Interconnectedness of Adult Basic Education, Community-Based Participatory Research, and Transformative Learning

Abstract

This article argues for the beneficial interconnectedness of adult basic education as an educational practice, community-based participatory research as a methodological approach, and the framework of transformative learning, for exploring and theorizing about adult learning and education. It is elaborated that these three approaches are connected by shared core values that counter the dominant economistic discourse on adult basic education. A community-based participatory research project, comprising researchers with an adult basic education learners’ background, adult basic education practitioners, and the two authors as university-based researchers, serves as a local empirical example. Selected data from the research process illustrate how these three approaches complement each other and can show their inherent potential. Together, these three approaches establish a democratic space of learning and thus act as a resource of hope for education and research aimed at (self-) empowerment, emancipation, participation, and collective action toward humanization, democratization, and social justice.

Supporting WFN Collective Social Entrepreneurship Through Social Movement Learning and Critical Participatory Action Research

“…It can be applied in support of social movements to uplift silenced voices and perspectives as well as the ongoing process of capacity building (commitment to learning, adaptability, and a focus on long-term sustainability) within organizations. Kastner and Motschilnig (2022) demonstrate a connection between adult learning, participatory research, and transformative learning which provides an opportunity to further examine WFN social entrepreneur collectives' development learning (and other) support networks.…”

“…Connections are evident in a study where Latina immigrant women engaged in participatory theater for social change (Sánchez Ares, 2015). They are also demonstrated in the interconnectedness of transformative learning, adult basic education, and participatory research to create democratic learning spaces (Kastner & Motschilnig, 2022). CPAR is research for the public good, challenging dominant knowledge views, supporting social movements, and amplifying marginalized voices (Fine & Torre, 2019).…”

“…CPAR falls under the broader umbrella of participatory research, encompassing various terms that describe research focused on involving those most affected by an issue. This entails collaborative data collection, analysis, experiential learning, and action for improvement Kastner & Motschilnig, 2022). Participatory research terms also include community-based participatory research (McFarlane, 2022), street science (Corburn, 2005), popular epidemiology (Froeling et al, 2021), and classroom action research (Semathong, 2023).…”

A many‐splendored thing? Transformative learning for social justice

“…Where perspective transformation is discussed in relation to the wider modalities and strategies of social change, significantly this is often linked to community‐based projects (for example, Bilon, 2021; Clover, 2006; Kastner & Motschilnig, 2022; Mayo, 2003) and/or research connected to popular education and social movements (for example, Ebert et al., 2003; Gouin, 2009; Holst, 2020; Kluttz & Walter, 2018; Maison, 2023). This point to the significance of space and settings in thinking about TLSJ; learning in movements and communities is not usually highly institutionalized and are spaces where the link between social and educational, personal, and larger scale changes are organically linked (Zibechi, 2012).…”

A Comparative Study of Values-Based Fields of Adult Learning and Education in Austria, Scotland, and South Tyrol, Italy: Practitioners Resisting Neoliberal Tendencies Based on Their Ideas of Social Justice

“…This conceptualization, based on a practitioner/activist-driven, bottom-up approach, was adopted for the Initiative Erwachsenenbildung ( IEB ), the national ABE funding program implemented under the aegis of the Ministry of Education in 2012. In 2019, politically motivated ruptures in the national ABE field indicated a reversal towards feasibility and control of education, fitting the bigger picture of narrowing ABE to mere upskilling of human capital (Cennamo et al, 2020; Kastner & Motschilnig, 2022) and putting this unique type of ABE practice under pressure. When practitioners focused on the challenges they experienced, this major politically motivated disruption was at the forefront. Community-based adult learning (CBAL) in Scotland has a different focus from mainstream education in its underpinning ideology, methods, and curriculum.…”