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AJAL Volume 60 / Number 1 / April 2020
This edition of AJAL is available for purchase in pdf format
ALA Members can download a free copy of this edition by logging in to the member area of the ALA website here: AJAL Past Editions
Share this page.
Is society capable of learning? Beyond a metaphysical foundation
Author: Ya-hui Su
National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, Taiwan
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: There is an assumption that any contemporary society should become a learning society to maintain stability in the face of change. Although proponents and policymakers take for granted that a society has the ability to learn, can this idea be defended? There is a problem in determining exactly what is meant by a learning society that learns. One response concerning whether a society has the ability to learn is negative, arguing that society lacks agency. In this article, I argue that society has the ability to learn by demonstrating how the negative position is untenable; I also show how the positive position is possible when the idea that a society has the ability to learn assumes a new meaning based on the view that a society is composed of individuals. I present Habermas’ view that society can be a learning mechanism on its own, yet I argue that social agency has a distinctive character on its own but not a distinctive character on its own behalf. We need not build a metaphysical foundation, which claims that society can be a learning mechanism on its own in a way that extends beyond the efforts of individuals to construct a self-image.
Keywords: individuals, society, intersubjectivity; learning; learning society
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Reasons for the slow completion of Masters and Doctoral degrees by adult learners in a South African township
Author: Masilonyana Motseke
University of South Africa
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: The aim of the study was to investigate the reasons why adult learners took longer than required to complete their Master’s and Doctoral degrees. A questionnaire and focus group interviews were used to collect data. Twenty adult learners who registered for the Master’s and Doctoral degrees at one township campus of a university were targeted, and 16 responded. All 16 participants lived in the townships, and obtained their primary, secondary and tertiary education from the township schools. It was found that the lack of computer skills, poor research skills, inadequate access to the internet, stress, supervision problems, as well as employer’s workload contributed enormously to the adult learners’ inability to complete their studies within the prescribed period. The study also highlighted the impact of apartheid education on adult learners at postgraduate level. The apartheid education system, which was characterised by poor education provision, played a major role in the slow completion of Masters and Doctoral degrees by the African adult learners. It is recommended that African adult learners who enroll for Masters or Doctoral degrees should do training in research approaches, computer skills, information search and stress management prior to their study. The study duration for both the Masters and Doctoral degrees also need to be reviewed, especially for adult learners or students who obtained their education from the township schools.
Keywords: Slow completion, African adult learners, Master’s and Doctoral degrees
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Group work oral participation: Examining Korean students’ adjustment process in a US university
Author: Jung Yin Kim
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: This study examines, from a sociocultural perspective, the factors that explain why a group of seven Korean students attending an undergraduate business program in a US university are initially labelled as silent participants when first engaging in group work, and how these factors impacted the students’ overall adjustment process. Data came from in-depth interviews and group work observations. ‘Discourse system’ is used to categorise how they adapt over the course of a semester, with changes in expressing ideas, holding ground, and self-autonomy. The study showed that while various factors, including the students’ English language proficiency, differences in sociocultural values and educational practices, and group work environment were intertwined and informed their group work adjustment process, differences in sociocultural values and educational practices played the most important role in their adjustment process. Regardless of their length of stay in the US, gender, and individual differences, all of the students felt challenged in the initial stages of participation in group work. The findings suggest pedagogical implications for promoting oral participation of Asian international students, especially Korean students, when they first commence in group work.
Keywords: sociocultural features, group work, cultural interaction, Korean students
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Contemporary constructivist practices in higher education settings and academic motivational factors
Author: Dorit Alt
Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Israel
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: This study was aimed at assessing the relationships between college students’ pre-entry factors, self-efficacy and motivation for learning, and the perceived constructivist learning in traditional lecture-based courses and seminars (SM). The study included 411 undergraduate third-year college students. Several scales were administered to the participants: The Constructivist Learning in Higher Education Settings scale (CLHES) aimed at measuring students’ perceptions of occurrences of contemporary constructivist practices in learning environments, along three dimensions: constructive activity, teacher-student interaction and social activity; the Academic Motivation Scale – College (CEGEP); and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Regression analysis main results showed that the constructive activity and teacher- student interaction factors were positively correlated. The teacher- student interaction variable was highly effective in enhancing intrinsic motivation for learning which in turn, contributed primarily to academic self-efficacy. The motivational factors were not solely affected by the learning environment perception but were also informed, to some extent, by several pre-entry factors. Multivariate analysis of covariance results have corroborated the research hypothesis, indicating that students perceive seminar learning environments as more constructivist when compared with lecture-based course perceptions. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: constructivist learning; academic self-efficacy; academic motivation
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Emotional highs in adult experiential learning
Author: Sandris Zeivots
University of Technology, Sydney
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: Despite knowing that positive emotional experiences tend to be beneficial for adult learning, our incomplete understanding of the emotional system rarely allows us to incorporate emotion adequately in real learning situations. The experience of emotional highs, as observed in adult experiential learning courses, has been selected as the phenomenon of the study. This paper is concerned with developing a more sophisticated understanding of the phenomenon by studying the lived experience of emotional highs. Hermeneutic phenomenology has been selected as a suitable approach. This approach examines the lived state of emotional highs as well as recognises how adult learners make sense of these experiences. The lived experiences of 15 Australian adult learners were examined. Learners participated in one of three 4–8 day adult experiential learning courses, including two Outward Bound courses. The courses were held half indoors and half outdoors. Learners reflected and made sense of their lived experience through surveys and semi-structured interviews. As a result, a sophisticated definition of emotional highs is proposed.
