. He presents six observa ons about learning, such as “learning is a personal and natural process” and “learning has its intui ve side” (p. 35), and notes four cri cal characteris cs of adult learners: a different orienta on to educa on and learning, an accumula on of experience, special developmental trends, and anxiety and ambivalence. In a popular version of this approach, Zemke and Zemke (1995), in an update of their 1981 ar cle, listed “thirty things we know for sure about adult learning” dividing these “thirty things” into the three categories of adult mo va on, curriculum design, and classroom prac ce. MacKeracher (2004), who makes sense of adult learning through looking at the complex interac on of cogni ve, affec ve, physical, social, and spiritual aspects of learning, offers prac cal advice to both learners and facilitators for enhancing the learning ac vity. Learners, for example, should trust the process, be willing to take risks, and be “fully open to new ideas and experiences” (p. 180). Instructors should be reflec ve, passionate, responsive, provide a safe and suppor ve environment and “keep in mind that you are a model for learners whether you want to be or not” (p. 181).

Several recent publica ons reflect the orienta on of the authors. For example, Illeris (2017) presents a broad, founda onal view of learning, situa ng learning in today's late modern compe ve society wherein “learning has now become a crucial parameter for economic growth and global compe on” (p. 20). Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2017) focus on mo va on— what mo vates adults to learn, how aging and culture affect mo va on, and how instructors can embed mo va onal strategies into instruc onal designs. Brocke 's (2015) book is a very prac cal, hands-on guide for new teachers of adults. Wri ng from a cri cal theory perspec ve, Brookfield (2005) iden fied a “series of learning tasks” that are central to becoming cri cal learners beginning with “learning to recognize and challenge ideology that a empts to portray

the exploita on of the many by the few as a natural state of affairs” (p. 39). In a later wri ng (2012b), Brookfield offers a four-step process of moving from cri que to ac on that includes hun ng assump ons, that is, iden fying just what you believe, followed by checking assump ons for their accuracy. The third step is to see things from different viewpoints followed by the fourth step of taking informed ac on.

We considered doing a meta-analysis of the principles, concepts, and characteris cs found in these sources as well as those delineated elsewhere in this book and in some of our own work. That undertaking, however, would probably have resulted in another set of principles that would not truly capture what we have come to understand about learning in adulthood. Furthermore, there is some ques on in our minds as to the usefulness of any one set of principles for guiding either research or prac ce. If, as we have tried to bring out in previous chapters, learning in adulthood is embedded in its context, a single set of principles is not likely to hold true for the wide-ranging diversity of learners and learning situa ons.

What we have done, therefore, is to step back and think about how learning in adulthood can be dis nguished from learning in childhood. This was, a er all, the ques on that s mulated much of the research, wri ng, and debate in the field's early efforts to differen ate itself from other subfields of educa on. Our answer, in essence a summary of the book, is that learning in adulthood can be dis nguished from childhood in terms of the learner, the context, and to some extent, the learning process. Furthermore, it is not just that differences can be seen in these areas. Equally important, the configura on of learner, context, and process together makes learning in adulthood dis nctly different from learning in childhood. In this chapter we first explore these differences and then discuss how well our understanding of the phenomenon is addressed by theory and prac ce. Finally, we speculate on the next steps in furthering our understanding of adult learning.

The Learner

The focus on the individual learner, grounded primarily in the psychological paradigm, drove research and prac ce in adult learning un l the 1990s. Historically, the field of adult educa on has struggled with determining what defines an “adult learner” and thus who is able to be a par cipant in adult educa on ac vi es. Is it age, social role, being self-sufficient? What about young school dropouts? Incarcerated adults? Various sociocultural differences as to when one is considered an adult? Physically or mentally impaired adults? Perhaps one of the more inclusive defini ons of an adult learner is suggested by Merriam and Brocke as “learning among those whose age, social roles or self-percep on, define them as adults” (2007, p. 8). Representa ve lines of inquiry from this perspec ve include the ways we have tradi onally framed the life

experiences of individual learners, the linking of the psychological frame of development to learning, much of our research on mo va on and par cipa on, the informa on processing framework of cogni on and memory, and the neurobiology of learning.

The compara vely richer life experiences of individual adults have been cited by nearly all writers as a key factor in differen a ng adult learning from child learning. As Kidd (1973) wrote nearly 50 years ago, “Adults have more experiences, adults have different kinds of experiences, and adult experiences are organized differently.” It is these experiences that set adults “off from the world of children” (p. 46). If accumulated life experiences dis nguish children from adults, they also differen ate one adult from another. A group of 60-year-olds will have less in common than a group of 20-year-olds.

