Through the Looking Glass of Digital Storytelling in Adult Education

Incorporating digital storytelling into online course environment can aid in the development of a productive and engaging community of learning. Adult learning strategies addressed are: Use of stories to illustrate content and highlight key points; “Storying” the curriculum; and making autobiographical connections with the content

Using Radical Adult Education to Map Change in a Globalized World

Radical adult education using a sociological frame can support adult educators to see their roles as change agents within their spheres of influence. Using cultural mapping, adult educators define these spheres, stake claims, set benchmarks, grow networks, or develop participatory action research within the identified community

Framing Care for Planners of Education Programs

Using a framework of care to design experiences in formal or informal learning does two things. It acknowledges intentions of reflective learning through open communication and meets expectations of scholars seeking knowledge within a learning community. This proposed framework was developed from programs involving popular education, community development, open communication, critical reflection, and democratic participation. It can be applied to most instructional contexts, where relationships between facilitators and participants are valued as part of an active learning environment. This framework of care builds on the work of Myles Horton, Paulo Freire, Nel Noddings, and Fergal Finnegan. When planning programs, we recommend both understanding participants’ learning goals and then being attentive to care, community, communication, critical reflection, equality, and democracy. Through these approaches, educators can create a caring experience for learners

Walking the talk: Expectations and intentions of a popular education workshop

Popular education programs allow for collective agenda setting and flexibility, and also to carefully and respectfully design activities that bring in all voices and level the power in the room. Popular education methods help to raise awareness and engage with stakeholders to support topics, such as social justice, human rights, collective power, and nonviolent responses. This study examines the explicit and implicit intentions and expectations of participants who have engaged in popular education workshops related to authentic leadership. This instrumental case study examines the reflective writing of 13 participants from two popular education workshops. To analyze the 26 reflections, the co-researchers individually coded a set of four reflections and then worked with a partner to compare their coding results. Themes were developed from the coded data. The themes included the Center as a destination, seeking renewal and inspiration, personal growth and learning gained from the experience, open minded and flexible expectations, interest in the topic, and professional and academic growth and networking. We suggest ways to build in components of a popular education program to other settings, such as building community, storytelling and sharing, and establishing group norms