Attending Graduate School in Adult Education and the Impact on Teaching Beliefs: A Longitudinal Study

This qualitative longitudinal study explores the impact of graduate school in adult education on practicing adult educators’ beliefs about teaching. A group of practicing adult educators from several master's programs was interviewed, accompanied by an auto-photography activity, as they entered and neared completion 2 years later. Findings reveal that graduate school had only minimal impact on the teaching beliefs of participants. The majority of participants maintained significant aspects of both a teacher-centered view of teaching and a student-centered view. The only change in belief that began to emerge was a growing recognition of the importance of engaging student experience in practice. Implications for graduate school are identified and discussed.