In this Special Issue (SI) there is deep recognition that the understanding of the nature of transformative learning must be contextually based and needs to address all the domains of students' lives, not simply their learning journeys. The papers presented provide a critical spotlight to illuminate the relevance of structural inequality, which includes class, gender and ethnicity on the learners' trajectories, exposing its continued importance in the era of individualising modernity (Beck 1994). For example, the concept of capitals and how they are accrued and valued are important in facilitating a more detailed analysis of different relations of power which can remain hidden and implicit in concepts such as 'individualism', 'choice' and 'mobility' (Giddens 1991; Beck 1992; Duckworth 2013; Ade-Ojo & Duckworth 2016, Duckworth & Smith 2017).

The authors of the articles in this SI bring transformative education out of the shadows and offer vivid critical spaces that cross nations, contexts and time. They give voice to the silenced, drawing us into the power of Adult Education to open up real opportunity for socially just educational experiences which challenge inequality and barriers in learners' lives, their families and their diverse communities.