Learning in Adulthood : A Comprehensive Guide

Rating:
Summary: Indispensible!
Review: An all-inclusive study of adult learning by two of the field's leading writers, this text covers substantial ground in exploring the theory and practice of its subject. All facets of learning are covered: psychological, social context, process, theories, models, and key concepts. The book provides up-to-date information on topics such as andragogy, self-directed learning, and transformational learning, and on important background theories like post-modernism, feminism, emotional intelligence, spirituality, and critical theory. The text is enriched with tables and diagrams, 69 pages of references, and author and subject indices. The authors' personal reflections on ethics and the integration of theory and practice help enliven the factual chapters. This rich text is arguably the most important single-source resource in the field of adult learning. Never far from reach (I refer to it as my "bible"), seldom a day goes by when I do not refer to it for clarification of a theory or concept, to discover background reading, or to compare or cross-reference resources. Easy to read and offering depth as well as breadth, adult educators of all stripes-students at all levels, novice and veteran practitioners-can benefit from this book. I am pressed to think of a single negative remark-only that it will grow dated quickly if it is not regularly revised (nearly a decade lapsed between the 1st and 2nd editions), as the adult learning field is in a growth spurt and changing rapidly.

Rating:
Summary: Not comprehensive in any way
Review: This book was assigned for a class in Adult Education, and was painfully inappropriate as a text. Merriam does not bother to explain many of the fundamental and seminal theories in Adult Education, and when she does, she spends twice the time explaining the critiques of these theories than she does the theories themselves. Many of the critiques are either unjustified or based on a misunderstanding or misapplication of the theory, as well

Aside from teh lack of comprehensive, in depth coverage of the field, the author's personal baises shine through in the content and toneof this book. Fields in which they have done research are emphasised in severla chapters and the "comprehensive" discussion of other topics often read like journal articles where the authors are only mentioning contrary thoeries to debunk them in support of their own hypothesis.

This book is barely adequate at introducing a new student of Adult Ed into the realm of theory. I would advise those that are not already followers of Merriam and Caffarella's school of thought to take this book with a grain of salt. And I would advise their followers to look elsewhere for a a balance to the biased perspective they present.