Living and Learning with HIV/AIDS: Transformational Tales Continued

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the nature of learning during the incorporation of HIV/AIDS into identity over time. It sought to understand participants’continued meaningmaking of their chronic illness. Interviews conducted with the same 11 participants in 1995, 1998, and 1999 composed the data set. Data were analyzed using psychological, biographical, and linguistic approaches to narrative analysis. Fourmajor findings emerged: First, the nature of learning was transformational, and the perspective transformation remained stable. Second, meaning scheme changes evident in 1998 were acted on. Third, new meaning schemes included (a) an increased appreciation for the human condition and (b) an expanded view of intimacy. Fourth, social interaction was integral to the learning process. The stability of the perspective transformation, the additional changes in meaning schemes, and the importance of social interaction in the learning process have implications for adult education.