Adult Education Research: Can It Advance Social Justice?

Abstract

Social media as a site of public pedagogy has been attributed with the rise of the Arab Spring, the spread of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, and the political movements of MAGA and #Resist. If social media platforms are tools that can be used to promote confrontations with a wide variety of social injustices, then it is important to examine the process of learning that occurs when engaging with these platforms. Key to learning is one's ability to reflect, yet the cognitive overload often experienced when using social media platforms questions if social justice causes can be served on these corporate-owned platforms. This reflection essay considers the role of learning through reflection in the dynamic and algorithmically driven context of social media platforms. Further, this essay will consider how reflection to now-accessible amplified fringe ideas and concepts may be influencing and changing the values of social justice.