Annotated Bibliography Written Exercise (Annotated Bibliography Sample)

Annotated Bibliography Written Exercise
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
The understanding of adult learning has undergone various changes and improvements in the past decades. There have been new theories and other modern approaches to adult education and training.  The idea of adult learning is not based on the assumptions that learning is the process of filling knowledge through a vacuum or any other mental processes. Thus, adult learning is derived from a content of a person’s history through social interactions and cultural norms and other daily multi faceted encounters.  The modern context of adult learning and training is based on the new encounters in ones cultural, political, environmental, and social dynamics.
Somatic/Embodied Learning and Adult Education
Embodied learning approach to education is a newer approach to adult learning that requires one to listen to the information acquired through the interaction of self and the environment.  This approach to adult learning involves the involvement of all senses, perception, and the cognitive mind.  It is a matter of action and reaction.  This adult learning and training has taken a post modernist twist.  Thus, the embodied approach to learning has taken a fully inclusive course in adult learning through the recognition of the body as a source of knowledge through the empowerment of the local culture by promoting local diversity and using culture as a tool for learning and research.  
This embodied approach to adult learning has taken a twist as two emergent paths of adult learning have emerged.  This leads to a holistic approach to learning and teaching where curriculum brings the body back to educational theory and practice.  This also recognizes the importance of classrooms and teachers who in turn mold one according to their gender, disability, and race towards a modern adult learning and training society (Kerka 2002).
Through embodied learning approach adult learning has acquired a new dimension in search of holism, practiced based perspectives of adult education by including complexities such as ecological, cybernetics and techno cultural theories.  Thus, the embodied approach considers the role of the mind and spirit in adult learning.  Feminists and multicultural theorists who through adult educators brought the awareness of the body and mind in adult learning spearheaded this.  Thus, they are inseparable and both are using a tool for adult learning.  
They thus not only credited the mind as a source of knowledge but also credited the body for its virtuous role in reclaiming the broader theory of learning. Many theorists view the body as a greater source of knowledge.  This approach is also known as somatic approach incorporates as an existing completely the history of individuals with their current experience.  
Western culture which learning philosophy has been largely based on has largely been separated from the ideals of feminism and cultural theorist. Thus, embodied approach tries to create a link between learning and the immediate environment.  This is the epitome of the ecological link to knowledge, which considers knowledge to be embedded in conduct band the moral fabric in order to smoothly run the world. This is the foundation of adult learning and training which marks the mode of instruction in the twenty first century.
Spirituality in Adult learning
Spirituality relates to meaning making in learning. It involves adult learning in life affecting matters through such medium as a storytelling and first hand real life situations.      Spirituality in adult learning involves more of a divine spirit rather the individual way of thinking.  Spirituality involves the way we construct meaning and how we view knowledge as a sacred tool in our lives. With the current exception of adult religious education, spirituality as an emerging element and tool of teaching in adult education is slowly emerging but it is sometimes confused with religion.
This brings to light how we previously confused spirituality in adult learning. Unlike religion, which is an organized community of faith with regulatory code of conduct, spirituality is the experience of one’s personal belief in a higher power or unforeseen forces. The spirituality of adult learning mainly focuses on themes such as further development of self-awareness, a feeling of interconnectedness, and a sense of dependence on a higher power.
Thus adult education through spirituality is set to bring out the relationship between religious and spiritual connections to the social cultural norm of existence of an individual learner. This is the connection of learning and social justice. It is the foundation of service to the community and society.  The concept of spirituality in adult learning is to enhance and interconnect the soul with learning. The concept of emancipator spirituality in contrast to reactionary spirituality it recognizes the concept of pluralism in the many manifestations of the spirit across varied cultures.  Spirituality is currently a theme in human resource development is suggestive of the steering will of individual development rather than the moral good will in an organization. This is the point blank in strategic leadership in organizational goals. Thus, spirituality in adult learning is of paramount importance in personnel administration.
With the connection between learning and development in adults, it is of paramount importance that we study spirituality in adult learning and adult education.  Spiritual development in adult education is interconnected with other aspects of development. Early developmental psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Kohlberg were instrumental in linking spiritual development with other aspects of development, mainly cognitive and moral development necessary in adult learning.  Thus, spiritual development is the basis for unconscious reasoning and serves as the foundation of imagination and creativity in adult learning.  
Spiritual learning is the basis of conscious reasoning and thinking. This involves the surrendering of one’s cognitive thought to a higher power that will in turn influence the way one thinks and solves problems. It is a process of imagery and symbolic learning. The role of spirituality in culturally relevant education and is useful in the engagement of adults in the civil rights movements. Women through adult education rose to the movement and danced to the tune of liberation and social inclusiveness (Tisdell 2003). They demanded more recognition and power. They were instrumental in physical and spiritual development.  
The concept of spirituality in adult education and its influence on culture led to the introduction of western cultures and lifestyles across the world. The liberation of the Negro nation from white oppression in America was because of adult education and the persistence of the civil societies in social liberation.  Spirituality is the context of popular education propelled in culturally distinct groups. Teachers and other anthropologists are now awake to their inventory structure of the education system and thus the connection between spirituality and other forms of learning is compulsory element of adult training and instruction.
Narrative Learning in Adulthood
By Clark, M. Carolyn and Marsha Rossiter
According to Carolyn, narrative is the easiest technique of encouraging learning by conceptualizing the whole process. In this article, we will discuss how narrative learning works what all is about and how it can be used and be effective in adult learning. The authors aim to bring further discussion about conceptualizing learning as a narrative process. This is through looking at an overview of theory of narrative learning by experimenting the connection practical and narrative learning. All this is aimed towards gearing up with a conclusion on the potential of narrative learning in the life of a person. There are fundamental that a required in narrative learning and that is story telling in human beings. According to educational experts, stories serve a meaning in learning by making theoretical learning practical.
To begin with, Carolyn and Rossiter evaluate the influence of storytelling in the narrator learning ...