We present an argument for a higher priority for art in the educational system and "make a case" for the arts--to provide a rationale for its priority in adult education. This is the plan: to provide this rationale; to present practical guidelines for the processes of engaging in art that may be transformative and critical for…

Education-related responses to our current democratic crisis have largely been focused on schooling children and youth. This narrow focus has foreclosed or diverted our attention from other possibilities for democratic education, especially as it relates to adult citizens and the ways in which such education can -- and must -- extend beyond…

A rear-view mirror approach indicates that citizenship education and adult learning and education (ALE) for lifelong learning have been prominent throughout history, dating back to the League of Nations and continuing through the United Nations and UNESCO. The League of Nations was founded in 1920 after World War I when humanity realized that…

On 23 December 1994, the UN General Assembly adopted a plan of action for the United Nations decade for human rights education (HRE). 30 years later, this challenge is still increasing. As Hannah Arendt pointed out, human rights are valuable only as political rights, not for abstract individuals but for natural communities. While HRE in schools…

What does it mean to be an American? Legal permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States have had to seriously contemplate this question as the immigration debate has proven one of the most divisive issues of the past two years. Many have begun actively pursuing American citizenship, which includes studying 100 questions about American history,…

Over the past decade, adult education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the UK context have been strongly affected by the implications of unstable political, social and economic situations, specifically in relation to social and economic inclusion of vulnerable young adults. This paper argues, that the development of policy transfer…

Higher education institutions must recognize the responsibility to support online adult learners as members of a larger global community and technological advancements have made this a reality. COVID-19 restrictions to in-person learning highlighted the need for online learning platforms that promote the benefits of teacher presence, consider the…

Based on year-long fieldwork on activist-educators' work in South Korea, I reflect on how my research complicates the ontological shift in institutional ethnography: that is, the shift that emphasizes how ruling relations are coordinated through the very actions of people. I discuss two facets of reflective pauses. First, I discuss how the ruling…

In the Angel Studios 2024 movie "Cabrini" set in 1889, an Italian immigrant woman comes to America with a fierce passion for helping marginalized children. Charged with a seemingly impossible task, she perseveres through each obstacle. While watching the movie, I felt angry throughout at the injustices faced. Afterwards, I felt inspired…

Adult educators and scholars have long recognized the Highlander Education and Research Center in Tennessee as a model for adult civic education that is transformative for individuals and society. In 2004, researchers at Harvard University identified Highlander as one of the most successful initiatives worldwide with long-term impact on societal…

Transformative education exists in a complex, dynamic, and ambiguous state seeking structural definitions and relationships within an interdisciplinary arena often critiqued for its limitations as an individual--rather than social--practice. This type of education encompasses learning processes that may facilitate the development of civic-minded,…

Participedia is a collaborative, digital learning tool for the co-production of knowledge about new forms of citizen participation across the world (www.participedia.net). In this paper, we analyse using the platform as a learning resource for adult learners who are democracy practitioners and for undergraduate students. We examine Participedia's…

This article provides a conceptual analysis of the two domains of global citizenship education and adult education and learning, along with their similarities and differences. It begins by unpacking the ambiguous and contested concept of global citizenship education and proposing a critical vision of it, within a global social justice framework.…

This article explores the policy reasons behind Adult ESOL Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom and then examines whether Adult ESOL Citizenship Education adequately prepares migrants for active citizenship in T.H. McLaughlin's "'maximal' sense": involving active political participation premised upon a shared concept of democratic…

This paper uses the personal histories of two men, born in the same decade and both involved in the field of adult education in Scotland, to illustrate contrasting responses to the social and political changes taking place in the early 20th century. In methodological terms, it draws on recent writing on the relationship between biography and…