Browsing by Subject "Critical Theory"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    Adult Learning Following Job Loss in Mid-Career Workers
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult Continuing, and Community Education, 2004) Benway, Robert F.
    Critical theory, social constructivism and transformative learning were used to examine how and in what ways mid-career workers who experience job loss learn how to acquire new passion forlife through their work. Findings of this study were that participants who lost their jobs found new passion in life through work because they were able to construct their identities independent of the hegemonic influences of corporate managers. The implication of this study is that adult education can be used to help people redefine their self-concepts and social concepts, following job loss, and that both of these can lead to positive social change.
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    BRIDGING THE GAP IN ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION FROM MARGIN TO CENTER
    (2005-12-15T18:50:48Z) Ham Garth, Phyllis
    Poster Session-Much of the adult education graduate curricula fail to include both content and practice relative to the intersection of race, class, gender and sexual orientation. This research seeks to conduct a critical examination of the underlying assumptions and perspectives shaping adult education graduate curriculum content (selection) and instructional practice (delivery). This critique will proceed from an Africentric feminist approach. Africentric Feminism is an ancestrally historically based paradigm that reflects the lived experiences, struggles and shared history of women from the Afrikan Diaspora. An Africentric feminist approach is embedded in a consciousness that espouses the affirmation of all people, female and male alike. It is imperative that there is a shift from the dominant (traditional) approach to organizing content around the lived experiences/worldviews of those marginalized or non mainstream, bringing their experiences and “voice” from the margin to the center of the analysis. This research consisted of an analysis of a foundational graduate course in adult education, a course in the history and philosophy of adult education that was taught in a traditional manner utilizing a dominant approach, and one that was subsequently taught from an Africentric feminist paradigm. The incorporation of Africentric tools such as historically ethnic appropriate material, the philosophical perspectives of Africentric/Latina(o)/First Nation scholars, the voice of Afrikana womanists, the struggles of Queer Nation provide selfethnic reflectors (Colin,1994) for various marginalized groups. By doing so, it exemplified the lived experiences and “voice” of “others” resulting in a more inclusive process. Diversity in the course content provides space that enables changes in instructional practice as well: insisting that power relationships are diffused as much as possible, encouraging co-learning, establishing norms for encouraging women to speak out, precluding more assertive students from monopolizing their voice in the classroom. Thus, students are afforded an opportunity to have a different classroom experience because they are directly involved in the discourse and the content is their story. This type of experience leads to the potential for an emancipatory learning experience. It allows those in the margin to be located in the center, and to feel centered. Being centered is very close to feelings of power because it is related to identity, this is when education becomes exciting. Conversely, students of the dominant group who have taken privilege for granted can have the experience of deconstructing that privilege. This type of teaching is one that can become exhilarating for both adult educators and learners.
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    (DIS)EMPWERING PEDAGOGIES: REPRESSIVE TOLERANCE AND DEMOCRACY IN THE ADULT EDUCATION CLASSROOM
    (2005-10-13T19:41:15Z) Huber, Conni; Cale, Gary
    This paper argues that many of our cherished liberal and humanistic teaching practices may lead to the marginalization and even silencing of more progressive and inclusive oppositional voices and viewpoints.
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    Freire, Aristotle, Marx, And Sartre: A Critique Of The Human Condition
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Dale, John A.
    This paper examines some of the philosophical foundations that shaped Paulo Freire’s pedagogy. From a componential analysis of the literature, a dominant theme of “critique” emerged. From a philosophic perspective, critique implies the human capacity of rational thinking when humans are given the opportunity to reflect on their sociohistorical conditions. This achievement of telos leads to an escape from Marx’s concept of false consciousness into an existential perspective—that is, each person’s confrontation with choice. Ultimately, the paper argues the potential exists to employ Freireian pedagogy in practice if educators understand the philosophical narratives and assumptions on which his work is based.
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    Grounded Practice: Exploring Criticalities In A Job Re-Education Setting
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Boxler, Heather M.
    The author uses an interpretive ethnographic method to study criticality as a classroom phenomenon within a job-reeducation program. Two central ideas used include criticality as multiple, intertwined criticalities and the notion of working in spaces. Focusing on critical reflection and ideology critique, the author examines spaces in which criticality can be fostered, forms it might take, and pedagogies that reflected classroom practices. Finally, she discusses the challenges involved with working in an institution, ethics, and the strategic nature of teaching for criticality.
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    THE INVISIBLE PEOPLE: DISABILITY, DIVERSITY, AND ISSUES OF POWER IN ADULT EDUCATION
    (2005-10-14T19:07:52Z) Rocco, Tonette
    This essay explores the location of disability in adult education by critiquing the research on power, privilege, and diversity through a critical disability theory lens. The essay includes a definition of critical disability theory, a discussion of power, privilege, and diversity in adult education, followed by an examination of three issues: function, minority group status, and language, voice and visibility. Persons with disabilities are marginalized, the intent of reasonable accommodation is misunderstood, and the existence of the minority group—people with disabilities—in adult education is barely acknowledged. Disability is often forgotten, overlooked, or dismissed by adult education as too special a category (Berube, 1998). And yet a simple car accident can make any of us a person with a disability. As we live longer, it becomes increasingly likely that we may experience disability becoming a member of this minority group. Disability rights activists refer to this phenomenon as temporarily able-bodied (TAB). The term TAB “breaks down the separateness of ‘us’ and ‘them’” (Zola, 1993, p. 171) emphasizing instead a continuum of experience. Disability is a fluid concept subject to methodological bias, the distortion of cultural bias, and a specific context. “Disability identification is a judgment on the human condition, and its statistical summary represents more than a simple enumeration of those who are disabled and those who are not” (Fujiura & Rutkowski-Kmitta, 2001, p. 69). At what point does a physical anomaly become a disability and who decides--the individual or society--when one is a person with a disability and a member of that particular minority group? Due to medical advances, there are growing numbers of the “well” disabled who are demanding access to opportunities for education and training, work, and leisure. A person with a chronic or degenerative condition may still have the capacity to perform work tasks and may wish to engage in formal learning activities. The purpose of this paper is to critique the research on power, privilege, and diversity through a critical disability theory lens. The discussion will include first, a definition of critical disability theory, second, a discussion of power, privilege, and diversity in adult education, followed by an examination of three issues: function, minority group status, and language, voice and visibility.
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    PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVES ON ADULT LEARNING GROUPS
    (2005-09-27T18:06:54Z) Morgan Saturday, Janice
    The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thinking among adult educators about how unconscious factors and a participant’s internal world influence the adult learning group. The paper includes excerpts from conversations and interviews with three participants of the same learning group. A psychodynamic perspective was used to understand how the group process affected the learning of these three group participants. The use of a psychodynamic orientation includes the belief that the unique reality of each group member is influenced by temperament, life experience, family of origin, and unconscious processes. Despite the challenges and the seriousness of questions that have been raised by critics of psychoanalysis, it offers a way to look at adult learning which considers multiple perspectives and it recognizes areas that are beyond our conscious awareness yet affect our behavior and learning.
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    The Role Of Women In Popular Education In Bolivia
    (Midwest Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, 2003) Kollins, Judith M.; Hansman, Catherine A.
    In the face of poverty and long-term political instability in Bolivia, many adult educators are working towards social justice, focusing students on economic opportunities and maintaining their indigenous culture. The process is complex and often compounded by the sociocultural context in which the learning takes place, particularly when examining education and justice for women and minorities. However, in cases when the educational model takes daily life within local cultures into account (popular education), true learning and change can be seen.