Abstract
The title of this book caught my eye as it is about my favorite subjects—informal learning, gender, and community. Ostrouch- Kamińska and Vieira, scholars from Poland and Portugal respectively, have brought together 22 writers from eastern and western Europe who are part of the Gender and Learning network within the European Society for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults (ESREA). This network is a place for academics to discuss the intersection of gender and adult education. Apart from Katarina Popović, I was unfamiliar with most of the writers in this edited volume. Nor have I been part of this network, but from reading this book I wish I were.
Ostrouch- Kamińska and Vieira divide their book into three sections. The first, private spheres, looks into topics that adult educators do not always address: young men and war, breast cancer among men, illiteracy and rural elderly women, and marital relations between women and men. The cases in each chapter are insightful examples of how people, men and women, learn in the midst of adversity. The first chapter by Popović et al. focuses on young Serbian men and their regressive transformative learning that was heightened in the hyper masculinist society that prevailed in the war of the 1990s. This chapter is especially important as it points to negative learning, which seems to be ignored in most of our literature. In the current context of the war in Ukraine, the potential for negative learning is especially chilling and provocative, as it challenges our almost exclusive focus on positive instances of learning.
The second section focuses on informal learning among minorities and activism, with chapters on women engaged in activism in France, among women who migrate, and with men who learn together in shed workshops. In the second chapter, Trifanescu looks at how positive aspects of gender are learned through migration. Women fleeing marital abuse and family oppression, often related to religion, are empowered for the first time in their lives by the act of migration and are potentially transformed. To see migration in this way is to explore whole new learning possibilities for women, who make up half of migratory populations (p. 100, n. 1). This chapter also helps in understanding the plight of the women who are now escaping from Ukraine under conditions of war and repression. To see informal learning within these contexts is to bring a richness to our field and its concerns. It also extends our knowledge of the variety of contexts in which learning can occur.
The third section deals with nonformal contexts of learning including intergenerational programs and the workplace. The chapter by Endepohls-Ulpe et al. focuses on informal learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This chapter is especially insightful, especially for North Americans who have many challenges in enticing women into these fields. The authors challenge received notions of where women learn negative attitudes to STEM, which is commonly thought to be through the power of schooling. The women in Endepohls-Ulpe et al.’s qualitative research entered STEM fields because of parental role models and social support, rather than from the influence of schools. Their findings are particularly challenging and relevant to those with an interest in the social dimensions of gender.
In sum, this edited collection furthers an understanding of informal learning in multiple contexts. It is strong on showing the diverse places and occasions in which meaningful learning can occur. As I read, I wondered how the chapters might have been stronger if more attention had been placed on received theories of informal learning in the community, for instance Griff Foley’s (1999) late twentieth century work. There is much evidence in this book to refute Foley, whose theory focuses on individual and male oriented learning. In contrast to Foley, these authors provide thick rich detail on informal learning done by people, often women, together in community and in struggle. In that sense, the various writers come closer to Gorman’s (2007) theorizing on Kurdish women’s collective resistance, as well as struggle and opportunities to learn together in crises. Such an approach would have furthered the theory base of informal learning. Yet, given the authors’ stress on social context, regardless of time or topic, this edited book can help in thinking about informal learning in many groups, including today’s transgender population. I really enjoyed the reading and I highly recommend this book.