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The thesis will establish, through philosophical argument, particularly in philosophical psychology, that professional practitioners in adult education are those who see themselves (and indeed are also seen) as agents of the integration of (a) adults' learning from their experiences (the authenticity aspect), with (b) the values of 'education' (the integrity aspect). That is, such practitioners employ 'know how' to bring such integration about, and they may ideally exemplify a kind of wisdom in 'knowing why' they act as they do. We will call this the 'integrationist' model of adult education practice. This integrationist thesis, drawing mainly upon Wittgenstein, Kant and Aristotle: * takes the very phenomenon of the practices of adult educators as its starting point, rather than analyse concepts or language per se, and treats ethical and epistemological dimensions of this practice as interwined and equally central in such phenomena; * requires extensive treatment of the formation of the 'appropriateness' or efficacy of the ethical and epistemological ingredients of professional practice, and subsumes this 'know how' in the significance of sociocultural location; * assumes such people are still 'students' in the broad sense that they are integratively learning from their practical experience and that socio-culturally located workplaces provide the most significant context for their practice (intentionality and competence are especially addressed); * re-examines the emphasis in adult education on the role of experience and the self, and accordingly revitalises a constructivist approach more firmly based in ontological considerations; * accordingly, moves beyond an atomistic conception of professional competence and the sovereignty of the agency of the individual practitioner, * develops an emphasis on teleological considerations - adding 'knowing why' to a more holistic 'know how' and, in that sense, signals a retrieval of the notion of 'vocation', with an orientation towards the attainment of the 'rightness' of practical wisdom (phronesis) as the purpose of adult education as professional practice. Integrationism is thus also constructivist: professionals in any field are expected to make a positive difference. There are general features of the analysis pertinent to any practice where adults' circumstances are up for amelioration.

Given the median age of today's workforce and the aging of the workforce, it was appropriate to examine learning styles of adults. This knowledge is necessary for facilitators of adult educational programs to provide adults a learning environment that can provide maximum opportunity for adults to learn. The research problem, that learning styles do not change as people age, was addressed. People will resort to different styles when situations necessitate they do so to learn a particular item. The data revealed that environmental factors have different effects on people's learning styles. Implications of this study are far reaching into many areas of research. An implication is in the area of child psychology, as to &quotwhen are learning styles acquired?" This research has implications of holistic education theory of the individual learners and with added factors that may be influencers of history and conditions. The complexity of learning styles is influenced by background experiences of learning, as opposed to the basic cognition acquisition generally utilized. There are undisputed facts that: no thing succeeds llke success, and nothing improves the likeliliood of repeated actions llke a value added or a &quotgood" feeling about an experience. Learners will try to replicate situations they find to be successful as much as possible. The things learners can control are: selecting the course as close to the time they like for study purposes, day of week, length, etc., and choosing an instructor, which may be influenced by gender, nationality etc. Also, the style of the class format influences their choices. Learners may not understand the mechanics of &quotMatching Their Learning Style to the Teaching Style", but 'they do understand their llkes and preferences. Learners will not understand all they are attempting to accomplish in their search for achieving this match, but professional educators must recognize these influences and assist the learners by helping match the style of instructional techniques with the learning style of the adult learner to maximize the learning experience.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This study explores adult educators' working knowledge in the facilitation of transformative learning. It explores transformative learning from the perspective of the educators involved, considering their experiences and their descriptions of incidents. Although there is a growing interest in research into transformative learning, there are few studies that explore the ways educators foster transformative learning. This has been identified as a key direction for research (Taylor 1997, 2000). The theoretical framework for this study is developed through two approaches; namely, through the literature of transformative learning in adult education and through concepts of narrative, discourse and identity. This thesis argues that Mezirow's theory of transformative learning has limitations when considering social interactions involved in transformative learning. The narrative approach, developed from the literatures of social work, narrative therapy, organisational learning, discursive psychology and education, is introduced to explore issues involved in facilitating transformative learning. In this study I utilise narrative research because of its potential to explore working knowledge in a comprehensive, contextualised way. I investigate educators' working knowledge through in-depth interviews, inviting educators to relate stories of transformative learning from their practice. The educators' working knowledge is then analysed through metaphor analysis and case examples. The educators in this study used a range of metaphors when talking about their practice of transformative learning. The metaphors indicate that these educators provide a multifaceted role to foster transformative learning. Through writing and analysing selected stories of practice as case examples, this thesis presents the facilitation of transformative learning as narrative intervention. I conclude that facilitation of transformative learning requires capabilities in reading issues and positioning self within interactions. Further) I explore the ways that educators' professional identities are being produced through their working knowledge.

