Adult education in social movements: the case of the Gülen movement

Abstract

This research explored the sohbets (spiritual conversations) of the Gülen Movement from two perspectives, with regard to adult education: the educational aspects of sohbets and the personal and social transformations experienced by the participants of sohbets. The research employed qualitative research methodology, in which participants were businessmen attending to the sohbets of the Gülen Movement in two different cities of Turkey. The data was collected through face-to-face in-depth interviews with an interview protocol developed after the pilot study. Grounded theory approach was used to analyze the findings obtained via interviews. The findings revealed how interviewees met the Gülen Movement, the reasons why they participated, the significance they attributed to the movement, and how they positioned themselves within it. The findings also provided information as to the educational aspects of sohbets, namely their aims, organization, syllabus, educators and the teaching and learning. Data analysis also revealed findings about the effects of sohbets on the personal daily lives of businessmen, their families and friends, and their business lives. The findings were discussed through the perspective of adult education and its implementation in social movements. It was concluded that the Gülen Movement constituted an example of a social movement in which adult education is extensively implemented to educate its participants and that the adult education in the Gülen Movement carried a formal aspect in contrast to the nonformal aspect of adult education in social movements, as described in the literature.