From the time adult education emerged as a field of study, it has suffered a crisis of identity by which the field is increasingly defined by a lack of consensus regarding its larger aspirations and operational boundaries. The purpose of this article is to begin deconstructing and reconstructing the field of adult education phenomenologically by (a) exploring the basic historical assumptions and socially constructed, collectivist realities on which adult education founded its theory and practice in the modern era, (b) elucidating the postmodern turn these realities have taken in the past half century, and (c) reconciling adult education's historical mission with new realities facing the field. This article ultimately concludes that any viable conception of adult education must not only make postmodern individuals better competitors in the global marketplace, but must also help them and the organizations they comprise to define themselves within a larger autopoietic web of relations.
Allan, K., & Turner, J.H. (2000). A formalization of postmodern theory. Sociological Perspectives, 43, 363-385.
2.
Augsburger, D.W. (1992). Conflict mediation across cultures: Pathways and patterns. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press.
3.
Bauman, Z. (2004, May). Liquid modernity. In Value dilemmas as a challenge in the practice and concepts of supervision and coaching . Symposium conducted at the Association of National Organizations for Supervision in Europe conference. Retrieved October 1, 2007, from http://www.supervision-eu.org/anse/bauman%20englisch.pdf
4.
Berger, P.L., & Luckman, T. (1967). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York: Anchor.
5.
Briton, D. (1996). The modern practice of adult education: A postmodern critique. Albany, NY: SUNY Press .
6.
Bryson, L. (1936). Adult education. New York: American Book Company.
7.
Collins, M. (1991). Adult education as vocation. London: Routledge.
8.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1983). Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
9.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1984). Concrete rules and abstract machines. SubStance, 13(3-4), 7-19.
10.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
11.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1994). What is philosophy?New York : Columbia University Press.
12.
Dewey, J. (1915). Schools of to-morrow. New York : E. P. Dutton.
13.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan.
14.
Dewey, J. (1966). Democracy and education. New York: Free Press.
15.
Farazmand, A. (Ed.). (2002). Modern organizations: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Praeger.
16.
Finger, M., & Asún, J.M. (2001). Adult education at the crossroads: Learning our way out. London: Zed Books.
17.
Frankl, V. (1962). Man's search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy . Boston: Beacon Press.
18.
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.) . New York: Continuum.
19.
Gaventa, J. (1980). Power and powerlessness: Quiescence and rebellion in an Appalachian valley. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
20.
Guan, X. (2001). Globalization, inequality and social policy: China on the threshold of entry into the world trade organization. Social Policy and Administration, 35, 242-257.
21.
Houle, C.O. (1996). The design of education (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
22.
Jackson, S. (2005). Technopoles and development in a "borderless" world: Boundaries erased, boundaries constructed. In H. N. Nicol & I. Townsend-Gault (Eds.), Holding the line: Borders in a global world (pp. 308-330). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
23.
Knowles, M.S. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy. New York: Association Press.
24.
Lindeman, E. (1926). The meaning of adult education. New York: New Republic.
25.
Marx, K. (1986). Alienated labor. In F. L. Bender (Ed.), Karl Marx: The essential writings (2nd ed., pp. 69-80). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
26.
Maturana, H., & Varela, F. (1980). Autopoiesis and cognition: The realization of the living. London: Reidl.
27.
Merriam, S.B., & Brockett, R.G. (1997). The profession and practice of adult education: An introduction. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Milton, J., Watkins, K.E., Studdard, S.S., & Burch, M. (2003). The ever widening gyre: Factors affecting change in adult education graduate programs in the United States. Adult Education Quarterly, 54, 23-41.
29.
Morgan, G. (1997). Images of organization (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
30.
O'Sullivan, E. (1999). Transformative learning: Educational vision for the 21st century. London: Zed Books .
31.
Stanage, S.M. (1987). Adult education and phenomenological research: New directions for theory, practice, and research. Malabar, FL: Krieger.
32.
Verner, C. (1964). Definition of terms. In G. Jensen, A. A. Liveright, & W. Hallenbeck (Eds.), Adult education: Outlines of an emerging field of university study (pp. 27-39). Washington, DC: Adult Education Association of the U.S.A.
33.
Verner, C., & Booth, A. (1964). Adult education. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Research in Education.
34.
Youngman, F. (2000). The political economy of adult education & development. London: Zed Books.
