ABSTRACT
Stephen Brookfield (1987), and other adult education researchers show how contexts of adult education provide opportunities for people to question received wisdoms and imagine alternative future scenarios; and how reflective practice contributes to the development of rational societies. Critical theory embodies a critique of inequitable social relationships, and of uncovering the underlying prejudices that sustain them. In that sense, critical theory is an organising principle for the deconstruction and reconstruction of social norms and organisational practices. Critical thinking, if not critical theory, needs to feature everywhere, to enable people to decide whether their lives are worth living, and what might need to improve.
