English has gained in popularity as the world's lingua franca, inviting individuals and countries to join the international community. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the use of English has dramatically increased in Turkmenistan, in Central Asia (CA). Russian was required for securing jobs, professional development, and economic well-being…

This paper examines an account of a practitioner-initiated transformation of workplace-based social relationship within a grassroots adult education institution. This tripartite relationship among adult students, staff and teachers, abbreviated as AST, is a major driving force for activities and missionary functioning of the XinZhuang Community…

In this chapter, the authors consider Paulo Freire's construct of critical consciousness (CC) and why it deserves more attention in research and discourse on youth political and civic development. His approach to education and similar ideas by other scholars of liberation aims to foster a critical analysis of society--and one's status within…

This study focuses on the development and practices of Critical Muralists--community-educator-artist-leader-activists--and situates these specifically in relation to the Mexican mural tradition of los Tres Grandes and in relation to the history of public art more generally. The study examines how Critical Muralists address artistic and…

Empowerment of youth, particularly in urban settings, is critical to addressing issues of social injustice. Programs that support the development of empowerment, or action taken by an individual to facilitate his or her own ability to act in the face of oppression, have demonstrated great promise in dimensions such as creating stronger group…

This article argues that as adult educators we should not be outside the remit of our own theorising. It begins with an earlier effort to construct an ethical grammar to audit the probity of working to change others through adult education. This is situated in terms of contemporary debates about the possibility of truth and certainty in…

This article argues that there has been a clear shift in leadership approaches from those where the leader is in control and commanding i.e., power-based leadership to one where there is empowerment. Here the power comes from the followers and is shared. Burns concepts of transactional and transformational leadership are used interchangeably with…

Reviews the literature attesting to the strengths of African-American families and explores ways in which those strengths can be affirmed in the infrastructure of the family system. Explores a conceptualization of empowerment that involves rejecting a structural functionalist perspective in favor of a sociocultural framework. Discusses…