Developmental contexts can take into account moral, emotional, social, personal and somatic factors and draw on issues of demographics like ethnicity, race, sexuality and class as contexts of development (Baumgartner 2001, Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, Merriam & Clark, 2006). Merriam and Caffarella (1999) also embrace the contexts of global economy and technology. All these are important contextual references because people are placed in relation to each other, and these positions are affected by the environment that surrounds, defines and influences development. These extrinsic factors in turn, influence how a person constructs his or her own thoughts, beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours. Therefore, it can be said that adult development and learning are driven by an integration of extrinsic and intrinsic factors (Baumgartner & Merriam, 2000). This again, is another critical component of reflection, which often constructs meanings, values, ideas and solutions from intrinsic and extrinsic sources.
In contrast, Pourchot and Smith (2004) consider the concept of context from two other perspectives. Firstly, that the contextual paradigms of focus in which development occurs are age-graded, history-graded and [1]non-normative experiences (Baltes, 1987; Pourchot & Smith, 2004). Secondly, that adult thinking, learning and development is best served when it involves real life experiences within the contexts of work, social, culture and interpersonal relationships (Pourchot & Smith, 2004). This point also differentiates the developmental stages and needs between adults and younger learners, a point which, Merriam and Clark being adult educational practitioners, understandably, have acknowledged but chosen to focus less about (Merriam & Clark, 2006).
In principle, the authors agree that developmental psychology inter-relates with learning and education and that they are connected to the broader contexts of situation, society, politics, culture and history including community, legal, governmental), formally or informally (Merriam & Clark, 2006; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999; Pourchot & Smith, 1998). Whilst they all state that development is influenced by context, their emphasis and foci of context are different albeit useful for reflection and the contexts adult learners are coming from.
References
Baltes, P.B. 1987, ‘Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: on the dynamics between growth and decline’, Developmental Psychology, American Psychological Association, Inc. Vol. 2.1, No. 5, pp. 611-626.
Bonk, C.J. & Kim, K.A. 1998, ‘Extending sociocultural theory to adult learning’ in M.C. Smith & T.L. Pourchot (eds), Adult learning and development : perspectives from educational psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp.67-88.
Merriam, S.B. & Caffarella, R.S. 1999, Learning in adulthood: a comprehensive guide, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.Merriam, S. B. & Clark, M.C. 2006, ‘Learning and development: the connection in adulthood’, in H. Carol (ed), Handbook of adult development and learning, Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York, pp. 27-51.
Pourchot, T.L. & Smith, M.C. 2004, ‘Some implications of life span developmental psychology for adult education and learning’, PAACE Journal of lifelong learning, Vol. 13, pp. 69-82.
Smith, M.C. & Pourchot, T.L. 1998, ‘Toward an adult educational psychology’ in M.C. Smith & T.L. Pourchot (eds), Adult learning and development: perspectives from educational psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp.259-266.
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