The Voices of Adult Education

Abstract

This special issue is the result of an invitation sent by the co-editors of Adult Learning to adult education learners, researchers, and practitioners to share their stories in autoethnographic narratives that reveal their experiences and knowledge of adult education classrooms, research settings, community organizations, and other arenas. Autoethnography “seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno)” (Ellis et al., 2011, para. 1). The articles in this issue set personal stories within an adult education context, making connections between the theory and practice of the field. Our goals for the special issue were (a) to contribute a clear understanding of autoethnography as method and methodology and (b) to portray its adoption in adult learning and education. Autoethnography embraces the researcher’s experiences (Ellis et al., 2011), while the author approaches their experiences analytically, informed by the research literature and using theoretical and methodological tools. Autoethnographers create a narrative that can be a relational learning experience for the writer, the story participants, and the readers. Narrative is a source of wisdom, a way of communicating, an inquiry process, a tool for sharing knowledge, and a way of being and becoming. People learn by listening to stories, telling stories, and understanding the stories of which we are a part. Stories are powerful and engaging as they appeal to readers on a basic human level. Narrative learning has a place in adult learning because stories enable us to make meaning out of our experiences and lives (Bochner & Ellis, 2016a, 2016b; Clark, 2010; Clark & Rossiter, 2008; Rogers-Shaw, 2020). Meaning making is central to adult learning (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020). Autoethnography appeals to “students and seasoned scholars whose personal connection to “ ADULT EDUCATION’S