What kind of learning? For what purpose? Reflections on a critical adult education approach to online Social Work and Education courses serving Indigenous distance learners

Abstract

This article begins with a critical examination of adult education theory and practice and its engagement (or lack) with Indigenous knowledges and communities. In doing so, the article reveals the contradictions of early citizenry adult education that sought to bring educational programs to the people without a critical examination of the western hegemonic orientation of such programming. The critique then moves to a discussion of transformative learning within adult education emerging in the late 1970s. In tracing the evolution of adult education theory and practice, the critique asks the questions: “Access to what kind of adult education?, and” “For what purposes?” The article then moves to the present and explores contemporary distance education, with an emphasis on online learning that may be aimed at Indigenous adult learners. In particular, the article explores the possibilities of online distance learning to not only bring educational programming to Indigenous communities and thereby building upon the social justice imperative of accessibility, but also to design decolonizing curricula that engages Indigenous knowledges and upholds oral culture.