Experience is an assump on “that can arguably lay claim to be viewed as a ‘given’ in the literature of adult learning” (Brookfield, 1986, p. 98) and is a key instruc onal resource in teaching adults (Brookfield, 2015). Knowles (1980, p. 44) conceives of it in terms of a “growing reservoir of experience” that func ons as “a rich resource for learning.” It also establishes a person's self-iden ty: “Adults derive their self-iden ty from their experience. They define who they are in terms of the accumula on of their unique sets of experiences.” And “because adults define themselves largely by their experience, they have a deep investment in its value” (p. 50).

Experience, however, can be quite varied as Fenwick (2003, p. 13) points out, including the following:

Direct embodied experience, an immediate encounter in the here-and-now, planned or unplanned, involving us physically, emo onally, sensually, mentally, and perhaps spiritually; … vicarious experience [in which we] … imagine ourselves immersed in the encounter. We some mes are exposed to simulated experience, a direct experience planned to be like something real…. We can experience through reliving a past encounter…. There is also collabora ve experience, joining others in a shared community of experience whose meaning is construc ve together amid conversa on and joint ac on…. [Finally], introspec ve experience, such as media on or dreaming, or reading, are powerful forms of experience occurring in a special psychic space…. All of these dimensions suggest different ways to understand whatever is construed to be learning in each context.

Whatever the type of experience, it func ons in several ways that are par cular to adult learning. First, as Knowles observed, adult learners themselves become important resources for learning. Adults can call on their experiences in the formula on of learning ac vi es, as well as serve as resources for others in a learning event. Second, the need to make sense out of one's life experiences is o en an incen ve for engaging in a learning ac vity in the first place. As Illeris (2017) states, “In adulthood, learning is fundamentally selec ve—it is not possible to learn

everything—and there exist par cular various life projects and life orienta ons, for example, concerning work, family and interests, which control the learning” (p. 201). Third, the actual engagement of past experiences with learning is somewhat different for adults than for children. An adult's major use of experience in learning is on reintegra ng or transforming meanings and values, whereas children tend to use their experiences in accumula ng new knowledge and skills. As Mezirow (2000, p. 5) points out, “[L]earning is understood as the process of using a prior interpreta on to construe a new or revised interpreta on of the meaning of one's experience as a guide to future ac on.” Finally, it should be noted that an adult's past experiences can become obstacles to new learning. Some may have to unlearn nega ve a tudes toward learning, old ways of doing things, prejudicial views, and so on.

The arena of development from a psychological perspec ve is another way in which adults are differen ated from children. Although it is true that both adults and children are involved in developmental processes, the nature of the processes is qualita vely different. This difference can be clearly illustrated with Havighurst's (1972) developmental tasks for different life stages. From infancy through adolescence, the tasks reflect physical matura on (learning to walk, ge ng ready to read) or preparatory ac vi es needed for future adult roles. Beginning with the tasks of young adulthood, there is a shi to func oning well as an adult—bringing up young children, managing a home, achieving adult civic and social responsibili es, and so on. Erikson's (1963) life stages also reflect a shi from childhood dependence to adult-oriented dilemmas. In the first five stages of infancy through adolescence, the child deals with establishing trust, autonomy, ini a ve, industry, and iden ty. Adults struggle with in macy, genera vity, and integrity, characteris cs manifested in adult roles of spouse, parent, worker, and ci zen. In at least one developmental theory, the no ons of adult experience and development converge. Part of Kohlberg's (1973) theory of moral development s pulates that one cannot a ain the higher stages of development un l one has experienced irrevocable moral decision making. Fowler (1981), whose stages of faith build on Kohlberg's idea, also maintains that later stages cannot be a ained un l adult life. Even some models of cogni ve change and development assume an accumula on of experience with age. As Cranton (2016) concludes about transforma ve learning experiences, although it is more appealing to emphasize the drama c…from the perspec ve of the person experiencing transforma on, it is more o en a gradual accumula on of ordinary experiences that leads to a deep shi in thinking, a shi that may become clear only when it is over. (p. 30)

Mezirow (1991, p. 193) also asserts that “transforma ons likely to produce developmentally advanced meaning perspec ves usually appear to occur a er the age of thirty,” whereas Kegan (1994) alleges that most people do not even enter the highest levels of consciousness un l their for es.

