Title: Learning experience: the root of sustainable change

Authors: Lorna M. Beretta

Addresses: Postgraduate School Business and Society, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Vai San Vittore 18, Milan 20123, Italy

Abstract: Within a difficult social setting the starting point for change is the personal learning experiences of those struggling for the change. The learning experiences of people belonging to a community of underprivileged in Brazil are presented in this article in order to recognise how sustainable change is rooted in personal learning experiences. The article is constructed of a collection of stories which will illustrate examples of personal experiences that brought about a change in the lives of those people. The interviews were collected during my field visit in Brazil in 2005. The interviews with the local population engaged in finding practical solutions to their difficult life conditions, in addition to the testimony of a representative of the local government, assert that sustainable change is fully inherent to learning experiences.

Keywords: new knowledge generation; individual improvement; community improvement; learning process; living knowledge; mutual exchange; knowledge exchange; new ways of knowing; personal interaction; personal change; participatory approach; social change; transformative learning; sustainable change; underprivileged communities; Brazil; personal learning; learning experiences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2007.017820

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2007 Vol.2 No.4, pp.405 - 419

Published online: 18 Apr 2008 *

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