Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit als Dimension der Erwachsenenbildung

New Dir Adult Contin Educ

2023

The article synthesizes literature relating to the recent development of the theory of transformative learning (TL) and societal changes using three exemplary fields of study: (1) Civic education and democratic transformations, (2) TL for sustainability and ecology, and (3) TL in the context of migration (and especially for refugees). This article contends that in the literature, TL is considered a promising answer to an urgent search for conceptual and practical tools to address the wicked problems of our time. We see, however, also the potential pitfall of TL if used as a buzzword or understood as a comprehensive reeducation program designed from above that ignores human agency and the emotional, relational, and political challenges of transformation.

Transformative learning as societal learning

Formenti

New Dir Adult Contin Educ

2023

The Ethics of Radical and Transformative Education

Hoggan

Adult Education Quarterly

2023

This article presents a framework for ethics for radical and transformative education. Taking as a starting point ethical perspectives by which educators of adults are justified in imposing upon, coercing, and manipulating adult learners in the name of social justice, this article highlights the necessary connection between pedagogies and learning outcomes. It positions democracy, with its concomitant respect for human dignity, as the raison d'être of the field of adult education. Therefore, adult education practice should support democratic capabilities, respect learner autonomy, and allow for plurality. From both consequentialist and deontological ethical perspectives, it is argued that methods of instruction that undermine democracy cannot also be claimed to support democracy.

Learning from the Past: Continuity as a Dimension of Transformation

Adult Education Quarterly

2023

The article discusses (the restoration of a sense of) continuity as a necessary part of transformative learning. Using the lenses of rhythm theory, biographical learning, and memory studies, it highlights both the individual and social dimensions for making sense of the past after a period of change. Discussing the example of an individual transformation and the social transition of Eastern Europe in the 1980s–1990s, it explores two aspects of the transformation process: the need for stability and the selective and altering nature of our process of remembrance. It advocates for developing the capacity to reflect on how we relate to our past and how we narrate the course of our lives.