In addi on to a sequen al stage-phase view of development, life events and transi ons differen ate adult learning from child learning. Many of the life events and transi ons that adults face are unique to adulthood and require adjustments—adjustments o en made through some systema c learning ac vity. It is these transi ons and life events that are likely to result in significant, meaningful learning (Ecclestone, Biesta, & Hughes, 2010; Merriam & Clark, 2006). They are also what mo vate many adults to seek out learning. Aslanian and Brickell (1980), for example, found that 83% of adult learners in their study were involved in learning to cope with a transi on. The transi ons were primarily career related (56%), followed by family life transi ons (35%). “To know an adult's life schedule,” they concluded, “is to know an adult's learning schedule” (pp. 60–61).

There is li le doubt that there is a strong link between the mo va on to par cipate in a learning ac vity and an adult's life experiences and developmental issues. From studies of par cipa on and mo va on that document that adult roles, especially that of worker, are prime mo vators for learning, to Mezirow's (1991) process of perspec ve transforma on that is precipitated by a “disorien ng dilemma”—that is, one's familiar pa erns of coping with life events prove ineffec ve—learning in adulthood is a func on of social roles and developmental issues.

Research on human memory and how the brain func ons also has the learner center stage in understanding learning. From these perspec ves learning has been conceived as something that primarily occurs inside the heads of individual learners. Through studying memory, we con nue to try to decipher how adults receive, store, transform, and retrieve informa on and how these processes are affected as we age. We have even tried to see if we could improve these processes through formal learning ac vi es, and more recently, by using various forms of pharmaceu cal interven ons. One of the most intriguing knowledge bases on which to draw about learning in adulthood in the last few years is neurobiological (see Chapter 15). By discovering more about how the brain actually func ons, we have a be er chance of unlocking lifelong learning disabili es and such crippling diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, which can render adults incapable of learning even at a rudimentary level. There is a great deal of poten al to enhance what we know about individual learners, especially when we merge the ideas from the cogni ve and neurobiological sciences.

In addi on to what is happening in the mind of an adult learner, there is a burgeoning literature looking at learning as an embodied, emo onal, and perhaps spiritual occurrence (see Chapter 9). Although this research and wri ng s ll focus on the individual learner, it is at the same me expanding our understanding of learning beyond an informa on processing, cogni ve ac vity.

Just being an adult is thus a crucial factor in dis nguishing between learning in adulthood and learning in childhood. The accumula on of experience, the nature of that experience, the

developmental issues adults address, how the no ons of development and experience relate to learning, and how aging affects our memory and the more general neurological basis for learning—all of these differen ate adult learners from children.

The Context

Historically, adult educators in social ac on and community-based learning programs have taken the context into account in their work. From Jane Addams's Hull House immigrant programs to Highlander's Research and Educa on Center's involvement in labor movements, civil rights, and environmental ac on, the adult learner was seen as affected by, and having an effect on, his or her social context. However, it was not un l the 1980s or so that context received more systema c a en on in the literature on adult learning, due in part to a heightened interest in cri cal and feminist theory. There are at least two ways to think about context in this more recent work. The first is the no on that learning is a product of the individual interac ng with the context. Recent theories of situated cogni on, reflec ve prac ce, and cogni ve development are representa ve of this interac ve view. A second way to view the importance of context in learning is to consider how the structures and ins tu ons of society affect learning. These structural dimensions include factors such as race, class, gender, cultural diversity, and power and oppression.

The interac ve dimension of the context acknowledges that an adult's life situa on is quite different from that of a child. A child's life situa on is usually characterized by dependency on others for his or her well-being. The majority of adults, in contrast, are adults because they have assumed responsibility for managing their own lives. As Paterson (1979, p. 10) reminds us, To say that someone is an adult is to say that he [sic] is en tled, for example, to a wide-ranging freedom of life-style and to a full par cipa on in the making of social decisions; and it is also to say that he is obliged, among other things, to be mindful of his own deepest interests and to carry a full share of the burdens involved in conduc ng society and transmi ng its benefits. His adulthood consists in his full employment of such rights and his full subjec on to such responsibili es.

The taking on of social roles characteris c of adulthood—roles such as worker, spouse or partner, vo ng ci zen, and parent—differen ates adults from children be er than chronological age does.

This difference in the social posi on of adults and children is reflected in contextual differences in their lives and their learning. A child's life is bounded by home and school, whereas an adult's life situa on is defined primarily by work, family, and community. Through home and school, children learn to be adults; going to school is a full- me job. Theore cally at least, both home and school are sites where young people learn how to func on as adults. The curriculum in

both se ngs is determined primarily by others who decide what is important to know in order to become responsible members of society. Educa on, even undergraduate educa on for tradi onal-age students, is basically preparatory—young people are “prepared” for the world of work.