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the role and leadership of a learning executive [Chief Knowledge Officer, Chief Learning Officer] within a publicly traded corporation. My description depicts a unique learning executive within a leading multinational medical technology corporation. My discovery pursued three researchable questions (a) How does a learning executive contribute to their organization? (b) What contextual factors affect a learning executiveâs ability to exhibit leadership? (c) What type of leadership does a learning executive exhibit within their organization? My research focused on leadership as a key job competency for a learning executive. Additional outcomes from my research include a narrative description of contextual factors that influence leadership, a thorough portrayal of the job as viewed by research participants, and a how-to guide for Human Resource Development (HRD) and Human Resource Management (HRM) professionals. Reviewed literature incorporated theory from the following topical areas, leadership, upper echelon leadership, human and social capital, organizational learning, knowledge management, organizational context, and existing portrayals of the role. The dissertation relied on descriptive qualitative case study research technique to make sense of observed phenomena. I relied on in-depth participant interviews, extant organizational, and public data to further my observations. The findings of the dissertation suggest that the researched learning executive was able to influence the prosperity of this corporation as an outcome of his leadership. His leadership can be described as situation-ally dependent, behaviorally complex, and integrative. Two vetted leadership theories are utilized to portray his leadership, TRC and Transformational leadership theories. The results of the research contribute to existing literature in the areas of leadership theory, human and social capital theory, knowledge management, human resource development, qualitative business research, and literature on the role of learning executives.

The purpose of this study was to seek to understand faculty culture at a community college and at a public, regional, comprehensive university. Although public, regional, comprehensive universities and community colleges share a number of characteristics, there are areas where their differences are most apparent, such as student abilities and qualities, faculty credentials, and community orientations, to name a few. While quantitative indicators are readily available by institutional type, there is limited information on the nature of the work of faculty in these institutions or the faculty beliefs about their work. Research on culture in these institutions in particular is also necessary in light of the increasingly complex, economic, technological, and global influences impacting them. In this study, the impact of institutional mission, student abilities and qualities, teaching orientation, and the external pressures related to state, federal government, and national mandates on faculty at community colleges and public, regional, comprehensive universities are analyzed using institutional and neo-institutional theories, as well as culture theory.

The purpose of the research was to determine whether the situational, institutional, dispositional, epistemological, and technological barriers that affect attrition in distance education apply to the business-based distance training arena. Although reports about distance training students indicate that attrition from distance training is a significant issue, the results from this study find that 90 percent of the business professionals who answered this survey that have taken business-based e-learning courses are not discontinuing their e-learning courses. This finding contradicts many published articles. The free-form comments written by the online learners who answered this survey provided some hints as to what may be keeping these business professionals from abandoning their e-learning courses. The respondents to this study acknowledge that interaction with other learners and with course facilitators, chunking of courses and curricula into appropriate sized pieces, technical support, good course design, and incentives to reach course or curriculum completion have kept them online.

This qualitative study explores the academic experiences of single-parent undergraduate students at North Carolina Central University. The world of single parents is one of children, employers and themselves. When the parent adds the role of student, educational demands may be difficult to balance. Family and work responsibilities may interfere with educational attainment. This study suggests that the experiences of single-parent undergraduate students consist of complex roles and responsibilities. Yet, with a solid commitment, a reduction in daily situational barriers, and faculty, staff and family support, these students are capable of attaining educational goals.

A case study analysis was used to investigate the changes in the lives of adult daughters when they became primary caregivers to parents with Alzheimer's disease. This research also explored beliefs, feelings, and perceptions of participants about their role. Based on in-depth and face-to-face interviews with 21 adult daughters and two daughters-in-law, this study argues that although intergenerational caregiving is accepted as a part of membership in families, it is also a source of family disharmony and conflicts. Family nursing is considered a burden based on the length of service. The scope of the changes in the lives of adult daughters/caregivers ranges from living arrangements, family relationships, young children, personal affairs, social activities, employment and economics, health of caregiver to religion. Although caring for AD patients is rigorous, highly stressful, and filled with demanding challenges, the findings of this study show that a majority of adult caregivers would do it all over.

The purpose of this study is to examine pragmatist constructivism as a science education referent for adult learners. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether George Herbert Mead?s doctrine, which conflates pragmatist learning theory and philosophy of natural science, might facilitate (a) scientific concept acquisition, (b) learning scientific methods, and (c) preparation of learners for careers in science and science-related areas. A philosophical examination of Mead?s doctrine in light of these three criteria has determined that pragmatist constructivism is not a viable science education referent for adult learners. Mead?s pragmatist constructivism does not portray scientific knowledge or scientific methods as they are understood by practicing scientists themselves, that is, according to scientific realism. Thus, employment of Mead?s doctrine does not adequately prepare future practitioners for careers in science-related areas. Mead?s metaphysics does not allow him to commit to the existence of the unobservable objects of science such as molecular cellulose or mosquito-borne malarial parasites. Mead?s anti-realist metaphysics also affects his conception of scientific methods. Because Mead does not commit existentially to the unobservable objects of realist science, Mead?s science does not seek to determine what causal role if any the hypothetical objects that scientists routinely posit while theorizing might play in observable phenomena. Instead, constructivist pragmatism promotes subjective epistemology and instrumental methods. The implication for learning science is that students are encouraged to derive scientific concepts based on a combination of personal experience and personal meaningfulness. Contrary to pragmatist constructivism, however, scientific concepts do not arise inductively from subjective experience driven by consummatory activity. The broader implication of this study for adult education is that the philosophically laden claims of constructivist learning theories need to be identified and assessed independently of any empirical support that these learning theories might enjoy. This in turn calls for educational experiences for graduate students of education that incorporate philosophical understanding such that future educators might be able to recognize and weigh the philosophically laden claims of adult learning theories.