This book provides a critical examination of the myths surrounding adult education and its practice.

Praise for Facilitating Group Learning "In this engaging and accessible book, George Lakey draws on a lifetime's experience to provide a highly practical resource to anyone seeking to understand and respond to the complexities of group work. The book will be invaluable to anyone trying to effect social change through groups while striving to stay simultaneously sane and employed." Stephen D. Brookfield, Distinguished University Professor, University of St. Thomas "I've been working with forms of direct education for many decades, and I found new ideas and inspirations in every chapter. For anyone involved in teaching, training, sharing skills, or leading groups, this book is an invaluable resource!" Starhawk, author, The Earth Path, Dreaming the Dark, and Webs of Power "George Lakey has inspired our union to engage in education in a way that challenges us to redefine social justice and equality in new and exciting ways. This book helps us to continue our journey to touch the souls of union members." Denis Lemelin, national president, Canadian Union of Postal Workers "Facilitating Group Learning will ease the way of all who venture into the white waters of facilitation. George clarifies the most basic, complex, and nagging challenges of facilitation, while honoring the realities of individual and social power dynamics and providing real-life examples from the path of continued growth and mastery. A rare gift!" Niyonu D. Spann, founding president, TRV Consulting and Beyond Diversity 101 "This book is a must-read for people who teach adults of any age, no matter what the subject, and care about doing it in ways that yield deep and abiding learning. Wonderfully well-written and rich with psychological and spiritual insights as well as practical strategies, it represents the fruits of a lifetime of transformational teaching and learning by one of the foremost adult educators of our time." Parker J. Palmer, author, The Courage to Teach, Let Your Life Speak, and The Heart of Higher Education

This book equips instructors with fresh, practical teaching and training methods to support adult learning in both formal and continuing educational environments. An extensive, how-to guide, Methods for Facilitating Adult Learning covers adult teaching and learning fundamentals, collaborative teaching methods, methods for facilitating autonomous learning, community-based teaching methods, and technology-enhanced teaching and learning approaches. Readers will emerge with an in-depth understanding of each method, made comprehensive by the inclusion of definitions, philosophical and/or theoretical underpinnings, advantages and limitations, practical guidelines for application, and ample real-world examples. Ideal for any educator working with adult learners, this book offers a toolbox of approaches designed to enhance reader understanding and practice of adult instruction.

When teaching and learning are characterized by collaboration, challenge, support, risk taking, and reflectivity, they become a transactional process. This book provides a practical guide for those involved in helping adults learn to critically examine, question, and rethink the teaching and learning encounter. The authors detail the descriptive elements, skills, and guiding principles of the transactional process, what it means to ground teaching in learning, how to individualize the teaching and learning process, and how to foster critical reflection. The book provides specific advice on adult learning methods and techniques most appropriate for facilitating the adult learning transactional process, how technology can be interactive and collaborative, numerous approaches for evaluating the teaching and learning process, and various strategies for improving instruction and resources for one's own professional development.

Learning is an inseparable part of human experience. Understanding how adults learn and applying that expertise to practical everyday situations and relationships opens the window on a broader understanding of the capacity of the human mind. Dorothy MacKeracher's Making Sense of Adult Learning was first published in 1996, and was acclaimed for its readability and value as a reference tool. For the second edition of this essential work, MacKeracher has reorganized and revised many of the chapters to bring the text up-to-date for contemporary use. Concepts are presented from learning-centred and learner-centred perspectives, while related learning and teaching principles provide ideas about how one may enable others to learn more effectively. Written for people preparing to become adult educators, Making Sense of Adult Learning provides background information about the nature of adult learning and the characteristics that typify adult learners. This new edition will be quick to assert its place as the premier guide in the field.