Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Idaho, 2005. / Also available online in PDF format. Abstract. "April 2005." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jun. 30, 2010). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 112 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71).

The current literature on critical thinking, critical reflection and critical action supports the view that higher education cannot be defined as such without the implicit existence of all three elements in the curriculum. There are many who suggest that, given the changing profile of those now engaging in higher education, these features need to be made more explicit. This study attempts to illustrate how these elements can be made more explicit within a unique teaching and learning context and with a specific non traditional group of adult learners. Barnett (1997) goes further and suggests that these features, which he refers to collectively as the practice of critical being, are an essential requirement for those engaging in higher education. He does not give specifics on how this practice can be taught or how it might find expression in the lives or educational understanding and knowledge of participating students, which is one of the issues this research will attempt to address.

M.Ed. / The purpose of this study was to explore whether the development of exceptional creativity could be linked to transformative learning. Although the theory of transformative learning, as defined by Mezirow in 1978 from his study of women returning to college, has stimulated much discussion in the field of adult education, a review of the literature on transformative learning and the study of creativity revealed no descriptions of transformative learning linked to the development of creativity in an adult. Mezirow claims that our experiences do not have meanings in themselves, but that we bring to our experiences an accumulation of past experiences, knowledge and learning. The meanings we make out of our experiences are thus socially constructed and context-dependant. This study explored whether the "meaning-making" of experience, and the way in which it is construed, validated and reformulated, could be linked to the development of exceptional creativity. A qualitative design was used utilizing an interpretive case study as research format. The case, an African designer was selected purposefully on the basis of two criteria: she is· exceptionally creative and her life has been characterized by major transitions. A series of in-depth interviews were conducted with the case as the method of data collection. The interviews focused on the case's life-story, and aimed at establishing whether her life-story could be linked to phases of "meaning becoming clarified," and whether transformative learning may have occurred in her creative development. The data was analysed using the constant comparative method of data collection. A main finding emerged from the data. The phases of transformation were set off by more than one disorienting dilemma which had its roots in the changing sociopolitical context of South Africa. As speculated, the development trajectory of the case's creativity can be linked to transformative learning. From the data it is evident that the development of exceptional creativity is intertwined with the phases of transformative learning and that both processes share numerous commonalities, compati~ilities and blurred boundaries. Although it must be kept in mind that this investigation was based on a single case, the study indeed demonstrated that there is a relationship between transfonnative learning and the development trajectory of exceptional creativity in an adult. Furthermore, if creativity is to be viewed as a multidimensional construct, and creative accomplishment as representing the interaction or confluence among these dimensions, then the development of exceptional creativity in this particular case can be seen as an expression of transfonnative learning. The finding not only provides a description of the development of exceptional creativity linked to transfonnative learning, but also reveals the significance of transfonnative learning as a process for the study of creativity in which creativity can be seen as an expression of the transfonnative learning process.

