What Edith Stein Can Teach Adult Educators

Abstract

Many think of Edith Stein as a phenomenological philosopher who experienced a dramatic religious conversion, but contemporary adult educators may also look to her as a model for the application of social activism based in theory. This article explores Stein’s continued relevance for adult educators who research and then try to apply key concepts related to transformative learning and social activism. The author first provides a context for her transformative learning experience, describes her social activism in 20th-century Germany, discusses how Stein integrated theory and practice, and then suggests key areas that could inform future research. Edith Stein left an unsurpassed but largely untapped legacy of adult education practice in three key areas for future research: how transformative learning can influence adult educators, the application of social activism in a tumultuous social–political environment, and the integration of theory and practice.

Keywords

adult education transformative learning social action

A cursory and nonscientific review of publicly accessible databases such as Google Scholar yields very few English-language citations of Edith Stein, the adult educator.¹ There should be more. Indeed, there is no dearth of experts in adult education who remind practitioners and students alike of the importance of social justice theory. Social justice regards the “equitable distribution of rights, responsibilities, and assets” (Johnson-Bailey, Baumgartner, & Bowles, 2010, p. 339) and is a common fixture in adult education syllabi, conferences, and articles. While the cast of usual characters in adult education—for example, Dewey, Lindeman, Knowles, Freire, et al.—reminds practitioners of the characteristics of socially conscious adult education, much of social justice work in education has focused on areas other than gender (Johnson-Bailey et al., 2010). Researchers in the field may have overlooked some practitioners who not only helped develop its socially active aspects but also modeled it through their life experiences. One such pioneer was Edith Stein, a forerunner of phenomenological philosophy whose religious conversion story illustrates the power of transformative learning. Her life and death in 20th-century Germany capture many facets of contemporary challenges facing adult educators: finding a voice for the marginalized, maintaining a commitment to excellence in the face of adversity, continuing personal development, and having the courage to stand up to established power elites.

This opinion essay examines how Stein’s transformative life, social activism, and integration of theory and practice make her relevant to contemporary adult educators seeking to follow up their theoretical rhetoric with social reform and meaningful action. The first section describes how my journey in Carmelite spirituality stimulated interest in Edith Stein, including her transformative conversion in post–World War I Germany. This discussion sets the foundation for the second section that examines how her transformation influenced her role as an adult educator. In the third section, Stein’s prescient social activism is explored and segues into the fourth section, concerning the nexus of Stein’s theory and practice. The article concludes by suggesting specific implications for contemporary adult education and how Stein’s life and death can inform future research in adult education.

Background

My own journey to Carmel attracted my interest first in spiritual development and then as an adult educator. Tisdell (2008) describes the intertwined relationship between spirituality and adult education. Edith Stein’s perspective transformation culminated when she read Teresa of Avila’s Life while visiting friends in 1921 (Stein, 2002b, foreword). A transcendental process led to her conversion to Catholicism and had a profound impact on her teaching (Stein, 1985/1986, chronology). Her scholarly journey in phenomenological philosophy was largely stymied by her status as a woman and Jew, leading her to a secondary path along adult education (Ricci, 2010; Stein, 1985/1986, chronology). Her conversion and acceptance in the Catholic Church in 1922 led to some family strife and continued perceptions of cultural suicide—that is, perceptions of betrayal by her community of origin (Batzdorff, 1998; Stein, 1987/1993).² Her death at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942, left a controversial legacy that she, as a trained philosopher, would likely relish.

