Epistemology of Experiential Learning and African Adult Learner Identity: A Philosophical Inquiry

This study conducted a philosophical inquiry into the epistemological assumptions of experiential learning theories, critically examining their applicability to African adult learner identity formation in the Nigerian context. Kolb's experiential learning cycle, Schon's reflective practitioner framework, and Jarvis's model of adult learning from experience are foundational in adult education theory, yet they embody Western liberal humanist assumptions about the nature of experience, selfhood, and knowledge that may not adequately account for African communal and relational identity frameworks. The study employed a philosophical research methodology combining systematic critical hermeneutic analysis of canonical experiential learning texts, philosophical comparative analysis drawing on Ubuntu philosophy and Igbo ontological traditions, and phenomenological interviews with 30 adult learners and 15 adult education scholars across Enugu, Lagos, and Abuja to empirically ground philosophical argument. Analysis identified four critical epistemological tensions between Western experiential learning frameworks and African relational epistemologies: the individualistic versus relational construction of the learning self, the primacy of individual reflection versus communal wisdom validation, the separation of knowing from being versus their African entanglement, and the linearity of learning cycle models versus cyclical and spiral indigenous knowledge temporalities. The study develops an original African Relational Experiential Learning Framework that preserves the practical insights of experiential learning theory while refrounding them in epistemological assumptions congruent with African communal ontologies. This constitutes a significant original theoretical contribution to comparative adult education philosophy. Keywords: experiential learning, epistemology, African adult learner identity, Ubuntu, philosophical inquiry.