Adult Education and Teilhardian Thought: Contextualizing Socialization into Globalization

Abstract

Globalization is defined as the compression of the world internationally and the intensification of consciousness globally. There is much to reorient adult learners toward the emerging reality of globalization who hold mental models formed from previous educational experiences. Nothing less than a transformation of their social literacy is required so that many adults do not to become future dysfunctional global citizens. Global education is the socialization process into globalization. The challenge for adult educators is to develop innovative global education programs to meet the challenges of socialization of adult learners into globalization. The central thesis of this article is that avant‐garde French intellectual Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's (1881–1955) philosophy of evolution is congruent with a globalization conceptualization. As such, Teilhardian thought can effectively serve as the theoretical foundation that contextualizes adult global education and learning experiences.