Given such an eclectic life, it may seem surprising that little is known of Stein’s philosophy of education and how it may inform contemporary research in adult education. Perhaps her philosophical and theological foci have kept her studies of phenomenology and empathy on the periphery of adult education literature. She never earned a professorship in her field due to contemporary gender and religious prejudice, but that did not diminish her lasting influence in German-speaking circles. By 1931, she was an active lecturer and writer centered on the Catholic education of women as well as the “philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and the mysticism of Theresa of Avila” (Stein, 1985/1986, chronology), which complemented her background in transcendental phenomenology (Borden, 2003; Ricci, 2010). Like other contemporary woman scholars such as Mary Parker Follett, Stein spoke widely and often about women’s suffrage, access to education, and feminist philosophy (Stein, 1985/1986, 1959/1987). The relatively recent English translations of her works have opened up a critical opportunity for researchers in adult education to discern her insights into power relationships, the development of students from marginalized populations, and the application of social justice theory.

A Transformative Learner

Edith Stein experienced a perspective transformation that demonstrates Mezirow’s principles and serves as an exemplar for contemporary adult educators. The perspective transformation, as Mezirow (1981) describes it, allowed her to question and reflect upon long-held assumptions about her approach to life. The emancipatory experience consisted of a long period of reflection stimulated by her open-minded phenomenological inquiry and culminated in reading an autobiography by the 16th-century saint, Teresa of Avila. What Stein does brilliantly and distinctively is to demonstrate how that experience transformed her life and her philosophy.

The circumstances of the transformation were inauspicious. Stein was an avowed atheist but actively questioned the Jewish teachings she had received in her conservative upbringing and compared them with Christianity (Stein, 1985/1986, chronology). House-sitting for a Protestant friend during the summer of 1921, she arbitrarily picked up the autobiography. She found it so compelling that she read it all in one sitting (Stein, 1985/1986, chronology). That she decided to examine her own spirituality and life direction significantly contributed to her meaning and development. By changing her perspective on her relationship with the Jewish, Christian, and academic communities, she gained a renewed sense of direction toward self-authorship through continually questioning her beliefs (Baxter Magolda, 2001).³ In this sense, reading a book highlighted the recursive process of transformation of Stein’s beliefs. But it was not a simple path.

The nature of Stein’s transformative experience consisted of reflection upon her past meaning perspectives and relating them to her current lived realities. Stein (1985/1986) questioned closely held cultural perspectives regarding death, atonement, and religious observances. Her niece confirms that Stein, while staunchly proud of her heritage, did question fundamental premises of the orthodox Jewish faith of her ancestors, albeit based upon an incomplete understanding of Judaic history and theology (Batzdorff, 1998). For instance, Stein (1987/1992, 2002a) pondered how the Day of Atonement was fulfilled in Jesus’ sacrifice, but she failed to understand her mother’s practice of seeking the forgiveness of loved ones before attending synagogue on that holy day (Batzdorff, 1998). Through a series of experiences Stein, the atheist, began to question how her philosophical background in transcendental phenomenology fell short of her own needs for seeking truth and knowledge (Borden, 2003), particularly in the tumultuous world during and after the First World War. Stein found herself drawn to the strength of Christian faith when her Protestant friend gracefully and resolutely coped with the news of the battlefield death of her husband. Observing an elderly woman casually entering a Catholic church to converse with God as her friend countered Stein’s previous experiences with Protestant and Jewish places of worship that the faithful tended to visit only on Sabbath days (Stein, 2002a). This strength sourced in religious faith coupled with accessibility puzzled the philosopher, causing her to inquire deeper. While she wrote sparingly of her conversion, the culmination of this process over a number of years appears to be her reading Saint Teresa of Avila’s autobiography in 1921. Put metaphorically, Stein had embarked in a small boat fueled by her unquenchable philosophical curiosity and honed by the openness of phenomenological inquiry. As she saw others at sea deal with storms, she realized that she was not alone and that she could also confront tempests with an inner calm through faith. Reading the autobiography and exclaiming its truthful alignment with her epistemic experience indicated a beacon on shore signaling her berthing point in Carmelite spirituality. In this context, reading the book was a culmination of experience, confirming a path of transformation trod over time and space rather than an acute conversion. As a result of this transformative process, she converted to Catholicism in 1922 and eventually acquired new perspectives largely Carmelite in nature: seeking purity of heart and presence with Jesus (Healy, 1990/2010).

This pilgrimage produced a new person, fulfilled in a new way that satisfied her personal yearning for inner peace and transcendental truth. Stein (1987/1992) acquired new perspectives centered on a refinement of her lifelong search for purity and truth, much as she saw Jesus having “transformed the liturgy of the Old Covenant into that of the New” (p. 11). For example, Stein’s (2002a) postconversion perspectives on education became firmly rooted in Catholic magisterium⁴ while maintaining her search for truth:

Surely it is most important that the teachers truly have this spirit [of Christ] themselves and vividly exemplify it. At the same time they also need to know life as the children will find it. Otherwise there will be a great danger …. (p. 87)

Educators must actively model these virtues, so their students will not question the credibility of their teachers and discard the entire curriculum. In other words, educators of young women need to practice what they preach, and her conversion fortified that holistic educational philosophy. What Stein’s conversion experience illustrates is that transformative learning over a life span is highly personal, entailing a complex interaction of deep reflection of diverse life experiences over time. Not only did personal life events perhaps trigger some of her deeply held inclinations toward contemplative life, but she also reflected upon her life course and the direction in which she chose to proceed as a woman and adult educator.

As a result of this transformative learning experience, Edith Stein converted to Catholicism, became a lay religious educator, and eventually entered a Carmelite convent. During the tempestuous years of 1928–1932 in Europe, she continued to actively engage local communities by providing lectures that promoted social development and educational opportunity for women: voting rights for women, citizenship development, and Catholic education (Baseheart, 1989). By applying the concepts of transformative learning before the term was coined, Stein’s life demonstrates how adult educators can deliberately pave new trails in adult learning and development.

Stein’s transformative learning experiences affected her so deeply that they affected her the remainder of her life. The depth and breadth of these influences not only indicate transformation over time; they strike a chord with contemporary adult educators who continue the struggle to empower marginalized students with a unique voice (Hoggan, 2015). Stein’s (1987/1993) letters particularly describe a courageous woman who—even when on her way to Auschwitz and certain death in accordance with Nazi social policies—defies anyone who may stereotype her, her students, or her faith. A feminist ahead of her time, Stein (1959/1987) realized that women have unique experiences of development that cannot necessarily be extrapolated to men (Brooks, 2000).

Social Activism in War-torn Germany

Let woman equal be with man,

So loud this suffragette avers,

In days to come we surely can

See that a Cab’net post is hers. (Stein, 2002a, p. 94)

Edith Stein embodied the spirit of these verses she wrote when she entered university as one of the few women students in Germany during the first decades of the 20th century. For her, social justice was more than a concept; it was a way of life to improve the human community (Maskulak, 2012; Stein, 1987/1993). While she used terms such as “responsibility” and “conviction” (Stein, 1985/1986, p. 191) to describe her activism, the goal was fundamentally the same as contemporary social justice theory: removal of barriers to equitable distribution of power, rights, and responsibility for all people (Johnson-Bailey et al., 2010; Maskulak, 2012). She actively taught adult education classes in spelling and English at the Humboldt Society for Adult Education between 1911 and 1913 (Stein, 1985/1986). In this sense, Stein (1985/1986) used activist organizations such as the Prussian Society for Women’s Right to Vote as vehicles for her agenda of improving the state by working for gender equality. By working for such causes that would not only impact herself but her students as well, Stein illustrated the capacity of adult educators to influence public policy and social reforms.

In this context of activism, Stein embodied the ideal of contemporary education: empowering citizens to take action to improve the society around them in a positive way. For example, her involvement in a grassroots student group that criticized the inadequate teacher education programs contributed to the eventual establishment of teacher colleges in Germany (Stein, 1985/1986). Informed by her activism and phenomenological perspective, she saw adult learners as critical participants, investors, and benefactors of adult education programs. In this sense, adult education for Stein was not just a social program—it was a way of life.

