Reflections on the Adult Education Professoriate in Canada

Abstract

Drawing on an autoethnographic approach, we offer a retrospective and current reflection on the Adult Education Professoriate within the Canadian university system. Through our autographic texts as professors within the field of adult education, as well as a review of relevant adult education literature, we consider the historical and current societal and academic trends that informed the growth and associated struggles in this academic program over the past six decades, including the launch of the Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education. Reflecting on lessons from the past, we argue that we need to remain vigilant as professors within Canadian universities and realize that the programs we promote and offer will only thrive if we continue to survive as a valued and visible field of scholarship and practice. We further assert that our survival is contingent upon ramping up our engagement with and educating of colleagues from other disciplines, as well as work and learning contexts.

Keywords

• adult education
• Canada
• higher education
• professoriate