The concept of reflection is central to theories of experiential learning common in the field of adult education. In this article, we expand upon the work of Michelson on the dualistic split between experience and knowing inherent in the field’s most common conceptualizations of reflection. We develop alternative approaches to reflection drawing from feminist standpoint theory and theories of embodied knowing. We identify and discuss how each alternative approach points to different positioning of the concept of reflection in experiential learning. We highlight how the alternative positioning of reflection in experiential learning relates to adult education practice through narrative building and the recognition of prior learning. We also identify what we believe are implications of our reconceptualization of reflection for theories of adult learning.

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In this article, John Holst presents findings of his historical research on Paulo Freire's educational work in Chile from 1964 to 1969. Freire's Education as the Practice of Freedom, which was written in 1965 from notes he brought from Brazil, was informed by a liberal developmentalist outlook. In contrast, his Pedagogy of the Oppressed, written toward the end of his stay in Chile from 1967 to 1968, was influenced by Marxist humanist ideology. Considering this relatively rapid change in Freire's educational philosophy, Holst explores the manner in which Freire's time and work in Chile affected his ideological evolution. Holst contributes to Freirean studies by demonstrating that Freire's work in the Chilean political context proved to be decisive in his ideological and pedagogical growth. Freire's ideological evolution inspired his writing of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, widely considered one of the most important books on education in the twentieth century. Ultimately, Holst argues that Freire's pedagogy, like all pedagogy, can only be understood fully when seen within the specific sociopolitical and economic contexts within which it developed. Pedagogies are collective in nature, and Freire's, as he himself recognized, was no exception.

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