Stein’s personal life course led her to conversion and a calling to serve others as a Catholic contemplative religious, linking faith to lifelong learning. Stein (1987/1993) discussed the relationship between faith and death experienced in her life, that faith sustains one—and, by extension, loved ones—through suffering and death. She established this premise in her own life as a Carmelite. In Letter 129 dated December 26, 1932, she proclaimed, “That is a fundamental premise of all religious life, above all of the life of Carmel, to stand proxy for sinners through voluntary and joyous suffering, and to cooperate in the salvation of humankind” (Stein, 1987/1993, p. 128). In other words, the students she would now teach became the world’s population, needing reform and healing—and she was ready to serve and die for them. Stein’s initial commitment to liberating the voice of women, then, expanded after her conversion to include all marginalized persons transcending historical and social contexts.

Philosophy of Education for Women—Nexus of Theory and Practice

Slattery (1998) suggests that Stein’s work has significant potential contributions to adult education literature: “When scholars extract from the corpus of her works her educational theories, she will take her place with the great educationists like Maria Montessori, John Dewey and Paolo Friere” (p. 128). Thus far, this article has discussed Stein’s transformative learning experience and her philosophical approach toward adult education. This section probes deeper into her active application of theory to elicit effective learning by her students. Three areas comprise a foundation to better understand Stein’s integration of theory and practice.

The first area concerns her phenomenological approach to complex relationships in pedagogical environments. Phenomenology is largely concerned with a humanist philosophy of education, centering on unique social–cultural phenomena (Elias & Merriam, 1980/1995/2005). For Stein, the phenomenon studied was a unique individual composed of mind, body, and spirit, trying to achieve an intimate union with God in a complex system of interrelationships (Maskulak, 2012; Stein, 1922/2000). Ricci (2010) recognizes that Stein played a critical—if not often disregarded—role in editing and organizing Husserl’s “lectures and notes on internal time consciousness” (Ricci, 2010, p. 423) for eventual public consumption. Espousing Husserl’s transcendental approach, Stein embraced an “empathic” (p. 419) facet to philosophical inquiry. Her seldom-referenced phenomenological study on the philosophical and social nature of the state, An Investigation Concerning the State (1925/2006), was published the same year as Hitler’s Mein Kampf and exemplified a pervasive theme for Stein: A dense counternarrative voice muffled but not quashed in a tumultuous sea of ideologically driven surges for power and oppression.

Stein (1987/1993) eventually concluded that education for women is all about the development of personality and identity in an environment that provides them the confidence to emancipate themselves (Baseheart, 1989).⁵ For Stein, the teacher’s primary role is to help learners develop “gifts and talents and find their own place in the community of the classroom where they can also discover how they can contribute to this community” (Maskulak, 2012, p. 74). In other words, women should learn in student-centered environments. Her dissertation published before her conversion further illustrates how she, as an atheist, could view adult education with an open mind so crucial in phenomenology:

I can experience values empathically and discover correlative levels of my person, even though my primordial experience has not yet presented an opportunity for their exposure. He who has never looked a danger in the face himself can still experience himself as brave or cowardly in the empathic representation of another’s situation. (Stein, 2002a, p. 81)

Put another way, experience matters in adult relationships, and we can learn a lot by reflecting upon them. With her phenomenological background, Stein’s analysis of the educational needs of women served to set the foundation of feminist methodologies.