Adults, in contrast, typically add the role of learner to other full- me roles and responsibili es. The learning that adults do arises from the context of their lives, which is in mately ed to the sociocultural se ng in which they live. Learning cannot be separated from “the social context within which it occurs. We are encapsulated by our culture” (Jarvis, 2018, p. 21). As Jarvis (1992, p. 11) has observed: “Learning … is about the con nuing process of making sense of everyday experience.” Jarvis also draws a connec on between mo va on and context: “The reason for par cipa on does not always lie within the learner but in the dynamic tension that exists between the learner and [the] socio-cultural world” (1983, p. 67). The poten al for learning occurs “at the intersec on of us and our world” (Jarvis, 2006, p. 10). For example, an assembly- line worker whose job has been outsourced or performed by a computer will need to retrain for other employment; nurses will need to keep up with changes in the health care system and ways in which technological innova ons are impac ng their everyday prac ce. Zoning and tax laws, waste disposal management, climate change, and so on that affect ci zens' lives in communi es also lead to new learning. As Illeris (2017) summarizes,

All learning is situated, i.e. it takes place in a certain context of a social and societal nature which, through interac on with the learner(s) becomes an integrated part of the learning. In this way the learning comes to reflect the social and societal condi ons for possibili es. (p. 115)

Thus learning in adulthood is characterized by an interac on between the adult and his or her lifeworld and the du es and responsibili es inherent in the adult roles of worker, spouse, partner, parent, and ci zen.

The differences in context between the lives of children and adults and how these differences influence learning are highlighted in an o en-cited ar cle by Resnick (1987) contras ng learning in school and outside school. She writes that “school is a special place and me for people— discon nuous in some important ways with daily life and work” (p. 13). There are several ways that school learning differs from other (mostly adult) learning. First, in school, individual cogni on has, un l recently, been primarily rewarded, whereas outside school shared cogni on is the norm. In school a student succeeds or fails at a task independently of what other students do…. In contrast, much ac vity outside school is socially shared. Work, personal life, and recrea on take place within social systems, and each person's ability to func on successfully depends on what others do and how several individuals' mental and physical performances mesh. (p. 13) Second, “school is an ins tu on that values thought that proceeds independently, without aid of physical and cogni ve tools,” at least in tes ng situa ons (p. 13). In the real

world, people use all sorts of tools on a regular basis, such as books, notes, signs, and computers, to solve problems and func on more effec vely. Resnick notes that it is the use of tools that allows “people of limited educa on to par cipate in cogni vely complex ac vity systems” and cites Brazilian black market bookies' use of prepared probability tables for func oning in a demanding mathema cal system (p. 14). In our own society, personnel in fast- food restaurants ring up orders on a computer where the food items are keyed by picture and word; automa c teller machines (ATMs) and apps have replaced bank tellers and personnel.

Resnick states that too o en school learning is decontextualized, resul ng in li le transfer between school and real-world reasoning. Finally, generalized learning occurs in school, but situa on-specific competencies are needed out of school: “Schools aim to teach general, widely usable skills and theore cal principles…. Yet to be truly skillful outside school, people must develop situa on-specific forms of competence” (p. 15). What people in all se ngs (including, Resnick also points out, adult technical training, management, and con nuing professional educa on) need to learn is “to be good adap ve learners, so that they can perform effec vely when situa ons are unpredictable and task demands change” (p. 18). Resnick's analysis underscores the contextual differences between learning in childhood and in adulthood and acknowledges the importance of the more recent work on situated cogni on and reflec ve prac ce (see Chapter 8).

In delinea ng differences between children and adults regarding the context, we note that these differences have ramifica ons with regard to social and ethical issues. Because children's educa on is preparatory, for example, they are expected to learn certain social and moral values as well as specific bodies of knowledge. Adult educa on struggles with issues of provision and access to learning opportuni es, perhaps because adult educa on is primarily a voluntary ac vity, whereas schooling for children is compulsory. Similarly, the ethical issues involved in adult learning differ somewhat in that an adult's learning is o en in mately ed to his or her life situa on and status as an adult. Ques ons thus arise regarding agency and responsibility in the learning ac vity, as well as the outcomes of that interac on. Daloz's (1988) now famous ar cle tled “The Story of Gladys Who Refused to Grow: A Morality Tale for Mentors” explores this very issue of how much adult educators should “push” the development of their adult students.

