Adult leaning theory is the product of changing views of knowledge construction together with a growing awareness of how the sociocultural context shapes what is valued as knowledge. The foundational theories of andragogy, self-directed learning, and transformational learning evolved out of a humanistic psychological perspective. A shift from the individual learner to the learning context gave rise to situated cognition and critical perspectives on learning. Most recent research on emotions and somatic knowing, and spirituality and learning understand knowledge construction to be culturally embedded and more than cognitive processing.