The second area in which Stein contributed to adult education practice was in feminist pedagogy. While some feminists focus on the individual’s response to society, Stein embodied more of a liberation model of feminism. She examined and criticized the structural power relations and oppression based on gender in order to promote social justice, cultivate communal hope through discourse, and understand the role of the state (Baseheart, 1989; Elias & Merriam, 1980/1995/2005; Huttunen & Murphy, 2012; Maskulak, 2012). In describing a theory of education for women after her conversion to Catholicism, she focused on the holistic development of the soul rather than the body but still highlighted the importance of developing a sense of empathic understanding in young women (Stein, 2002a, 2002b, 2005).⁶ This process inferred that schools must teach “girls to know and understand the world and people, and learn how to associate with them …” (Stein, 2002a, p. 112). In other words, religious education was necessary to integrate both emotional and intellectual development for women. Furthermore, attaining spiritual meaning remains a key goal of lifelong learning, one that intimately links to personal power (Stein, 2005). In this context, Stein (2005) seemed to believe that education involved an integral linkage among spiritual life, intellectual development, and freedom of choice:

Everything that penetrates into the interiority of the soul is an appeal or a call to the person, an appeal to the person’s intellect, i.e., to that power which “understands” what is happening; an appeal also to reflection [Besinnung], i.e., to that power which searches for the meaning of that which approaches the soul; and an appeal to freedom, since even the intellectual search for meaning is already free activity. However, beyond this the soul is required to behave and act in accordance with the meaning for which it searches. (Italics in original, p. 186)

This excerpt illustrates how Stein tended to use dense, academic language from her philosophical background to describe that which was most important to her: education as a tool to facilitate the trek toward holiness. That she promoted such self-empowerment during the Nazi ascent only seems to boost—rather than limit—the wide attraction of Stein’s philosophy of adult education.

Another area which Stein continues to influence is the role of identity in adult education. Her social activism with suffragist groups—for example, Prussian Society for Women’s Right to Vote, Leagues for School Reform, Academic Branch of the Humboldt Society for Adult Education, and the German Democratic Party—in an authoritarian society illustrates her proactive approach to secure democratic rights for the underprivileged (Maskulak, 2012). More specifically, she believed that education should not be male dominated, that women have significant contributions to make in “teaching, research, and administration” (Baseheart, 1989, p. 121). Stein’s (1985/1986) call for women’s voices to be heard in the suffragist movement presaged future research regarding the value of internal voice in women’s education (Hayes, 2000). While some argue that Stein was a martyr for her Catholic faith, others claim that her death was inevitable because of her Jewishness—nonetheless plowing fertile ground for continued Christian–Jewish discourse (Borden, 2003; Holc, 2011).⁷ One may even find that Saint Edith Stein is smiling from Heaven, relishing the constructive dialogue her life and death have elicited.

Implications and Conclusion

So far, this article has examined Stein’s transformative learning experiences and their effect upon her pedagogical philosophy, her social activism in an authoritarian environment, and her distinctive capability to integrate theory and practice as an adult educator. These topics logically link to a discussion of key implications for contemporary researchers and practitioners in adult and continuing education.

Implications for Adult Educators

Stein’s life experiences and her written work provide a fertile ground for further research in adult education literature. Her original works highlight critical challenges with which adult educators still wrestle. For example, how can spiritual growth and social change be integrated into the adult education environment (English, 2005; Tisdell, 2002)? Can “emotion-laden images” (Dirkx, 2006, p. 15) promote identity development through experiential reflection and a mindful process of self and social awareness over a life span (Barner & Barner, 2011)? How can adult educators promote an openness to diversity of thought and culture in learning environments (Barbosa & Amaral, 2010)? Not only does she address key topics still confronted by contemporary practitioners—that is, particularly venues for transformative learning—but she also can shed light on the international context of adult education, particularly for American researchers.

Ultimately, Stein sought the truth, and her sights kept going higher as she developed. Perhaps this transformation is no more evident than in her poetry after her conversion. Rather than a woman concerned about the precision of dense philosophical terms, she emerges as a confident and insightful spiritual director who is ready to point the way to truth, as she has come to know it with an alluring effervescence:

There remains the bond that binds heart to heart,

The stream of life that springs from yours

And animates each limb.

How wonderful are your gracious wonders!

