Learning and Sociocultural Contexts

EDITOR'S NOTES (Mary V. Alfred).1. The Promise of Sociocultural Theory in Democratizing Adult Education (Mary V. Alfred). Using the individual or cognitive perspective to guide the practice of adult education tends to ignore the wider sociocultural contexts that shape learners' experiences and perceptions about the adult learning environment.2. Cross-Cultural Mentoring as a Context for Learning (Juanita Johnson-Bailey, Ronald M. Cervero). Cross-cultural mentoring relationships serve as a rich context for learning and development, institutional socialization, and development of cross-cultural competency.3. Socialization and Immigrant Students' Learning in Adult Education Programs (Ming-Yeh Lee, Vanessa Sheared). In the field of adult education, issues of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation have received wide attention, to the exclusion of issues of nationality, linguistic diversity, early socialization, and cultural practices.4. The Sociocultural Implications of Learning and Teaching in Cyberspace (Simone Conceicao). Learning within the context of cyberspace offers a safe space for the learner to build community, transform earlier assumptions about learning and cultural practice, and reconstruct identity.5. Sociocultural Contexts of Learning Among Adults with Disabilities (Jovita M. Ross-Gordon). Adult educators must become aware of the basic data on the prevalence of disabilities, the status of adults with disabilities within the worlds of education and work, and the educational practices that have typically shaped their experiences.6. Adult Literacy as Cultural Practice (Barbara Sparks). Programmatic emphasis on the functional needs for adult social roles and individual growth drives a variety of literacy efforts, causing them to ignore authentic literacy activities that are rooted in the life reality of learners or their context-based interests and expertise.7. The Sociocultural Contexts of Learning in the Workplace (Laura L. Bierema). Most adults work for pay during their lifetime, making the organization a significant context for learning. However, organizations and workers have values, cultures, identities, and social norms that coalesce into a complex sociocultural system of work.8. Context: Implications for Learning in Professional Practice (Barbara J. Daley). Continuing education programs play a vital role in offering new, up-to-date information to professionals; however, the context in which professionals practice also has a strong role in framing what they learn and how they use that information to provide services to clients.9. Linking the Personal and the Social for a More Critical Democratic Adult Education (Mary V. Alfred). Literature on adult education has created awareness among educators that diversity matters and has offered myriad suggestions for creating an inclusive environment. Missing from the discussion is the need for educators' self-awareness and sociocultural history, critical reflection of practice, and development of cross-cultural competency.INDEX.