This article explores the integration of Confucian principles into adult education for sustainability (EfS) to foster a more holistic understanding of sustainability that bridges Eastern and Western perspectives. Drawing on the philosophical teachings of Confucianism and their relevance to contemporary global challenges, the article highlights how Confucian concepts such as qi ((sic)); the Triad of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity; and the five constant virtues can inform and enhance sustainability education. By examining the intersections of Confucianism, adult education, and sustainability, the article underscores the potential of Confucianism to contribute to a sustainable future through moral self-cultivation, ecological ethics, and the development of a harmonious relationship with nature. The article also discusses how Confucian teachings can be integrated into the curriculum and pedagogical approaches of EfS, promoting lifelong learning and the development of just and sustainable learning environments globally. Through this exploration, the article aims to offer new insights into the role of traditional wisdom in addressing contem- porary sustainability challenges and advancing global EfS.
Fin avril 2024, je rejoins le Centre de recherche en éducation et formation relatives à l’environnement et à l’écocitoyenneté (Centr’ERE) de l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) dans le cadre d’un postdoctorat avec l’Université de Corse Pasquale Paoli, afin de poursuivre mes travaux sur la gestion adéquate des déchets. Cette note de terrain présente un dispositif de collecte de données fondé sur l’observation et l’enquête, déployé lors d’un déplacement de Paris à Montréal, avec escales à Porto et Newark. Dans une perspective pédagogique, j’invite les adultes apprenants à expérimenter cette approche ethnographique pour soutenir l’évolution de leurs pratiques de gestion des déchets face à cette question socialement vive nécessitant discussion, réflexivité et ancrage dans des situations authentiques et contextualisées. L’analyse met en évidence des situations concrètes observées lors d’un séjour au Québec et en Ontario : acteurs impliqués, dispositifs de collecte, qualité du tri et manifestations de littering (déchets sauvages diffus) dans divers contextes urbains et de mobilité internationale.
Book Review of: Unsettling Spirit – a Journey into Decolonization. Denise Nadeau, McGill Queens University Press, 2020, 342 pages.
Amid the pressing realities of climate change, biodiversity loss, and eco-anxiety, we reconceive community adult education in service of sustainable and regenerative futures. We assert that the environmental crisis is, in part, a design crisis. Drawing on transition design and relationality theory, we approach pedagogy as designing for the transition to the Symbiocene era. In our Canadian comparative case study of a large urban city and a semi-rural community, we derived three pedagogy pathways from the first case and adapted them in the second: the power of story, connecting individual and community needs, and fostering kinship with the natural world. Their interpenetration encouraged adult engagement, overcame resistance, and opened pathways to civic involvement. We describe how the pedagogy developed in each context, then analyze how these pathways manifest transition design. We consider such learning worldmaking: it unleashes self-organizing energies, shifts perception toward communal individuality, and designs us back into the dance of life.
This case study explores the adult learning experience of participants at a food festival, the Local Wild Food Challenge (LWFC). Food festivals, where participants engage in multisensory experiences within a “foodscape,” have the potential to facilitate different informal adult learning processes. Whether incidental or intentional, the learning experienced at the LWFC also fits instrumental and communicative learning paradigms, which are precursors to transformative learning. Learning about and reflecting on new ways to gather, harvest, and prepare wild foods can in turn build the foundation for critical self-reflection around food self-sufficiency, as well as a subtle shift in frames of reference regarding wild foodscapes that lie beyond mainstream corporate food systems. Thus, the study positions the food festival as an important site for informal adult learning, potentially opening participants up to learning about alternative sustainable ways of living.
At the core of the climate calamity is a clash in beliefs, values, knowledge, and actions affecting relationships between humans and the natural world. Although there is an urgent need for systems change, there is also a need to radically reimagine white settler knowledge systems and relationships that are responsible for the climate crisis. This article aims to move the conversation about sustainability and adult learning toward shifts in white settler paradigms and relationships. By sharing findings about transformative adult learning from a qualitative research study that focuses on collaborations between Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqewiyik, and white settler participants in the climate/environmental justice movement in what is colonially known as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, this article argues that real climate action hinges on confronting the worldviews of white supremacy, colonialism, and capitalism. This article highlights the transformative adult learning that has happened through relationships from these movement struggles, and that has affected how participants have shifted their understanding of and actions toward sustainability for climate/environmental justice.