All we can do is be amazed and stammer and fall silent

Because intellect and words fail. (Stein, 1987/1992, p. 139)

Table 1 shows some possible linkages between Stein’s work and contemporary research in adult education. These linkages demonstrate that Stein has more to contribute to the field and challenges scholars to find other pioneers they may have missed. Furthermore, Stein serves as a model for contemporary adult educators and challenges them to—like she did—have the courage to develop as citizens who speak out for the disenfranchised.

Table 1.

Some Adult Education Themes and Potential Areas for Further Research in Edith Stein’s Work.

Theme	Related Works by Edith Stein	Contemporary Authors in Related Areas
Value of spiritual awareness and mindfulness to adult learners and their mentors	Self-Portrait in Letters (1987/1993); The Hidden Life (1987/1992)	Tisdell (1999, 2002, 2003, 2008); Barner and Barner (2011); English (2005)
Self-authored voices for marginalized learners, especially women	Self-portrait in Letters (1987/1993)	Baxter Magolda (2001, 2007, 2008); Hayes (2000); Johnson-Bailey (2010)
Issues of gender, power, prejudice, and professional status in academia and adult learning	Life in a Jewish Family (1985/1986); The Interiority of the Soul (2005)	Hayes (2000); Tisdell (1999, 2002, 2003)
Social aspects of development and meaning transfer	Essays on Woman (1959/1987); An Investigation Concerning the State (1925/2006); Philosophy of Psychology and the Humanities (1922/2000)	Kroger and McLean (2011)
Significance of woman citizens for community—liberation feminism	Essays on Woman (1959/1987); Self-Portrait in Letters (1987/1993)	Hart (2012); Tisdell (2002); Hooks (1995)
Integration of emotional aspects in adult learning	Essays on Woman (1959/1987)	Dirkx (2001, 2006)
The philosophical and social role of the state in religious and citizenship education for adult learners; philosophical foundations of adult education	An Investigation Concerning the State (1925/2006); Philosophy of Psychology and the Humanities (1922/2000); Finite and Eternal Being (2002b)	Elias and Merriam (1980/1995/2005); Tisdell (1999, 2002, 2003, 2008); Borden (2003)
Spiritual awareness as a learning experience	Self-Portrait in Letters (1987/1993)	Tisdell (1999, 2002, 2003, 2008); English (2005)
Application of social justice theory from a feminist perspective	Essays on Woman (1959/1987)	Barbosa and Amaral (2010); Omiunota (2008); Johnson-Bailey, Baumgartner, and Bowles (2010)
Application of phenomenological methodology in adult education research	All	Eyring (1998); Stanage (1986); Yorks and Kasl (2002); Borden (2003)
Applying transformative learning experiences to pedagogy in depth, breadth, and identity development	All	Mezirow (1978, 1981, 1997, 2003); Cranton (1994); Taylor (2008); Hoggan (2015); Dirkx (2001, 2006); Bridwell (2012); Merriam and Clark (2006)

Note. These linkages are meant to suggest areas for further research rather than depict all specific relationships. Several authors will delve into many of the topics addressed here. Indeed there are many more potential topics, authors, sources, and linkages than proposed. “All” refers to all Stein works referenced in this article.

Conclusion

Edith Stein left an unsurpassed but largely untapped legacy of adult education practice in three key areas for future research: how transformative learning can influence an adult educator, the application of social activism in a tumultuous social–political environment, and the integration of theory and practice in a field that often prefers the former. Her value to the field of adult education will continue to grow as more research refers to her corpus of work. A pioneer in feminist pedagogy, Edith Stein was an adult educator ahead of her times.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

This article is not being considered for publication by any other entity. The author has received no pecuniary incentive to publish this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

References

Barbosa

Amaral

(2010). Adult education, narratives and cultural values. International Journal of Learning and Change, 4, 263–268.

