Abstract
Like a fabric made of different threads, adult education waives multiple places and reveals different paces whose influences may be complementary, contradictory and antagonistic with each other. The spaces and times that shape people’s life are rarely static or constant. They evolve and fluctuate. Every day, throughout their existence, people have to learn to adjust, coordinate and move through material, natural, social and symbolic environments that keep evolving. The aim of this paper is to explore how to conceive the influences of both spatial and temporal configurations through which adults learn, transform and develop themselves. To proceed, the reflection refers to Henri Lefebvre’s contribution, and more specifically to his conception of rhythmanalysis. The paper first introduces Lefebvre’s ideas around space and time, and opens up the possibility to conceive their relations through the concept of rhythm. Then, the idea of rhythmanalysis is introduced and its use in educational research discussed. The third part of the paper explores and illustrates more specifically three concepts introduced by Lefebvre to interpret the relations between rhythmic phenomena (arrhythmia, polyrhythmia and eurhythmia). It is finally suggested that this triple lens opens up the possibility to analyze the relations between space, time and educational processes through three prototypical rhythmic configurations found in the practice: the experiences of dissonance, alternance and resonance.
Highlights
Zusammenfassung Wie ein Stoff aus verschiedenen Fäden gewebt ist, so ist die Erwachsenenbildung auf vielfältigste Weise auf Räumlichkeiten bezogen und offenbart unterschiedlichste Tempi
The compression—some would call it an acceleration— concerned the amount of time spent with students; it affected the frequency of our encounters and the learning process that was occurring between each session
They brought me to question how to study the influence of space and time on learning processes implemented in a formal context, and beyond, on educational dynamics experienced by adults throughout their lives
Summary
In order to understand Lefebvre’s conception of space and time, it is at first necessary to break with the widespread understanding of space and time, imagined as phenomena existing ‘in themselves’. As it is commonly accepted in social sciences, both space and time have to be understood as social constructs that have their own historicity. For Lefebvre, space and time are produced, based on the way people relate to each other and to their environment They are both result and precondition of the production of society: ‘space and time do not exist universally. The study of space and time as they relate to human experiences should not be envisioned in isolation from research conducted in other disciplines (AlhadeffJones 2017; Lefebvre 2004 [1992])
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