Philosophy

At AoLA, learning is understood as a deeply human process shaped by change, identity, community, and joy. Adults choose to learn in response to life transitions, professional aspirations, and social contexts, bringing diverse experiences and motivations into the learning space.

Learning is not merely the acquisition of knowledge, but a relational and transformative process in which adults make sense of themselves, others, and the world. AoLA’s approach to learning design and assessment is informed by a Meta-Theory of Adult Learning that recognises these core needs and honours the complexity of adult learners’ lives.

I believe that learning is a collective, human process that unfolds in complex and open systems. We do not learn, or teach in isolation. We learn through relationship, shared meaning, challenge, and reflection. This belief sits at the heart of my work with the Academy of Learning for Adults (AoLA) and shapes everything I design, facilitate, and lead.

My approach is grounded in academic rigour and evidence-informed practice, while holding a deep respect for the limits of what research alone can explain. Scholarship, theory, and research matter not as abstract ideals, but as tools that help us think more clearly about real-world practice. I draw on contemporary adult learning research alongside critical and philosophical traditions that recognise learning as situated, relational, and ongoing.

Capacity-building in adult education is not about delivering more content or perfecting technique. It is about growing professional judgement, confidence, and adaptability over time. As community is a core adult learning need, professional growth for educators must be embedded in community-based learning experiences that recognise teachers as learners, who are curious, fallible, and always becoming.

My work is informed by ancient understandings of human growth and contemporary evidence about how adults learn. Across cultures and centuries, wisdom traditions remind us that learning is often uncomfortable, nonlinear, and deeply transformative. Modern research confirms this: growth requires tension, reflection, and the courage to sit with uncertainty. I hold a deliberate bias toward seeing the good in people and the potential in complexity, while never pretending that growth is easy.

An adventurous spirit shapes how I work — a love of people, far-away places, and diverse ways of knowing. Living and working in Australia, where distance itself teaches perspective, has reinforced a simple truth: reality is always bigger than our explanations. Learning deepens when we remain open to what we do not yet understand.

Teaching grown-ups well means honouring this reality. It means creating learning experiences that are rigorous and humane, research-informed and relational, challenging and sustaining. It means building communities where educators can think together, practise together, and grow together - supported, stretched, and seen.

This is the work I do. Not to simplify complexity, but to help people work within it — with clarity, courage, and care.