Barner

R. W.

Barner

C. P.

(2011). Mindfulness, openness to experience, and transformational learning. In Hoare

(Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of reciprocal adult development and learning (2nd ed., pp. 347–362). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Baseheart

M. C.

(1989). Edith Stein’s philosophy of woman and of women’s education. Hypatia, 4, 120–131.

Batzdorff

S. M.

(1998). Aunt Edith: The Jewish heritage of a Catholic saint. Springfield, IL: Templegate Publishers.

Baxter Magolda

M. B.

(2001). Making their own way: Narratives for transforming higher education to promote self-development. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Baxter Magolda

M. B.

(2007). Self-authorship: The foundation for twenty-first-century education. In Meszaros

(Ed.), Self-authorship: Advancing students’ intellectual growth (pp. 69–83). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Baxter Magolda

M. B.

(2008). Three elements of self-authorship. Journal of College Student Development, 49, 269–284. doi:10.1353/csd.0.0016

Borden

(2003). Edith Stein. London, England: Continuum.

Bridwell

S. D.

(2012). A constructive-developmental perspective on the transformative learning of adults marginalized by race, class, and gender. Adult Education Quarterly, 63, 127–146. doi:10.1177/0741713612447854

10.

Brooks

A. K.

(2000). Transformation. In Hayes

Flannery

D. D.

Brooks

A. K.

Tisdell

E. J.

Hugo

J. M.

(Eds.), Women as learners: The significance of gender in adult learning (pp. 139–153). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

11.

Cranton

(1994). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide for educators of adults. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

12.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2001). Images, transformative learning the work of soul. Adult Learning, 12, 15–16.

13.

Dirkx

J. M.

(2006). Engaging emotions in adult learning: A Jungian perspective on emotion and transformative learning. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 109, 15–26. doi:10.1002/ace.204

14.

Elias

J. L.

Merriam

S. B.

(1980/1995/2005). Philosophical foundations of adult education (3rd ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company.

15.

English

L. M.

(2005). Historical and contemporary explorations of the social change and spiritual directions of adult education. Teachers College Record, 107, 1169–1192.

16.

Eyring

(1998). How close is close enough? Reflections on the experience of doing phenomenology. In deMarrais

(Ed.), Inside stories (pp. 139–150). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

17.

Hart

(2012). Factors associated with student persistence in an online program of study: A review of the literature. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11, 19–42.

18.

Hayes

(2000). Voice. In Hayes

Flannery

D. D.

(Eds.), Women as learners: The significance of gender in adult learning (pp. 79–109). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

19.

Healy

(1990/2010). Prophet of fire. Rome, Italy: Edizioni Carmelitane.

20.

Hoggan

(2015, 05). Bringing clarity to transformative learning research. In Zacharakis

Collins

R. A.

(Eds.), Proceedings of the 56th Annual Adult Education Research Conference (pp. 198–203). Manhattan, KS: KSU College of Education.

21.

Holc

J. P.

(2011). The remembered one: Memory activism and the construction of Edith Stein’s Jewishness in post-communist Wroclaw. Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, 29, 67–97.

22.

Hooks

(1995). Feminism and militarism: A comment. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 23, 58–64.

23.

Huttunen

Murphy

(2012). Discourse and recognition as normative grounds for radical pedagogy: Habermasian and Honnethian ethics in the context of education. Studies in Philosophy & Education, 31, 137–152. doi:10.1007/s11217-012-9285-8

24.

Johnson-Bailey

(2010). Learning in the dimension of otherness: A tool for insight and empowerment. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 126, 77–88. doi:10.1002/ace.373

25.

Johnson-Bailey

Baumgartner

L. M.

Bowles

T. A.

(2010). Social justice in adult and continuing education: Laboring in the fields of reality and hope. In Kasworm

C. E.

Rose

A. D.

Ross-Gordon

J. M.

(Eds.), Handbook of adult and continuing education (2010th ed., pp. 339–349). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.

