Adult education and publishing Canadian fiction in a global context: a Foucauldian analysis

This paper draws upon findings from a research study on the relationship between fiction, citizenship, and lifelong learning. It includes interviews with authors from several genres, publishing houses, and arts councils. This paper explores many of the ambivalent outcomes of the shifting power elements in publishing that can simultaneously benefit and disadvantage the publication of a national body of fiction. Although focused on the Canadian context, fiction writers and publishers around the globe face similar challenges. Using a Foucauldian analysis, it considers the importance of fiction and adult learning in shaping discourses of citizenship and critical social learning. (DIPF/Orig.

Using Literature in Learning Contexts to Address Contentious Issues of Difference, Culture, Power, and Privilege in the Classroom

Fictional literature provides a vehicle for students to discuss power issues and thus achieve a better understanding of identity politics and systemic barriers that shape people‟s lives. This paper examines the use of fiction to explore difficult issues such as race, gender, culture, power, and privilege, and ways to promote these kinds of discussions amongst teacher candidates. The kinds of ethical dilemmas often posed in works of fiction complicate what our notion of power is, who produces it, and how it is disseminated or regulated. My argument characterizes the kinds of subtle and more explicit rhetoric used by teacher candidates who prefer a neo-liberal stance, and I critique the logical fallacies which undermine prejudiced viewpoints. If teacher candidates are able to experience firsthand the power of literary discussions to mediate and negotiate their own views held on certain issues, it is more likely they will use literature themselves as a tool to discuss contentious issues with their own future high school students, rather than shying away from these matters altogether, or allowing their own unchallenged biases to impede interactions with their students. Finally, I provide a few practical suggestions around literary texts and strategies for the professor whose area is not English Language Arts, yet wishes to engage his/her teacher candidates in these kinds of dialogues

Visual Literacies: An Ecology Arts-based Pedagogical Model

The study explores visual literacies and critical literacies students may experience utilizing photography aimed at engaging youth in thinking more deeply about their relationships to the environment and the communities they live in. This is a case study based on interviews with a total of 5 participants. I argue that visual literacy expands students’ opportunities to build productively upon print-based literacy practices, evens the playing field to some extent for English Language Learners, and connects youth in creative ways to think about being citizens in their communities and the world

Using a multiliteracies approach in adult education to foster inclusive lifelong learning

This paper examines strategies that can inform everyday teaching practices of adult educators as well as teacher educators in adult and higher education through a multiliteracies approach. Using original film footage of teaching and learning, interviews with educators and learners, and analysis of curricular planning materials created by the participants, this research attempts to identify and examine features of effective pedagogy and the philosophical decision-making behind its creation

Using a multiliteracies approach to foster critical and creative pedagogies for adult learners

Drawing upon a pilot study and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight research study to explore how a multiliteracies framework may inform more critical and creative pedagogical approaches for adolescents and adults, this article begins with a brief overview of the literature on multiliteracies and then overviews the methodology used in the two research studies. Although multiliteracies has not been used frequently as a theoretical framework to inform work in adult learning contexts, this article argues that there are many benefits to this approach for adult educators to consider, particularly given the increasing need to attend to learning issues pertaining to globalization, diversity, and the impact of new technologies. Data from the interviews are combined with an analysis of the literature to explore the benefits offered by a multiliteracies approach by considering four main areas: lifelong learning and multimodalities; opportunities for engagement for English as Additional Language learners; new digital technologies and multiliteracies; and multiliteracies’ emphasis on social justice. The article concludes with a consideration of the potential for multiliteracies to inform educators working in a range of adult learning contexts

Preparing Teachers to Become Lifelong Learners: Exploring the Use of Fiction to Develop Multiliteracies and Critical Thinking

Drawing upon research from a SSHRC grant entitled Creating a Canadian “Voice”: Lifelong Learning, the Craft of Fiction Writing, and Citizenship, we examine how multiliteracies and critical thinking can be fostered using a framework of lifelong learning for teachers. We provide examples from authors and key informants who discuss learning and fiction writing to argue that there are benefits for diverse learners in using wider, more inclusive definitions of literacy associated with multiliteracies. We also provide examples of how multimodal technologies can foster learning connected to critical thinking and multiliteracies

Fictional spaces, learning places: Exploring creative learning sites connected to fiction

Connections between lifelong learning and fiction writing are explored by drawing upon the findings from two research studies that included interviews with fiction authors and with key informants at creative learning sites such as book festivals, writing conferences and creative writing programs. Focusing on two main themes; adult learning and the power of story, and lifelong learning and creative learning sites, we use a Foucauldian analysis to consider how learning sites are an essential aspect of the circular materiality of power in learning. We conclude by considering how creative learning sites related to fiction may be seen as a way to foster critical public pedagogy

Conferences as lifelong learning sites: Engaging with different communities of practice

Conferences can be understood as important lifelong learning sites for adults engaged in a variety of pursuits. As conferences often draw together people to focus on a particular topic, whether it relates to workplace learning, leisure, or health, they may be seen as avenues for fostering what Wenger (1998) terms as “communities of practice”. This paper explores how lifelong learning at conferences is linked to the members of a community of practice, the organization of the event, and the effects of new technologies