The context, then, in which adult learning takes place generally differs from the context of most childhood learning. Moreover, every adult learning situa on differs from every other situa on, whether the learning is done in a formal or nonformal se ng or on one's own. Certainly informal learning contexts, including social ac on and community-based learning, are where much of adult learning takes place. Although these contexts vary from individual to individual, they all hold the poten al for learning and in fact organize our learning. We need only see them

as sites for learning. In a deligh ul and insigh ul book on the integra on of learning and living, Bateson (1994, p. 9) writes, When the necessary tasks of learning cannot be completed in a por on of the life cycle set aside for them, they have to join life's other tasks and be done concurrently. We can carry on the process of learning in everything we do, like a mother balancing her child on her hip as she goes about her work with the other hand or uses it to open the doors of the unknown. Living and learning, we become ambidextrous.

At another point, she comments on the unfortunate tendency of our society to compartmentalize:

If only for tax purposes, we are forced to label ac vi es as work, or play, or learning, or therapy, or exercise, or stress reduc on, missing the seriousness of play, the delight of good work, the healing that happens in the classroom. For adults, learning is rarely the only ac vity going on…. By emphasizing a single thread of ac vity, we devalue the learning running throughout. (p. 108)

The importance of context is not just that it is interac ve with one's learning. There are structural dimensions to our social context, o en unseen and unacknowledged, that subtly affect learning. This aspect of context recognizes that our society has become highly mul cultural and diverse, and that poli cal and economic condi ons o en shape the learning experience. It is no longer a ques on of whether in adult learning situa ons we need to address issues of race, class, gender, culture, ethnicity, and sexual orienta on but rather a ques on of how we should deal with these issues, the power dynamics involved, and so on. We are beginning to recognize that it is important to know the backgrounds and experiences of our learners not only as individual learners but also as members of social and culturally constructed groups such as women and men; poor, middle class, and rich; Black, White, and Brown. Indeed, culture, the deeply learned mix of language, beliefs, values, and behaviors that pervades every aspect of our lives, significantly influences our mo va on. What we learn within our cultural groups shapes the physical networks and systems throughout our brains to make us unique individuals and culturally diverse people. (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 2017, p. 2)

These socially constructed no ons of who our learners are and who we are as educators and the subsequent power dynamics should be given the same a en on in teaching and learning, planning, and administra ve func ons as the “technology” (that is, program design, instruc onal strategies) of our prac ce. (See Alfred, 2010, Hansman & Sissel, 2001, Lund & Colin, 2010, Nanton, 2016, and St. Clair & Sandlin, 2004, for discussions of sociocultural and poli cal contexts and their impact on adult learning.)

Further, exposure to other groups of people and cultures has been greatly expanded through travel, par cipa on in the global marketplace, and the technological wonders of the digital age. These changes afford all adults’ opportuni es to learn from others and to expand their

worldviews. Bateson (1994, p. 17) explains how this kind of exposure can lead to learning: “Each person is calibrated by experience, almost like a measuring instrument for difference, so discomfort [in encountering difference] is informa ve and offers a star ng point for new understanding.” She goes on to say that “it is contrast that makes learning possible” (p. 27). The inclusion in this edi on of Learning in Adulthood of a chapter on Eastern and indigenous perspec ves on learning and knowing acknowledges the growing influence of other epistemological systems on our understanding of adult learning.

The Learning Process

Of the three areas of learner, context, and process, in the learning process there are fewer drama c differences between adults and children. Houle (1972), one of the field's most respected adult educators, maintained that the process of learning is fundamentally the same for adults and children. Research, however, has uncovered some differences—differences that when linked with context and learner help dis nguish adult learning from child learning.

Two process factors in par cular—speed and meaningfulness—have been shown to affect adult learning. Speed refers to the me a person has to examine a problem or respond to a situa on. An adult's ability to respond slows with age, and me limits and pressures have a nega ve effect on learning performance. With regard to meaningfulness, perhaps because an adult's learning is so closely ed to his or her life situa on, adults are not inclined to engage in learning unless it is meaningful. Adults are thus likely to do poorly on recall of nonsense syllables, for example, compared with younger learners, who are more condi oned by school experiences to learn material that may not be immediately relevant. Linked to the meaningfulness of material is the variable of mo va on. MacKeracher (1996, p. 80) defines mo ves as the needs that learners feel when star ng a learning ac vity. They may relate to unmet needs or unwanted condi ons in life and to the pursuit of posi ve growth toward desired goals. As learners proceed toward mee ng unmet needs, resolving unwanted condi ons, or reaching desired goals, mo ves for learning tend to change in rela on to any feelings and experiences of success/failure and sa sfac on/dissa sfac on.

