In this definitive collection of today's most influential learning theorists, sixteen world-renowned experts present their understanding of what learning is and how human learning takes place.


Professor Knud Illeris has collected chapters that explain both the complex frameworks in which learning takes place and the specific facets of learning, such as the acquisition of learning content, personal development, and the cultural and social nature of learning processes. Each international expert provides either a seminal text or an entirely new precis of the conceptual framework they have developed over a lifetime of study.


Elucidating the key concepts of learning, Contemporary Theories of Learning provides both the perfect desk reference and an ideal introduction for students. It will prove an authoritative guide for researchers and academics involved in the study of learning, and an invaluable resource for all those dealing with learning in daily life and work. It provides a detailed synthesis of current learning theories... all in the words of the theorists themselves.






The theories of


Knud Illeris


Peter Jarvis


Robert Kegan


Yrjoe Engestroem


Bente Elkjaer


Jack Mezirow


Howard Gardner


Peter Alheit


John Heron


Mark Tennant


Jerome Bruner


Robin Usher


Thomas Ziehe


Jean Lave


Etienne Wenger


Danny Wildemeersch & Veerle Stroobants


In their own words