Laura L. Bierema

A freshly updated and science-based guide for contemporary adult educators In the newly revised second edition of Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice, a team of veteran adult educators delivers an authoritative guide to adult education that is solidly grounded in theory and research while remaining concise and practice oriented. Each chapter is infused with practical applications for instruction you can implement immediately to improve concrete learning outcomes. The authors cover a variety of topics, including adult learning in the contemporary world, traditional learning theories, andragogy, motivation and learning, and more. Readers will also find: Explorations of the brain and cognitive functioning as it applies to adult learnersHow to adapt and improve the adult learning experience in the digital ageLearning and reflection activities integrated throughout each chapter Perfect for master's-level students and practitioners alike, Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice is the up-to-date and practical adult education resource that you've been waiting for.

Rethinking Adult Career Development explores the challenges, transitions, learning, and change adults experience as they navigate careers across their lifetimes. It considers what happens when adults realise they have chosen the wrong career, lose their jobs, experience injustice and discrimination, or are forced to make career shifts for which they are underprepared. Laura L. Bierema discusses careers as lifelong learning, development, and change processes that are individual learning experiences and engagements within organizational, cultural, and community contexts. Chapters distinguish career explorers (those looking for an ideal vocation), from career sustainers (those maintaining their current vocation) and career changers (those seeking to shift to a new vocation). Assessing career development theories, practices, and outcomes using a critical, intersectional, feminist lens, the book emphasizes the importance of a healthy career-life balance. Theoretically grounded, the book also has practical applications, and features prompts for reflective practice to encourage interactive learning. Providing a critical analysis of adult work and career issues, Rethinking Adult Career Development will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of business, human resources and organizational behaviour. Business managers, career advisers, career coaches, team leaders and policymakers will also benefit from the book’s exploration of systematic issues that can broadly affect careers.

Rethinking Adult Career Development explores the challenges, transitions, learning, and change adults experience as they navigate careers across their lifetimes. It considers what happens when adults realise they have chosen the wrong career, lose their jobs, experience injustice and discrimination, or are forced to make career shifts for which they are underprepared. Laura L. Bierema discusses careers as lifelong learning, development, and change processes that are individual learning experiences and engagements within organizational, cultural, and community contexts. Chapters distinguish career explorers (those looking for an ideal vocation), from career sustainers (those maintaining their current vocation) and career changers (those seeking to shift to a new vocation). Assessing career development theories, practices, and outcomes using a critical, intersectional, feminist lens, the book emphasizes the importance of a healthy career-life balance. Theoretically grounded, the book also has practical applications, and features prompts for reflective practice to encourage interactive learning. Providing a critical analysis of adult work and career issues, Rethinking Adult Career Development will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of business, human resources and organizational behaviour. Business managers, career advisers, career coaches, team leaders and policymakers will also benefit from the book’s exploration of systematic issues that can broadly affect careers.

Human Resource Development: Critical Perspectives and Practices is a landmark textbook on HRD scholarship and practice and is a significant departure from the standard HRD texts available. Based on Bierema and Callahan’s framework for critical human resource development, this book develops an understanding of HRD that addresses both key and contested issues of practice associated with relating, learning, changing, and organizing for organizations.This book covers the basic tenets of HRD, interrogates the dominant paradigms and practices of the field, teaches readers how to critically assess HRD practices and outcomes, and provides critical alternatives. The text also addresses HRD as a contested field and the importance for HRD professionals to reflect on their values, maintain their sanity, and retain their employment while attempting to do this difficult work that serves multiple stakeholders.The text weaves in Points to Ponder, Case in Point, and Tips & Tools features and exercises, giving readers an insight into HRD issues across the globe. This critical text offers an exciting alternative to the instrumentalist, managerialist, and masculine perspective of other books.Designed for students and practitioners, this textbook will be essential reading for upper-level courses on human resource development, human resource management, and adult education.

Human Resource Development: Critical Perspectives and Practices is a landmark textbook on HRD scholarship and practice and is a significant departure from the standard HRD texts available. Based on Bierema and Callahan’s framework for critical human resource development, this book develops an understanding of HRD that addresses both key and contested issues of practice associated with relating, learning, changing, and organizing for organizations.This book covers the basic tenets of HRD, interrogates the dominant paradigms and practices of the field, teaches readers how to critically assess HRD practices and outcomes, and provides critical alternatives. The text also addresses HRD as a contested field and the importance for HRD professionals to reflect on their values, maintain their sanity, and retain their employment while attempting to do this difficult work that serves multiple stakeholders.The text weaves in Points to Ponder, Case in Point, and Tips & Tools features and exercises, giving readers an insight into HRD issues across the globe. This critical text offers an exciting alternative to the instrumentalist, managerialist, and masculine perspective of other books.Designed for students and practitioners, this textbook will be essential reading for upper-level courses on human resource development, human resource management, and adult education.

Solidly grounded in theory and research, but concise and practice-oriented, Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice is perfect for master’s-level students and practitioners alike. Sharan Merriam and Laura Bierema have infused each chapter with practical applications for instruction which will help readers personally relate to the material. The contents covers: Adult Learning in Today’s WorldTraditional Learning TheoriesAndragogySelf-Directed LearningTransformative LearningExperience and LearningBody and Spirit in LearningMotivation and LearningThe Brain and Cognitive FunctioningAdult Learning in the Digital AgeCritical Thinking and Critical PerspectivesCulture and Context Discussion questions and activities for reflection are included at the end of each chapter.