As more is discovered about the powerful impact of lifelong learning on adults, educators are changing their views about how, when, and where we learn. Learning is no longer defined only in the context of formal educational settings but in social contexts as well--including families, the workplace, and religious and political groups. In this book, Peter Jarvis explores how learning is, in essence, our lifetime quest to understand personal identity, purpose, and meaning while conforming and adapting to the perceived and real confines of our paradoxical society. Drawing on more than twenty years' experience and research as an adult educator and scholar, Jarvis examines the complex social experience of learning, revealing how culture, gender, race, and other societal factors shape and mold an individual's identity and ability to function in relationships--the basis of all learning.

He reveals how, during this process of developing the social self, we encounter numerous learning paradoxes--such as meaning and truth, being and having, and knowledge and change--that give rise to critical issues and implications for all educators, including teachers, clergy, health professionals, and human resource trainers. The author analyzes, for example, the contradictions of free will and self-directed learning within institutions that are controlled by others--including schools, government, and the workplace. He describes how the very institutions established to promote learning in society--including religion, education, and government--must also thwart learning potential and opportunity in the best interests of the institution--whether preserving democracy, protecting the common good, or preventing anarchy.

He shows how a person's learning can be manipulated in the workplace; for instance, a manager is rewarded for learning reflectively and autonomously in order to lead and make vital decisions, yet also must use the same free will to conform to the mold of those in power. And Jarvis explores the difficult paradox of cultivating creative thinking and reflective action in a society that values tile acquisition of degrees, certificates, and titles over actual learning and growth.