Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Education

Front Cover
Bloomsbury Academic, 1999 - Education - 163 pages

This book seeks to increase our understanding of those non-educational contexts and informal circumstances in which people learn. Adult educators, Professor Foley argues, ought not to neglect the importance of the incidental learning which can take place, in particular, when people become involved in voluntary organisations, social struggles, and political activity of every kind.

In developing the argument that such involvement can provide extraordinarily powerful learning opportunities, he uses case studies from the United States of America, Australia as well as Third World countries - Brazil and Zimbabwe - and embracing very diverse environmental, women's, worker and political struggles. He is particularly interested in how involvement in social action can help people to unlearn dominant, oppressive ideologies and discourses and learn instead oppositional, liberatory ones, even if such processes of emancipatory learning are inevitably complex and contradictory. He relates these processes of informal learning in contested contexts to current thinking in adult education and points the way to a somewhat different, and more radical, agenda in adult education theory and practice.

For adult educators, community workers and others working with socially engaged citizens, the insights and lessons of this book ought to be especially useful as they try to develop their own practice in such contexts.

From inside the book

 

Contents

Ideology Discourse and Learning
14
Learning in a Green Campaign
27
Site of Struggle Site
47
Copyright

6 other sections not shown

Other editions - View all

Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Education
Griff Foley
No preview available - 1999
Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Education
Griff Foley
No preview available - 1999

Common terms and phrases

activists activities adult education theory adult learning African Alan Tuckett Alvarez analysis argue Australia Brazilian women's capitalism capitalist reorganisation centres chapter childcare committee complex conservationists contested critical consciousness cultural democratic discussion domination education and learning emancipatory learning example experience exploitation feminism feminist Foley Fordism Forestry Commission guerrillas Higby historical materialist Holford ideologies and discourses informal learning interests interviews involved issues Jardim Miriam labour learning and education learning dimension learning in social learning in struggle liberation struggle liberation theology logging Marxist Michael Murphy micro-politics Mozambique neighbourhood houses oppression participation parties peripheria playgroups political economy political education post-Fordist problems production radical rainforest relationship resistance restructuring Rhodesian Rhodesian Front role settlers social action social movements strategy studies Terania Creek campaign things tion understanding union wages women women's groups women's movements women's organisations workers working-class workplace change ZANLA ZANU ZAPU Zimbabwe ZIPRA

About the author (1999)

Griff Foley is director of the Centre for Popular Education, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
Griff Foley is director of the Centre for Popular Education, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

Bibliographic information

TitleLearning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Education
Global perspectives on adult education and training
Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Education, Deutscher Volkshochschulverband. Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
AuthorGriff Foley
ContributorsNational Institute of Adult Education (England and Wales), Deutscher Volkshochschulverband. Institut für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherBloomsbury Academic, 1999
Original fromthe University of Michigan
DigitizedNov 3, 2008
ISBN185649683X, 9781856496834
Length163 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General
  
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