Knowledge and Power in Adult Education: Beyond Freire and Habermas

Abstract

The incorporation of work by Freire and Habermas into adult education theory has contributed to the development of concepts such as "communicative competence" and "transformative education." This contribution has generated a lively and spirited debate within the field of adult education. My purpose is to extend the debate to include an analysis of the role of power and knowledge in educational theory. By examining the contribution of postmodern social and cultural theories to adult education, I argue that (a) adult educators not lose sight of the connection between knowledge and power, (b) all individuals in educational settings occupy multiple subject positions through which they construct a complex and often contradictory understanding of their life world, and (c) that adult educators be attuned to the various ways in which power is deployed through their own discourse about particular discipline-specific knowledge.

A beautiful metaphor: transformative learning theory

“…Criticisms of the third type are those that involve a rejection of the theory from a conflicting philosophical standpoint. In this category, Pietrykowski (1996) and Clark and Wilson (1991) have argued that Mezirow's theory of transformative learning is too modernist and emancipationist. Given that Mezirow has a stated orientation as an emancipationist, the argument then becomes an argument for-oragainst an emancipationist viewpoint, and is a difference of philosophical standpoints, rather than a coming to terms with the substance of the theory itself (Mezirow, 2000).…”

Measuring Participation as Communicative Action: A Case Study of Citizen Involvement in and Assessment of a City's Smoking Cessation Policy-Making Process

“…Parallels between Freire's and Habermas's work have been noted despite many differences in their aims and conceptual tools (Morrow & Torres, 2002; Pietrykowski, 1996; Ramella & De La Cruz, 2000). The TCA is intended to be as sensitive to authenticity and empowerment as is Freire's approach, even if it has been developed at a more abstract theoretical level.…”

Toward a postmodern pedagogy

“…The adult education classroom is situated within an institution with normative rules of behavior; but teachers and students actively establish, maintain, reinforce, and break these rules (Usher, Bryant, and Johnston, 1997). Knowledge itself is the exercise of power (Pietrykowski, 1996). To know is to produce meaning, and the production of meaning is the production of power.…”