Book Review of: Transformative sustainability education: Reimagining our future (2023) by Elizabeth Lange. Taylor and Francis, 468 pages.
This is a celebration of poetry and learning It is a collective reflection began by Budd Hall asking a number of his generation of Canadian friends and social movement educators for their thoughts about Paulo Freire and poetics. All of us have been influenced by Paulo Freire. We are also all poets or lovers of poetry, and we all were privileged at one time or another to meet and work with Paulo. We have all in our diverse settings felt his spirit as we have worked towards justice as best we could. This piece also contains something very rare indeed, a poem written by Paulo. In this collective reflection we share thoughts about poetry, learning and social justice. We look at Paulo’s own poem to find clues to his thoughts on teaching and change. We welcome your own reflections on poetry, on Paulo and the challenges of social movement learning today.
La littérature scientifique relève la pertinence de développer des programmes de formation professionnelle (FP) en communauté autochtone pour favoriser la justice sociale et l’autodétermination des peuples autochtones. Les quelques programmes de FP offerts en communauté autochtone au Québec nécessitent habituellement un partenariat entre la communauté et un centre de formation professionnelle (CFP), car ces derniers détiennent les autorisations de certification. Dans ces circonstances, la bonne mise en œuvre de ces partenariats est essentielle. Le Conseil scolaire des Premières Nations en éducation des adultes (CSPNEA) a ainsi développé une approche novatrice de partenariat avec des CFP pour délocaliser des programmes en communautés autochtones. Afin de documenter et de diffuser cette approche, nous avons fait l’analyse thématique d’entretiens menés auprès de 23 partenaires de CFP et de communautés autochtones qui l’ont expérimentée. Quatre éléments clés susceptibles de favoriser ce type de partenariats ont été identifiés. Ils seront présentés, discutés et mis en relation dans un modèle pouvant guider les partenariats à venir.
Micro-credentials have become a significant point of discussion in the employment and education landscape, and many interested actors are considering whether to complete, require, or offer micro-credentials. This paper addresses the views and expectations of workers and employers towards micro-credentials in the context of entry roles for Supply Chain Management. The three-fold purpose of the paper is to i) present a background of micro-credentials, ii) explore whether and why micro-credentials are an important part of employment preparation and performance in Supply Chain Management, and iii) provide insightful guidance to actors in the micro-credential ecosystem. As an exploratory study with a differentiated but highly relevant body of participants, this paper advances awareness and understanding of an idiosyncratic and complex circumstance of the micro-credential conversation.
As adult educators in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, public health workers and those with lived experience of drug use create supportive environments and educational programs that foster harm reduction and community empowerment to address the Opioid Crisis. Using Community Empowerment theory as its conceptual framework and an Appreciative Inquiry with public health experts as its methodology, this research study contributes to understanding community-led adult education initiatives for marginalised adults, specifically in public health education. Through this exploration, we examine the working relationships and aspects of community culture, public education, social media and cell phone apps employed for education, communication, and life-saving tools to promote positive social change. Findings provide an overview of the educational work currently being done by public health adult educators, the community, and activist users of drugs and highlight the need to address social determinants of healthcare, including systemic oppression and access to internet technology for community empowerment.
Cet article propose d’appréhender la relation d’encadrement doctoral à travers le prisme du concept de care. Il s’appuie sur une monographie anonymisée faisant intervenir une doctorante en sociologie, sa directrice de thèse, et son entourage scientifique. Suivant un déroulé chronologique, cette monographie révèle d’abord les multiples facteurs de dépendance auxquels sont soumis les doctorants. Elle montre ensuite comment les directeurs de thèse peuvent atténuer cette dépendance par un travail de care ou la renforcer par un manque d’attention, appelé ici discare. Elle met finalement en lumière la fragilité structurelle des garde-fous institutionnels supposés protéger les doctorants. En filigrane, cette monographie indique la reproduction sociale à laquelle participe l’institution doctorale, en sélectionnant, parmi les doctorants souffrant de discare, ceux qui comptent déjà parmi les plus favorisés, et en laissant de côté, les plus vulnérables.
