For Gadamer, understanding moves between two different levels. One is the everyday ontological level in which there is a meeting between the familiar and the alien, between the known and the not-quite-expected. But understanding can also be a skill to be developed. This is the way in which we achieve good knowledge. In pedagogical terms,…

The pervasive myth of the United States as a "classless society" silences the reality of social class oppression in this country. This silencing has received little attention to date in group work training, research, and practice. Unmasking classism may generate anxiety for group workers and members alike, yet holds potential for…

The aim of this article is to inquire into today's social pathologies, i.e. the negative consequences of the developmental processes of society. In a dialogue with Axel Honneth, the article asserts that a shift has occurred in individualization, a shift that implies a fundamental change in social pathologies: Social pathologies no longer derive…

This article describes three distinct yet interrelated elements of self-authorship: trusting the internal voice, building an internal foundation, and securing internal commitments. These elements, which emerged from longitudinal interviews with adults in their 30s, offer insights into the complexity and cyclical nature of self-authorship as well…

The intention of this article is to explore, challenge and expand our understandings of children's improvised vocalisations, a fundamentally human form of expression. Based on selected examples from observation and recording in non-institutional settings, the article outlines how this phenomenon can be understood as learning and as communication.…

Violence and the violence discourse are very similar from country to country: focus on youth, preponderance of males among perpetrators and victims, disproportionate involvement of migrants and indigenous people, greater prevalence with socioeconomic disadvantage and low education, and the impact of underlying factors such as political…

What does the possible selves construct add to our understanding of adult learning and our capacity to foster it? Implications in relation to transformative learning are discussed.

This article considers some of the challenges faced by managers operating in rapidly changing "edge of chaos" organizations and assesses whether postgraduate education can be designed to engender the abilities and skills required in such environments. In particular, can a management development process be aligned with an educational…

This chapter presents the need for the journey of self-authorship and an overview of key concepts and terms explored in this volume.

The topic of an optimal or utopian life has received much attention across the humanities and the arts but not in psychology. The German concept of Sehnsucht captures individual and collective thoughts and feelings about one's optimal or utopian life. Sehnsucht (life longings; LLs) is defined as an intense desire for alternative states and…

In this paper, we consider how the life story develops through the creation of self-event connections in narrating experiences. We first outline the ways in which such connections have been implied by existing work on the life story, and then consider the varieties of such connections that we see in our own work. That work suggests that self-event…

This article is a sequel to previous "Journal of Correctional Education" articles providing teaching strategy suggestions for correctional educators. The self actualized correctional educator employs teaching strategies which do not rely on the correctional institution for implementation. Thus, he/she is freed from bureaucratic and custody issues,…

This chapter explores how incorporating the possible selves construct within a supportive and challenging mentoring relationship can assist in personal and professional growth. (Contains 1 figure.)

In this book, the author describes the complexity of the Self as the source of all human behavior. She will try to outline the structure of the Self, its normal growth and development, and the role of interaction with other living things in this process. Ms. Roeper sees the Self as a unit within us, which includes input from the brain and all…

This paper argues that the modern curriculum of academic subject disciplines embodies a rationalist conception of pure, universal knowledge that does little to cultivate, humanise or form the self. A liberal education in the classical humanist tradition, by contrast, develops a personal culture or "paideia", an understanding of the self as a…