Keywords: Experiential learning, adults, emotional highs, positive emotions, hermeneutic phenomenology
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
The meanings of learning as described by Polish migrant bloggers
Author: Monika Popow
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: This paper addresses the meanings given to learning by Polish migrant bloggers. It presents the result of an analysis of ten blogs, written by Poles living abroad. The blogs under analysis were chosen on the basis of random sample. The analysed material was categorised by recurring themes, which included: learning in Poland, language acquisition, formal education, learning about the new culture, discovering the social norms of the host society and seeing immigration as an all-round learning experience. Four types of meanings given by authors were distinguished: migration as learning experience, learning as effort which deserves a reward, learning as a change, and learning as adapting to multiculturalism. The meanings were analysed according to the principles of critical discourse analysis. The paper discusses how the meanings given by authors are linked to a broad socio-cultural context. It analyses also the impact of learning into identity creation processes.
Keywords: migration, Internet blogs, learning, discourse analysis
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
A farmer becomes a social pedagogue: A psycho-societal approach
Author: Karsten Mellon
Roskilde University, Denmark
Edition: Volume 56, Number 3, November 2016
Summary: In Denmark various non-traditional students are mature-age students who already have some kind of a vocational background. When applying to do a professional degree, most of them fall outside the traditional admission requirements, which is why individual assessment of applicants is necessary for bachelor programmes. This article examines the case of a woman named Amy, a mature, nontraditional university college student who becomes a social pedagogue. Because of severe allergies, Amy had to quit her job as a farmer and began to study to become a social pedagogue. Becoming a social pedagogue is a tremendously complex process that involves taking on a new professional identity and acquiring new skills. In order to ascertain the extent of this complexity, this article uses a psychosocietal approach derived from a Danish/German life history research approach. This article offers a brief presentation of the theoretical and methodological framework applied before analysing the process Amy undergoes to become a social pedagogue. The analysis demonstrates that this type of significant career change is demanding and, for Amy, filled with feelings of ambivalence and defensiveness.
Keywords: psycho-societal approach, life history, non-traditional, adult learner, social pedagogue, becoming
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 56_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Older adult education: new public pedagogy in 21st Century Taiwan
Author: Ya-hui Lee, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan
Edition: Volume 55, Number 3, November 2015
Summary: The lifelong learning concept of “never too late to learn” advocated by Confucius has gradually become rooted in the lives of Taiwanese adults and seniors. In response to the impact of population ageing and low fertility rates, numerous elementary schools, junior high schools, and universities have allocated resources and space to establish learning centers and learning camps for senior citizens, providing them with the opportunity to learn. Older adult education extends beyond the
classroom and into society, forming a new public pedagogy in Taiwan. Its important elements include: (1) the changes in population structure and the rising number of older adults, (2) the government’s formulation of older adult education policies based on learning enhancement, (3) the joint promotion of older adult education activities by numerous academic institutions, and (4) the theoretical bases of program design to help senior citizens achieve active ageing and popularise older adult education in communities. Future challenges to older adult learning becoming the new public pedagogy include (1) the public’s skepticism concerning the necessity of older adult education and its efficiency, (2) the need to establish diverse sources of funding to ensure the sustainable development of older adult education, (3) the necessity to develop various program designs to satisfy senior citizens’ needs due to the heterogeneity of senior citizens, and (4) the urgent necessity for research to confirm the effectiveness of older adult education.
Keywords: Lifelong learning, new public pedagogy, older adult education
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 55_3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.