26.

Kroger

McLean

(2011). Identity narratives during the adult years: Development and learning. In Hoare

(Ed.), The Oxford handbook of reciprocal adult development and learning (2nd ed., pp. 173–185). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

27.

Maskulak

(2012). Edith Stein: A proponent of human community and a voice for social change. Logos, 15, 64–83.

28.

Merriam

S. B.

Clark

M. C.

(2006). Learning and development: The connection in adulthood. In Hoare

(Ed.), Handbook of adult development and learning (pp. 27–51). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

29.

Mezirow

(1978). Perspective transformation. Adult Education, 28, 100–110. doi:10.1177/074171367802800202

30.

Mezirow

(1981). A critical theory of adult learning and education. Adult Education, 32, 3–24.

31.

Mezirow

(1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 74, 5–12.

32.

Mezirow

(2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1, 58–63. doi:10.1177/1541344603252172

33.

Omiunota

N. U.

(2008). Teachers’ reflections on pedagogies that enhance learning in an online course on teaching for equity and social justice. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 7, 227–255.

34.

Ricci

G. R.

(2010). Husserl’s assistants: Phenomenology reconstituted. History of European Ideas, 36, 419–426. doi:10.1016/j.histeuroideas.2010.07.002

35.

Slattery

(1998). The springs of Carmel: An introduction to Carmelite spirituality. New York, NY: Alba House.

36.

Stanage

S. M.

(1986). “Unrestraining” liberty: Adult education and the empowerment of persons. Adult Education Quarterly, 36, 123–129. doi:10.1177/0001848186036003001

37.

Stein

(1959/1987). Essays on woman. In Gelber

Leuven

(Eds.), & Oben

F. M.

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (1st ed., Vol. 2, pp. 1–290). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

38.

Stein

(1985/1986). Life in a Jewish family. In Gelber

Leuven

(Eds.), & Koeppel

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 1, pp. 1–548). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

39.

Stein

(1987/1992). The hidden life: Hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts. In Gelber

Linssen

(Eds.), & Stein

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 4, pp. 1–156). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

40.

Stein

(1987/1993). Self-portrait in letters: 1916-1942. In Gelber

Leuven

(Eds.), & Koeppel

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 5, pp. 1–357). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

41.

Stein

(1922/2000). Philosophy of psychology and the humanities. In Sawicki

(Ed. & Trans.) & Baseheart

M. C.

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 7, pp. 1–329). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

42.

Stein

(1925/2006). An investigation concerning the state. In Sawicki

(Ed. & Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 10, pp. 1–194). Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

43.

Stein

(2002a). Edith Stein: Essential writings. J. Sullivan, OCD (selection & introduction). Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

44.

Stein

(2002b). Finite and eternal being: An attempt at an ascent to the meaning of being. In Gelber

Leuven

(Eds.), & Reinhardt

K. F.

(Trans.), The collected works of Edith Stein (Vol. 9, pp. 1–528).Washington, DC: ICS Publications.

45.

Stein

(2005). The interiority of the soul. Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 8, 183–193. doi:10.1353/log.2005.0022

46.

Taylor

E. W.

(2008). Transformative learning theory. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 119, 5–15. doi:10.1002/ace.301

47.

Tisdell

E. J.

(1999). The spiritual dimension of adult development. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 84, 87–95.

48.

Tisdell

E. J.

(2002). Spiritual development and cultural context in the lives of women adult educators for social change. Journal of Adult Development, 9, 127–140.

49.

Tisdell

E. J.

(2003). Exploring spirituality and culture in adult and higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

50.

Tisdell

E. J.

(2008). Spirituality and adult learning. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 119, 27–36.

51.

Yorks

Kasl

E. S.

(2002). Toward a theory and practice for whole-person learning: Reconceptualizing experience and the role of affect. Adult Education Quarterly, 52, 176–192. doi:10.1177/0741713602052003002