Examining the significance of academic collaborative spaces, specifically writing groups, in supporting the progress of doctoral students, this Field Notes focuses on the challenges posed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors share personal narratives as two doctoral students, Author1 and Author2, who encountered unique circumstances during the pandemic and successfully navigated them by establishing an online co-working community. Grounded in self-determination theory, the authors highlight the importance of addressing the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within a peer writing group. They propose strategies for developing and maintaining relatedness, such as making online acquaintances, building a community, fostering camaraderie, and incorporating a mentorship component. The findings emphasize the significance of consistency, adaptability, and transitioning from online to in-person interactions. The authors conclude with recommendations for graduate students seeking to establish writing groups, emphasizing shared goals, community building, and the passing on of knowledge and mentorship. Overall, this exploration provides valuable insights into creating effective online collaborative spaces for doctoral students, especially in the face of unprecedented challenges like the global pandemic.
This dialogue explores the development and implementation of a microcertificate in trauma‑informed/sensitive pedagogies and practices at the University of Regina. Through a conversation between Nathalie Reid, an assistant professor and director of the Child Trauma Research Centre, and Christie Schultz, dean of the Centre for Continuing Education, the discussion highlights the need for trauma‑informed practices in education and the process of translating research into practical, access‑ible professional development for educators who are themselves adult learners. The dialogue details the origins of the microcertificate, the partnerships that facilitated its creation, and the impact it has had on educators, students, and researchers. Key themes include the importance of co‑creation with stakeholders, flexibility in delivery methods, and the reciprocal relationship between research and practice. This dialogue underscores the potential of continuing education as a vehicle for knowledge mobilization, offering insights into effective strategies for bridging the gap between academic research and practice.
Les dispositifs de reconnaissance des acquis sont promus comme un moyen de contribuer à la justice sociale envers des populations en situation de défavorisation dont font partie les adultes sans diplôme. Le but de cet article est d’examiner, dans une perspective de justice sociale, le parcours de reconnaissance des acquis et des compétences en formation professionnelle (RAC-FP), d’adultes sans diplôme, de l’accueil à l’obtention d’un diplôme d’études professionnelles. L’approche par les capabilités est mobilisée. À partir de données administratives, les résultats d’analyses comparatives montrent que la RAC a le potentiel de contribuer à plus de justice sociale sous certaines conditions.
Teaching multicultural groups of adult learners has become a widespread practice in immigrant-receiving countries. However, not enough was said about the practical strategies for managing these groups, where all the participants may have different cultural values and, consequently, very different ideas about the educational process and the roles of a student and an instructor in it. This article, therefore, presents an effective strategy for creating a supportive learning environment while working with adult immigrant learners from different countries. This approach was developed and tested in practice over years of working with such groups of students in linguistic integration courses in Quebec and can be summarized as follows: treat students on a human level and avoid emphasizing their cultural identity in the educational process.
Young adult Syrians who arrived in Canada with ‘disrupted education’ in recent years are in a vulnerable position as they are transitioned into an education sector designed for independent and self-directed adults. This study examines how Syrian refugee young adults’ agency and freedoms are supported in the adult education (AE) sector in Quebec. Specifically, how do they navigate the AE system to achieve their educational goals? How do they perceive the progress of their learning in the AE system? Data were collected from 10 Syrian students (18-24 years) through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Findings revealed that despite their strong self-motivation and drive to achieve their educational goals, these students are vulnerable due to several factors, among them, the different methods of teaching in Syria and unfamiliarity with independent teaching methods in AE in Quebec that make it difficult to navigate this new system, all whilst having to learn new languages.
L’ouvrage La reconnaissance, la validation et l’accréditation des acquis à l’université d'Yves de Champlain s'inscrit dans le courant des histoires de vie en formation des adultes et offre un témoignage et une vision singulières de la reconnaissance des acquis universitaire avec des exemples de terrain tirés principalement de programmes de baccalauréat en enseignement à l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Il peut être une source d'inspiration pour des acteurs universitaires engagés dans la mise en œuvre de dispositifs de reconnaissance des acquis.
