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Mezirow’s transformative adult learning theory explains how older adults may navigate the demands of academia and answer midlife calls to teaching.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/currere-unexpected-journeys-and-unplanned-destinations-in-academia-essay/594597/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/currere-unexpected-journeys-and-unplanned-destinations-in-academia-essay/594597.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ben ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What triggered the author’s return to graduate school?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"A sudden change of teaching placements forced the author to return to graduate school at age 40.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How does the essay use Pinar’s four steps of currere?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It uses the regressive to examine the past, the progressive to look toward what is possible, the analytical to look backward while examining the present, and the synthetical to re-enter the present.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Why does the essay reference Mezirow’s transformative adult learning theory?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It helps explain why older adults may be uniquely poised to navigate the complex demands of academia and respond to the call to teaching in midlife.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},594597,1792191812,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":106,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},2336478951081,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Currere, Unexpected Journeys, and Unplanned Destinations in Academia  \nSusan R. Adams  \nButler University  \nAbstract  \nA sudden change of teaching placements forced my return to graduate school at the age of 40. Transformative graduate school learning resulted in the completion of a Ph.D. and earning a tenure track position in teacher education. This essay uses Pinar’s four steps of currere provide a lens to examine the past, look toward the future, take opportunity to look backward to the past while examining the present, and then re-enter the present. Mezirow’s transformative adult learning theory lends guidance for understanding why older adults may be uniquely poised to navigate successfully the complex maze of academia.  \nKeywords: transformative adult learning theory; currere; doctoral studies  \nSusan R. Adams (Ph.D) is Assistant Professor of Middle/Secondary in the College of Education at Butler University. A former secondary ESL teacher and coach in Indianapolis Public Schools, Susan's research, and professional interests include race, critical pedagogies, equity, and academic success for all students. Prior to earning her tenure track position, she served as the director and lead instructor for Project Alianza, a USDOE Title III National Professional Development grant. Susan is a Critical Friends Group Coach with the School Reform Initiative, a site leader of the Hoosier Writing Project, and the current co-Faculty Development Fellow at Butler University.  \nEmail: [sradams@butler.edu](sradams@butler.edu)  \nIntroduction  \nIn this essay, Pinar’s (2004) four steps of currere (the regressive, the progressive, the analytical, and the synthetical) provide a lens through which I:  \n􀁸 Examine my own past as a rich data source (the regressive)  \n􀁸 Look toward the future, toward what is possible (the progressive)  \n􀁸 Take opportunity to look backward to the past while examining the present (the analytical), and then  \n􀁸 Re-enter the present (the synthetical) .  \nIn addition, Mezirow’s (1991) transformative adult learning theory lends guidance for a“complicated conversation” (Pinar, 2004) with myself as “an ongoing project of selfunderstanding in which one becomes mobilized for engaged pedagogical action”(p. 37) toward understanding how and why older adults may be uniquely poised to navigate successfully, the complex maze and rigors of academia as they hearken to the call to teaching in midlife.  \nMy Story: The Regressive Glance Backward  \nIn 1985, I graduated with a BA in Spanish and a secondary teaching license. I entered the teaching force zealously committed to honing my pedagogy and to deepening my language skills as I shaped young lives. Teaching high school students excited and energized me. Although each was shaped with familiar high school rituals and rhythms, they were also spiced by the energy adolescent learners exude from their very pores. In those early years, my husband’s law school friends condescended to me, bending from their imagined lofty heights, and sympathetically cooing,“Oh, you teach. Isn’t that special?” but I could imagine no more important work and no higher calling.  \nIn those days, teachers were required to earn a master’s degree within the first five years of licensure, so almost immediately I enrolled in a graduate program at my alma mater in education courses which allowed me to study once again with professors I had much admired and respected in my undergraduate days. Although it meant driving 70 miles each way several nights a week, I was overjoyed to return to Indiana State to engage with Dr. Chris Buethe and the other grad students to connect educational theory to our daily practice of teaching.  \nAt the end of an intense year of teaching and graduate studies, I lingered after class on the last night, hoping for a quiet moment alone with Dr. Buethe. I shared with him the news that I was expecting my first child in the fall, which would necessitate pushing the pause button on completing my mast","cbCaioh7uOgqOyms","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioh7uOgqOyms","pdf",350807,"English","# Introduction\n## The regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical\n## Transformative adult learning and “complicated conversation”\n# My Story: The Regressive Glance Backward","[{\"question\":\"What triggered the author’s return to graduate school?\",\"answer\":\"A sudden change of teaching placements forced the author to return to graduate school at age 40.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the essay use Pinar’s four steps of currere?\",\"answer\":\"It uses the regressive to examine the past, the progressive to look toward what is possible, the analytical to look backward while examining the present, and the synthetical to re-enter the present.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the essay reference Mezirow’s transformative adult learning theory?\",\"answer\":\"It helps explain why older adults may be uniquely poised to navigate the complex demands of academia and respond to the call to teaching in midlife.\"}]","Currere, Unexpected Journeys, and Unplanned Destinations in Academia - Essay | PDF",1792079462,18]