Patricia Cranton

Patricia Cranton is a retired Professor of Adult Education, currently affiliated with the University of New Brunswick in Canada and Teachers College at Columbia University. She has been Professor of Adult Education at Penn State University at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the U.S., St. Francis Xavier University, University of New Brunswick, and Brock University in Canada, and Associate Professor at McGill University. Some of Patricia Cranton’s recent books include Planning Instruction for Adult Learners (3rd edition, 2012), Becoming an Authentic Teacher (2001), Finding our Way: A Guide for Adult Educators (2003), Understanding and Promoting Transformative Learning (2nd edition, 2006), A Guide to Research for Educators and Trainers of Adults (3rd edition, 2014, with Sharan Merriam), and Stories of Transformative Learning (2014, with Michael Kroth). Patricia was the co-editor of The Handbook of Transformative Learning (2012, with Ed Taylor). She has edited five New Directions in Adult and Continuing Education volumes, most recently Authenticity in Teaching (2006) and Reaching out across the Border: Canadian Perspectives in Adult Education (with Leona English, 2009). Patricia has taught courses in the area of transformative learning since 1994. She was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Adult and Continuing Education in 2014.

Publications

Transformative Learning in an Online Environment

The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for fostering transformative learning in an online environment. It provides an overview of transformative learning theory...

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

The research on multitasking is scattered across disciplines, and the definitions of multitasking vary according to the discipline. As a result, the research is not coherent nor...

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

The research on multitasking is scattered across disciplines, and the definitions of multitasking vary according to the discipline. As a result, the research is not coherent nor...

Teachers as Researchers: Participatory and Action Research

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce readers to how teachers can be taught about research in ways that are meaningful for them and relevant to their practice. The three...

Transformative Learning and Technology in Adult and Vocational Education

Adult learners often fear that they will be unable to find work if they are lacking in technological skills. The media, including newspapers, magazines, and advertisements for...

Foreword

This Foreword is included in the book Handbook of Research on Learning Outcomes and Opportunities in the Digital Age.

Teachers as Researchers: Participatory and Action Research

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce readers to how teachers can be taught about research in ways that are meaningful for them and relevant to their practice. The three...

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

The research on multitasking is scattered across disciplines, and the definitions of multitasking vary according to the discipline. As a result, the research is not coherent nor...

Measuring and Analyzing Informal Learning in the Digital Age

In the twenty-first century, learning—and the definition of education—is changing. New digital, online, and social tools have the ability to transform the classroom and engage...

Informal and Self-Directed Learning in the Age of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

One of the consequences of the new digital age is the development of opportunities for individuals to learn in a variety of new ways. Among these opportunities are Massive Open...

Looking Back and Looking Forward

This chapter reviews the common themes that run through the volume. The authors review the relationship between informal learning and adult and higher education and how the...

The Single Most Popular Theory: Self-Directed Learning as an Effective Adult Learning Model

Although Westerners have used over 200 terms to describe Self-Directed Learning (SDL), few Western scholars realize that educators in Confucius Heritage Cultures (CHC) have...

Foreword

This Foreword is included in the book Handbook of Research on Adult and Community Health Education: Tools, Trends, and Methodologies.

The Single Most Popular Theory: Self-Directed Learning as an Effective Adult Learning Model

Although Westerners have used over 200 terms to describe Self-Directed Learning (SDL), few Western scholars realize that educators in Confucius Heritage Cultures (CHC) have...

Transformative Learning in the Workplace

Using two silent-dialogue scenarios as a basis for discussion, this chapter provides an overview of how workplace learning can be framed by transformative learning theory. Based...

Transformative Learning and Technology in Adult and Vocational Education

Adult learners often fear that they will be unable to find work if they are lacking in technological skills. The media, including newspapers, magazines, and advertisements for...

Adapting Adult Educators' Teaching Philosophies to Foster Adult Learners' Transformation and Emancipation

This chapter argues that adult educators need to adapt their philosophy and their teaching roles to foster adult learners' transformative learning, and it proposes a model...

Participatory Learning in Formal Adult Education Contexts

Formal courses in adult education are most often housed within schools or faculties that include other disciplines such as teacher education, psychology, or training and...

Distributing Power through Curriculum Development

This chapter explores how power can be distributed in the process of curriculum and program development in adult and higher education. As a theoretical framework, the author...

Creating Collaboration in Global Online Learning: Case Studies

In this chapter, the authors address the question of how educators can creative collaborative learning in online courses, especially in those courses that occur in a global...

Cultures and Self-Directed Learning

Although self-directed learning as a theory has been popularized in Western cultures, especially North America, it is in Confucius-Heritage Societies (CHS) that it has been well...

Transformative Learning

The theory of transformative learning has been explored by different theorists and scholars. However, few scholars have made an attempt to make a comparison between...

Transformative Learning in the Workplace

Using two silent-dialogue scenarios as a basis for discussion, this chapter provides an overview of how workplace learning can be framed by transformative learning theory. Based...

Transformative Learning and Technology in Adult and Vocational Education

Adult learners often fear that they will be unable to find work if they are lacking in technological skills. The media, including newspapers, magazines, and advertisements for...

Learning through Teaching: A Narrative Analysis

The authors of this chapter explore how educators learn through teaching based on a transformative learning theoretical framework and a narrative analysis of teaching stories and...

Adapting Adult Educators’ Teaching Philosophies to Foster Adult Learners’ Transformation and Emancipation

This chapter argues that adult educators need to adapt their philosophy and their teaching roles to foster adult learners’ transformative learning, and it proposes a model that...

Participatory Learning in Formal Adult Education Contexts

Formal courses in adult education are most often housed within schools or faculties that include other disciplines such as teacher education, psychology, or training and...

Spiraling into Transformative Learning

This paper explores how technical and vocational learning may spiral into transformative learning. Transformative learning theory is reviewed and the learning tasks of critical...

Transformative Learning in an Online Environment

The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for fostering transformative learning in an online environment. It provides an overview of transformative learning theory...

Becoming an Authentic Community College Teacher

In this paper, a study of how adult vocational educators develop authenticity in their teaching within a Canadian community college context is presented. Six participants from...

Promoting and Implementing Self-Directed Learning (SDL): An Effective Adult Education Model

Although Westerners have used over 200 terms to describe self-directed learning (SDL), it is educators in Confucius heritage cultures (CHC) that have successfully promoted and...

Foreword

This Foreword is included in the book Encyclopedia of Information Communication Technologies and Adult Education Integration.

Working toward Self-Evaluation

I have not met many educators who say that they enjoy the assessment and grading of learners’ work, or find it rewarding. In my research on authentic teaching, when I asked...

Transformative Learning

The theory of transformative learning has been explored by different theorists and scholars. However, few scholars have made an attempt to make a comparison between...

Spiraling into Transformative Learning

This article explores how technical and vocational learning may spiral into transformative learning. Transformative learning theory is reviewed and the learning tasks of critical...

Spiraling into Transformative Learning

This article explores how technical and vocational learningmay spiral into transformative learning. Transformativelearning theory is reviewed and the learning tasks of critical...

Transformative Learning in an Online Environment

The purpose of this article is to explore the potential for fostering transformative learning in an online environment. It provides an overview of transformative learning theory...

Becoming an Authentic Community College Teacher

In this paper, a study of how adult vocational educators develop authenticity in their teaching within a Canadian community college context is presented. Six participants from...

Foreword

This Foreword is included in the book Handbook of Research on E-Learning Applications for Career and Technical Education: Technologies for Vocational Training.