Conference Program

Building on discussions from the Villa Vigoni colloquium on Transformative Education, this paper examines adult education in migratory contexts, arguing that meaningful transformation requires attention to both structural conditions and embodied experience. Adult learning for people with migratory backgrounds is often marked by profound ontological questions about how to make sense of the world and (re)imagine possible selves (Morrice 2012). These processes can be disruptive, involving the unlearning of taken-for-granted assumptions and deep reconfigurations of identity within hostile or uncertain conditions. A transformative learning approach should recognise this contextual complexity and its contradictions, including possible impacts on identity and self-concept, to remain attentive to the full range of learning experiences.

It is important to acknowledge that not everyone has equal access to "windows of opportunity" for transformation, since these chances are often limited by social, cultural, and personal circumstances (Batacharya 2018). Nonetheless, for those whose lives have been marked by violence or worn down by the hardship of everyday life, the prospect of “feeling better” is both meaningful and politically significant (Ahmed 2004). Transformative education thus relies on learning environments that support and validate even small steps toward improved well-being, while acknowledging the complexity of contexts.

This paper foregrounds embodied learning as an essential transformative approach in education, focusing on adult learners with migratory backgrounds. Based on Roxana Ng’s theoretical framework (2000, 2011), this perspective demonstrates that power dynamics - including racism, sexism, and colonialism - are embedded not only in conceptual domains but also within the body. The body serves as a locus for the production, contestation, and possible transformation of knowledge. In Ng’s view, embodied learning extends beyond cognitive critique; it can make visible the everyday reproduction of dominant-subaltern relations and create possibilities for change. Embodied work, therefore, is integral to transformative education because it links critical reflection with emotional and physical transformation.

Drawing on fieldwork in diverse adult refugee education and training settings, this paper develops theoretical and practical insights from interviews and collaborative work with educators. Attention is given to their embodied perspectives and practices: how they arrange rooms and position tables, when they choose to speak or remain silent, how their bodies relate to learners’, and how they attend to breath. The analysis demonstrates that embodied practices play a vital role in transformative education by converting fragmented learning environments into spaces that promote well-being, critical reflection, and collaborative learning. These practices become increasingly significant - and often more challenging to maintain - when learning takes place online.

Given the focus on embodiment and the interactive nature of the panel, the presentation will not only involve listening and watching slides, but also a brief photo‑elicitation activity that invites self-reflection on bodies in relation to what the images evoke, in dialogue with key concepts from Ng’s framework. This aims to make abstract ideas more tangible and to open a shared reflection on embodied transformative education in adult (migratory) contexts, as well as directions for further embodied research.