In summarizing the literature on mo va on, MacKeracher observes that “the tendencies which are labeled ‘mo ves’ arise from within the learner. Despite encouragement from some writers to ‘mo vate learners,’ facilitators cannot do this directly” (p. 79). Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2017) concur, sta ng that when adults can see that what they are learning makes sense and is important according to their values and perspec ve, their mo va on emerges. Such circumstances elicit intrinsic mo va on and probably facilitate a mind-body state conducive to learning. Intrinsic mo va on is evoked. (p. 16)

In addi on, there are other age-related factors that may affect learning in adulthood. Adults are more likely than children to have health problems. Fa gue, medica on, interference from previous learning, environmental condi ons, and so on certainly affect new learning. Acquisi on of informa on may become more difficult, because the rate at which working memory processes informa on seems to slow with age. The point to be made here is that the nature of the learning process of an adult is likely to be different from a child's because of the greater incidence of these occurrences and the greater impact of these factors on older learners.

By linking an adult's greater experien al base to learning, a case can be made that cogni ve func oning in adulthood may also be qualita vely different from childhood. Recognizing that the prior accumula on of knowledge is crucial to the integra on of new learning, and that adults have accumulated more knowledge than children, by extension, learning poten al, at least in some areas, would naturally increase with age. Research on fluid and crystallized intelligence bears this generaliza on out (see Chapter 14). Other scholars, especially those wri ng from a transforma onal learning perspec ve, do not focus so much on the accumula on of knowledge as on the transforma on of experience as a characteris c of adult learning.

Finally, it should be noted that those who posit stages of cogni ve development in adulthood that are different from those unfolding in childhood contribute to our understanding of how the learning process may be different for adults. Kegan (1994), for example, proposes a level of consciousness model in which dialec cal thinking becomes the hallmark, or highest level, of mature adult thinking. Framed from the assump on that our postmodern world necessitates this form of thinking in order to respond effec vely to the demands of adult life, Kegan asserts that adults rarely expand their thinking to this level un l in their for es or fi ies. As Kegan observes, “I suggest that we are gradually seeing more adults working on a qualita vely different order of consciousness than did adults one hundred years ago because we live twenty or more years longer than we used to” (p. 352).

The Configura on of Learner, Context, and Process

We believe that learning in adulthood can be dis nguished from childhood learning by the way in which learner, context, and some aspects of the learning process blend in adulthood. The configura on looks different than it does in childhood. In our discussion of each component, we noted how adults are different from children, how the context of adult learning is different from the context of child learning, and how certain features of the learning process are unique to adults. Although we have a empted to discuss these components separately, our discussion reflects their natural interac on. An adult's life experiences, for example, are a func on of the sociocultural environment and the learner's personality. We can think about this interac on with regard to an adult's work experiences. As everyone is aware, the context of work has

changed drama cally with the emergence of a global marketplace, advances in technology, and the shi from an industrial to a service and knowledge-based economy. Some adults are training for jobs that did not exist 5 years ago, many are changing jobs o en, and a growing number are experimen ng with alterna ve job structures, such as consul ng, telecommu ng, and job sharing. Previous experiences as well as one's personality will determine how these changes are accommodated, which in turn affects both one's self-concept as a worker and no ons of career development.

With regard to the context of adult learning, we would be remiss to not acknowledge the learning demands of our digitalized world. As King (2017) points out, “this constant need to master new learning is a source of great frustra on and limita on for people who do not have adequate skills to do so” (p. 239). Further,

Beyond job searching, shopping and entertainment are other frequent daily adult experiences that con nue to require more technology skills. These skills span a wide range of technology sophis ca on. In the digital age, adults need to be comfortable learning new technology from purchasing products online to configuring their new GPS; streaming music to their cell phone; configuring the SMART TV, sound system, cable receiver, and gaming system; and searching online for manuals to fix lawn mowers, dishwashers, and washing machines….In addi on to the changing types of skills needed, learning complexity con nues to increase in the digital age. (p. 240)

King (2017) iden fies several “types” of learning needed for such a fast-changing world. Learners need to be flexible “to adapt to changing condi ons” (p. 241), independent, yet collabora ve, interdisciplinary in orienta on, and crea ve because “people in the digital age must be imagina ve in the ways they approach learning and develop solu ons” (p. 242).

How an adult processes informa on from the sociocultural context, and even what an adult a ends to in the environment, is also wrapped up with the developmental concerns of the moment. A parent of teenagers, for example, is much more likely to no ce and perhaps a end a workshop on teenagers and drugs than someone not involved with that age group. And the state of the economy is likely to be of great interest to someone nearing re rement, who might then design a learning project on adap ng to changes in income. In both examples, the sociocultural context, the accumulated life experiences, developmental concerns, and presumably the nature of ensuing learning experiences converge to make learning in adulthood qualita vely different from learning in childhood.