M.Cur. / The revision of education legislation in South-Africa has brought about a changed approach in teaching which requires that students' background knowledge and frame of reference be accommodated in courses. Adult learners registering for post-basic courses at tertiary education institutions already possess acquired knowledge and experience, and have certain preferences in teaching and learning methods. They have also developed a personal interest in their vocational fields. Moreover, they are able to assume responsibility for their own learning, and they desire to become involved in the planning of their teaching. The principle of active involvement of adult learners in their learning, as well as the structuring of own knowledge, is endorsed by the literature as being the most effective approach to learning. Guidance by learning facilitators must take this into account. It appears that the active involvement of adult learners in the drawing up an agreement between learner and learning facilitator can offer a possible solution. The aim of the study was to formulate guidelines for framing an individualised learning-teaching agreement between adult learners and learning facilitators for the completion of a selected module in Community Health Nursing or Occupational Health at a residential Technikon. A contextual, qualitative, exploratory and descriptive research design was selected, in which an inductive strategy was followed. The study had three phases. During the first phase, focus-group interviews were conducted to explore adult learners' views of teaching, learning and a possibile agreement. The analysed data were summarised in a table of 37 consolidated statements. During the second phase, a literature study was carried out by using the main categories of the data of Phase 1 as a point of departure. A second table of 42 consolidated statements was drawn up. After completion of this phase, the main categories were represented in a conceptual framework. The data from the first two phases were consolidated and by logical inferences 11 guidelines were formulated, as well as the rationale and operationalision of each, for drawing up a teaching-learning agreement. These guidelines were validated during a critical discussion with fellow learning facilitators. The guidelines direct the learning facilitator and adult learner in jointly drawing up an individualised teaching-learning agreement, according to which the needs of the adult learner and the vocational requirements of the educational institution and occupational councils can be reconciled in order to ensure that effective learning and vocational preparation can eventually be achieved.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / This study was prompted by my observations and feedback from trainers and learners on an array of barriers to participation in learning which are experienced by learners participating in accredited adult learning programmes offered by a NGO in Cape Town. The aim of this research was to investigate these barriers using a Psychosocial Interaction Model by Merriam and Darkenwald (1982) and the Transition Theory by Schlossberg (1981). Participants in a Health and Welfare Seta (HWSETA) accredited training programme, which is a qualification in Ancillary Health Care level 1, who are community caregivers, were used as research participants. This research provided empirical evidence on barriers to participation in adult learning experienced by these learners and recommendations have been made based on the findings. A new theoretical insight that was generated as a result of this study is that of the interplay between internal and external barriers to participation in adult learning and other variables within the continuum of the Psychosocial Interaction Model as well as certain variables within the Transition Theory. This came as a result of broadening the investigation into barriers to participation in learning, using all variables across the whole spectrum of the Psychosocial Interaction Model, instead of only using the barriers factor.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / Conceptualised within Habermasian critical theory, the conceptual framework includes concepts such as domination, emancipation and emancipatory education, and frames RPL as emancipation. Recognition of prior learning is promoted by the South African government as an instrument for access and redress. This research paper focuses on an investigation into the benefits of the implementation of RPL policies and practices in the policing sector. Findings reveal that the participants in the study who are employed in the policing sector enjoyed a wide range of emancipatory benefits, including access to formal academic programmes. Furthermore, these programmes enabled historically disadvantaged staff to gain formal qualifications which in turn provided access to higher salaries and promotions. Explaining the latter as redress, I argue that RPL is a form of emancipation that has liberated disadvantaged staff from apartheid discrimination and domination.

Scholars report that 80 percent of on-the-job learning is informal (Marsick & Watkins, 1992). Yet little research exists that describes how those in the workplace can encourage informal learning through their interactions with potential learners. This is a case study drawing upon phenomenological methods—specifically, interpretive phenomenological analysis. The intention was to explore the interpersonal space among employees in order to understand how, if at all, the participant’s professional associates encouraged the participant to learn informally. Participants in this study were fourteen librarians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore how participants said their choice to learn informally was influenced by their interactions with other people. Findings indicated that participants were the architects of their own informal learning. While participants drove their own learning, the positive regard of others played an important enabling role, particularly when participants were new or were attempting to transition to new roles, such as managing others. Participants did not focus on themselves; thus self-efficacy did not play a role in the topics they learned about. Instead, participants chose their topics and persisted in learning about the topics because they wanted to serve their customers in a way that enabled their lifelong library use. Given a backdrop of positive regard, participants initiated and participated in a variety of informal learning projects, often with learning being so embedded in the initiative or task that it was challenging to identify it as learning. Role modeling was important for the function of showing employees how to do things—and particularly for giving them ideas about how they could interact effectively with the public or with employees that they supervised.

Much confusion surrounds the term 'self-directed learning', which presently describes a process, a goal, a teaching technique, and an outcome of that teaching. As a process, the literature concentrates mainly on how individuals learn, with little reference to groups that can be as selfdirected as individuals. The purposes of this study were: (a) to reduce conceptual confusion by creating a typology distinguishing different processes of self-directed learning; (b) to explore the phenomenon of group self-directed learning; and (c) to illustrate the effect of environment on learning, and the complex learning dynamics in group settings. This project arose somewhat differently from typical doctoral research. Data from two unrelated field studies conducted for other purposes, completed before this thesis work began, each illustrated self-directed groups learning informally in the contexts of community action and innovative small workplaces. A subsequent review of the literature indicated a lack of attention to this form of group learning, and the field studies were then re-analyzed from this perspective. As a result of the literature review and data re-analysis (1) a typology emerged from the literature review that divides the process of self-directed learning into three forms, each of which is context sensitive but between which learners can continually move back and forth; (2) it appears that the term 'autodidactic' can apply to specific groups which are both self-organized and self-directed in their learning efforts; and (3) that the term 'autodidaxy' as presently defined is as conceptually confusing as the term 'self-directed learning'. This confusion is reduced by the typology proposed by this thesis. Minor findings indicate two continuing problems. The first is reluctance by some to accord non-credentialed learning the value it deserves, and the second is the difficulty often encountered in transferring knowledge from the site of learning to the site of application. This study concludes that 'informalizing' some formal curricula, and encouraging self-directed learning at all levels and in all contexts, may provide some of the tools necessary for living and learning in the twenty-first century. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate