Voice, Discourse and Transformation Enabling learn

Voice,DiscourseandTransformation:EnablinglearningfortheachievingofsocialchangeKarenMcArdlea*andSueMansfieldbaUniversityofAberdeen,UK;bUniversityofDundee,UKThispaperproposesthattransformativesocialchangebycommunityeducatorsisnotachievableunlesstheycanchallengethesocial,economicandpoliticaldiscoursesthathaveanimpactonthepracticeofcommunityeducation.Aseducatorsofcommunityworkers,theauthorsregardthedevelopmentofvoicetobeaprerequisiteforthechallengingofdiscourse.Voiceprovidesthefoundationsforunderstandingwhatitmeanstobewhooneisandhowchangeisneededandpossible.Voice,weargue,isinseparablefromcriticalityandwedrawonBrookfield’s(2000)fourtraditionsofcriticality,inparticularpragmaticconstructivism,tolinkourunderstandingsofvoice.Itisimportant,weconclude,toallowstudentstodevelopdistinctivevoicessothattheybecomecriticallyreflexiveprofessionalswhocanworktowardstransformativesocialchange.Sharedandcontrastingviewsonthedevelopmentofvoicearepresentedinadialogicalformattoreflectthesometimessharedandsometimescontrastingvoicesofthetwoauthors.KMcA&SM:Readerswillnoticeimmediatelythatthispaperdoesnotlooklikemostdo,evencollaborativelywrittenones.Thisisdeliberate.Ourresearchinquiriesarebasedonthesamecriticallyreflexivemethodology(seee.g.Alvesson&Skoldberg,2000;Holland,1999),butthepurposesofthemaredifferent.Webothteachoncoursesinthebroadfieldofcommunity-basededucationwhichdisplaymanysimilaritiesbutwhichleadtodifferentqualificationsandwhicharebasedindifferenthighereducationinstitutions.Wehavefoundthatbothofusareenrichedbyregularlycomingtogethertoengageincriticallyreflexivedialoguesaboutourresearchandteaching.Wehavetried,therefore,toreflectthatdialogical,andinplacesdialectical,natureoftheprocessinthewaywepresentourideashere.Also,giventheimportancethatweattachtotheconceptofvoiceinourworkandthispaper,itseemedparticularlyappropriatetoallowthereadertohearourindividualaswellas*Correspondingauthor:SchoolofEducation,UniversityofAberdeen,King’sCollegeCampus,AberdeenAB245UA,UK.Email:[e-mail]0159-6306(print)/ISSN1469-3739(online)/07/040485-14#2007Taylor&FrancisDOI:10.1080/01596300701625222Discourse:studiesintheculturalpoliticsofeducationVol.28,No.4,December2007,pp.485
498combinedvoices.Wedefinevoiceasthesenseofselfwhichprovidesthelensthroughwhichoneviewstheworld(Chappell,Rhodes,Solomon,Tennant,&Yates,2003).Thusaspartofsurfacingourownvoices,thepaperreflectsandwereflectonourownrespectivesensesofself,anddrawsonourownautobiographiesaswellasourresearch.LifelongLearningiscentraltobothourresearchandourengage-mentwithstudentsinhighereducationstudyingcommunityeduca-tion.CommunitylearninganddevelopmentinScotlandisaprofessionlinkedtooneormoreofthreedisciplines;theseareadulteducation,youthworkandcommunitydevelopment.AmajorcomponentofourworkiswiththosewhoaregoingtoplaykeyrolesinworkingtowardsachievingchangeforindividualsatallstagesoftheirlivesandalsochangeincommunitiesasenvisionedbycurrentGovernmentpolicyinScotland.Change,asdiscussedbyJessonandNewman(2004),canbetracedtothevisionthatorganisersoreducatorsinvolvedhadofasocietythatcouldbemoreequal,freer,andmorehumanlyempower-ing.Itisimportantforcommunityeducatorstohavevision.Walters,Biorg,Mayo,andFoley(2004,p.137)explorethelinkbetweenadulteducationandpoliciesonaglobalscale,sayingthatthemantraofneo-liberalpoliciesisendlesslyrepeated,‘‘adulteducationmusthelpeconomiesbecomelean,meanandinternationallycompetitive.Thisisofcoursenoanalysisatallbutajustificationforasetofpolicies,whichbenefitsomepeopleanddisadvantageothers’’.Itisinthiscontextthatthevisioncommunityeducatorshavemusttakeintoaccountthemeaningsoftheadulteducationdiscoursesofwhichtheybecomeaninstrumentalpart.Aspartofourworkasbothresearchersandtutors,weincreasinglyengageincriticallyreflexivedialoguewitheachotherandwithourstudents.Lifelonglearningasaformofadulteducationhasitsoriginsinthe1970swhen,inacontextofunemploymentanddeindustrialisa-tion,adulteducationsoughttofindsolutionstotheseproblems.Bythe1990stherewasawidespreadconsensusthatcontinuouslifelongeducationandtrainingwasthesinglemostimportantmeansofremainingcompetitiveinaglobaleconomy(Fieldhouse,2001).Thishadtheeffectofexcludingfromthisformofadulteducationthosewhodidnotbelongtowell-organisedinternallabourmarketsandthosewholackedinitialeducationalachievements.Adulteducationbecamelocatedinacontextinwhichtheproblemistheindividualratherthaninthenatureofsocietyandseekstoresolveproblemsbymeetingindividualneedsorcorrectingdeficiencies.Increasingly,thoseofuswhoworkinadulteducationandwhohaveaninterestinlifelonglearninghavereactedtodiscoursesfromtheScottishandBritishgovernmentswhichemphasisesocialexclusionor,indeed,socialinclusion.Exclusionissomethingtobecombated486K.McArdleandS.Mansfieldbecause,assuggestedbyVanderVeen(2000),beingpoor,lonely,criminalormaladjustedisgenerallyundesirable.Inclusioncanbeseenasanarrowvisionofasocietyinwhichtheadoptionofmiddle-classpositionsisseenasinclusioninsociety.Theapproachoflifelonglearningwhichemphasisestheindividualandhis/herneedsordeficithasthepotentialtocreateanewu