Biographical learning: two decades of research and discussion

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of biographical learning and reviews previous research on the subject. Several tensions between different versions of the concept are recognized, and a wide range of research areas in which the concept has been used are identified and presented. The general idea in the biographical learning tradition regarding the occurrence of general conceptions of one’s biography, as well as the idea of narrative coherence, is discussed critically. New areas of research are suggested.

Keywords:

• adult learning
• adult education
• lifelong learning
• biographical learning

Notes

1. The German discussion on the subject is extensive, and there are related discussions within French-speaking countries and in other speech communities. The present review covers only articles written in English however.

2. Probably the author addresses a particular German discussion here (cf. Alheit 1992).