In summarizing the material on learning in adulthood, we also asked ourselves to what extent theory and prac ce might reflect this integrated perspec ve of adult learning. The work on self- directed learning or par cipa on, for example, by defini on focuses on a par cular aspect of

the phenomenon. The self-directed learning frameworks emphasize the process, and to a lesser extent, the context and the learner. Similarly, the research on par cipa on does not deal with the learning process per se; rather, the context and the learner are the most important variables.

Some theories or models of adult learning focus on adult characteris cs (for example, Knowles, 1980), some emphasize an adult's life situa on (for example, McClusky, 1970), and others center on changes in consciousness (for example, Freire, 1970; Mezirow, 2000). These three emphases can be loosely equated with the adult, the context, and the learning process. Knowles's (1980) s ll-popular no on of andragogy is almost en rely focused on how the adult learner is different from a preadult learner. McClusky (1970) a ends to the adult's life situa on and social context from which the need or mo va on to learn arises.

For both Freire (1970) and Mezirow (2000) learning in adulthood is a transforma ve rather than an addi ve process. It requires the ability to reflect cri cally on one's thoughts and assump ons—a par cularly adult skill. Both theories also account for adult characteris cs, and in par cular, life experiences and developmental concerns unique to adulthood. And in both theories the sociocultural context is a cri cal component. It is in the sociocultural context that adults have experiences that must be processed. The two differ, however, in the no on of being emancipated through this learning process. Mezirow, although not discoun ng social change as an outcome of perspec ve transforma on, emphasizes personal psychological change. And although Mezirow's theory of perspec ve transforma on perhaps comes closest to taking into account our no ons of context, learner, and process, there are s ll some ques ons as to just how comprehensive his theory is. Is the process he outlines unique to adulthood? What about adults who do not reflect cri cally? Can transforma ons occur through other mechanisms? His theory seems most appropriate for informal, self-directed learning situa ons, although several have sought applica on in more ins tu onally based se ngs (Cranton, 1996, 1997; Mezirow & Associates, 1990, 2000; Taylor & Cranton, 2012; Taylor, Marienau, & Fiddler, 2000).

For Freire, in contrast, being emancipated from false consciousness requires poli cal ac on aimed at changing society. Cri cal theory and feminist pedagogy share with Freire their emphases on emancipa on and empowerment. Further, both of these orienta ons begin with the sociopoli cal context of people's lives. Cri cal theory a ends to socioeconomic class as the major variable crea ng inequi es and oppression, whereas feminists look to gender as well as the intersec on of race, class, and gender. Both perspec ves call for adults to reflect cri cally on power and oppression and engage with other like-minded adults in a radical restructuring of society.

How well does prac ce account for the uniqueness of adult learning? This ques on is difficult to answer without looking at a specific learning situa on. Furthermore, it is basically a ques on of

the rela onship between theory and prac ce. To what extent is the knowledge that we have accumulated about adult learning—knowledge reviewed in this book—reflec ve of what actually happens in prac ce? Moreover, to what extent is the knowledge that we do have derived from prac ce, and to what extent does it inform our prac ce? Cervero (1991) has delineated four posi ons rela ve to the interac on between knowledge and prac ce, each of which can be applied to adult learning. His framework allows us to see how the knowledge presented in this book and prac ce are related.

The first posi on posits that the prac ce of adult learning has been carried out without reference to what is known about how adults learn. This posi on in fact characterizes much of adult learning, because only a small percentage of teachers, administrators, program developers, and others have had any formal training in adult educa on. From this posi on, those working with adult learners rely on common sense and trial-and-error learning, a less formal but certainly no less valuable source of guidance for prac ce.

The second posi on is that a systema cally collected knowledge base illuminates prac ce. It is thought that if this knowledge is disseminated through professional prepara on, in-service staff development, and so on, prac ce will be strengthened. Lists of principles and guidelines, for example, such as those reviewed at the beginning of the chapter, are o en disseminated through workshops and in-house publica ons, ostensibly to improve one's prac ce in adult learning. There are also numerous publica ons that a empt to show how knowledge about context, learner, and process could be put into prac ce. Andragogy in Ac on (Knowles & Associates, 1984), for example, presents 36 case studies of how characteris cs of adult learners can be incorporated into the planning of learning ac vi es in se ngs ranging from business and government to universi es and volunteer organiza ons. In other publica ons, authors show how adult life experiences and adult developmental theory can form the basis for programs and support services for learners in higher educa on. Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (2017) present 60 instruc onal strategies to elicit and encourage an adult learner's mo va on. King (2017) in Technology and Innova on in Adult Learning offers prac cal sugges ons and ac vi es on how to integrate technology into adult learning and teaching. Finally, Cranton's Understanding and Promo ng Transforma ve Learning (2016), Mezirow, Taylor, and Associates' Transforma ve Learning in Prac ce (2009), and Mezirow and Associates' Fostering Cri cal Reflec on in Adulthood (1990) and Learning as Transforma on (2000) review exemplary programs and suggest methods “for precipita ng and fostering transforma ve learning in the context of the classroom, in special workshops, in informal group se ngs, in collec ve social ac on, in counseling sessions, and in the workplace” (Mezirow & Associates, 1990, p. xv).

