Third Update on Adult Learning Theory No. 119 : New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education

This Third Update on Adult Learning Theory follows two earlier volumes on the same topic, the first published in 1993 and the second in 2001. Only one topic, transformative learning theory, can be found in all three updates, representing the continuing developments in research and alternative theoretical conceptions of TL. Thanks to a growing body of research and theory-building, three topics briefly touched on in 2001 are now separate chapters in this third update. They are on spirituality and adult learning, learning through the body, and narrative learning in adulthood. Also new in this update is a chapter on non-Western perspectives on learning and knowing. New developments in two other areas are also explored: understanding the connection between the brain and learning, and how modern and postmodern ways of knowing are converging and are being expressed in social movements. The concluding chapter identifies two trends in adult learning theory for the twenty-first century: attention to context, and to the holistic nature of learning in adulthood. Book jacket.

Sharan B. Merriam is professor of adult education at the University of Georgia, Athens.