The third posi on on the rela onship between knowledge and prac ce is that educators operate intui vely with an understanding of adult learning whether or not that knowledge is

ar culated. This theory-in-prac ce posi on holds that “prac oners actually do operate on the basis of theories and knowledge” and that “theory can be derived from prac ce by systema cally ar cula ng the subjec ve meaning structures that influence the ways that real individuals act in concrete situa ons” (Cervero, 1991, pp. 26–27). This no on has been inves gated with regard to professional prac ce (Schön, 1987, 1991, 1996) and is promoted in adult educa on, especially in the work of Cervero and Wilson (1994, 2005). With regard to the learning situa on and other aspects of adult educa on, the central task of this approach is to “describe educa onal prac ce and help prac oners become more reflec ve about their own individual ac ons” (Cervero, 1991, p. 29). The orienta on of our book—in par cular, our a ending to context and exploring social issues—reflects the cri cal stance toward prac ce inherent in this posi on.

The fourth posi on on theory and prac ce is that they are indivisible. Here the focus is on “what counts as knowledge and how, where, and by whom this knowledge is produced” (Cervero, 1991, p. 31). Understanding the produc on of knowledge is emancipa ng. This perspec ve is best illustrated by cri cal theory, postmodernism, and feminist theore cal assump ons about knowledge and learning. More than the first three posi ons, this perspec ve—that theory and prac ce are indivisible—takes into account the poli cal, economic, and sociocultural context in which learning occurs. Examples of adult educa on prac ce from this perspec ve are community-based literacy programs, feminist pedagogy, cri cal pedagogy, popular educa on programs and movements, and par cipatory research ac vi es (Aldridge, 2015; Merriam, 1991). Par cipatory research “has faith in people's ability to produce their own knowledge through collec ve inves ga on of problems and issues, collec ve analysis of the problems, and collec ve ac on to change the condi ons that gave rise to the problems in the first place” (Gaventa, 1988, p. 19). This method of producing knowledge, indeed this perspec ve on the rela onship between theory and prac ce, makes space for alterna ve knowledge systems that have been excluded from the “official” body of knowledge. Although we recognize that, for the most part, the material presented in this book is representa ve of “official” knowledge, we hope that some of the less mainstream informa on that we have included will s mulate further research to make such unconven onal knowledge more visible.

Some Concluding Thoughts

In this final chapter, we have ar culated our understanding of learning in adulthood and assessed how well learner, context, and process as a unique configura on in adulthood are reflected in theory and in prac ce. We conclude with some observa ons and sugges ons. First, we think the field has developed a significant knowledge base about learning in adulthood, much of it fairly recent. We are op mis c that learning in adulthood will con nue to interest researchers and educators and that we will know quite a bit more within the next several years. Second, the nature of contribu ons in this area is changing. Adult educators are moving from descrip on to theory building and looking at adult learning more holis cally, as a ested to by our two chapters in par cular: “Embodied, Spiritual, and Narra ve Learning” and “Learning and Knowing: Eastern and Indigenous Perspec ves.” The field is also considering the sociocultural context in which learning takes place, how race, class, gender, able-bodiedness, sexual orienta on, and so on affect learning, thus shi ing from a primarily psychological orienta on to a broader contextual view. We are indeed more cognizant of the social issues and dilemmas involved in the provision and prac ce of adult learning. And we are examining no ons about how knowledge about adult learning itself is produced and legi mized.

We are hopeful that learners themselves will be a great source of our understanding of learning in adulthood. In fact, we suggest that future research in adult learning be collabora vely designed with adults who are learning on their own or in informal ways, as well as with par cipants in formal and nonformal learning ac vi es. Focusing on adults would counter some of the research on the learning process itself, which more o en than not employs nonadults or select popula ons such as college students. We also suggest that research that takes into account the sociocultural and poli cal context of adult learning might well advance our understanding of the problems of access and opportunity that con nue to trouble the field. Although this book has drawn from a voluminous literature base, we s ll feel there is much to be learned about learning in adulthood. We hope that readers will be inspired to think about their prac ce with adult learners and contribute in some way to our further understanding of this very complex phenomenon.

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