Chapt 2 Transformational Learning Notes

Krishna K. Bista PSE 6670: Chapter 2 Dr. McNellis February 5, 2009 Q.1. Explain how views of transformational learning changed over time. Transformational learning originates from gradual or sudden experience that people see themselves and their world. This concept is very popular in adult education as it changes the perspective of how we learn, how we live in family and how we cooperate to each other. It includes learning about our real life on the basic of our understanding of the world. The notion of transformational learning has been changed over time since it was started in the 1970s by Jack Mezirow, a scholar in adult learning who studied its various phases. There are four major approaches of transformational theory. Of them, the first is emancipatory educational approach which aims at making the learners liberal through consciousness-raising. The learners perceive their lives and their places differently through conscientization (Baumgartner, 2001). Cognitive-rational approach, the second, focuses on rational thoughts and reflections, which learning originates from interpretations and reinterpretations of our understanding and experience. For Mezirow, this is a meaning making process. He states that learning occurs “in the real world in complex institutional, interpersonal, and historical settings and must be understood in the context of cultural orientations embodied in our frames of reference” (quoted in Baumgartner, 2001 p. 17). The third is developmental approach that sees the students often in developmental transition, a learning phase between understanding and realization. The final approach is spiritualintegrative approach that emphasizes the role of imagination/spirituality in facilitating learning. However, Mezirow, Frire, Long and Daloz, the researchers, have viewed the concept ‘transformational learning’ theoretically on different ways.

The current research has studied transformational learning into three categories— organizational or group transformation, fostering transformational learning and ethical considerations of facilitating a transformational learning. There is further research on Mezirow’s theory in adult education involving thoughts and feeling of learners and educators in the 1990s. Importantly, the relationship between the learners and the educators, learning contexts and culture are highly considered. The recent study has shown that transformation learning has been effective even in changing the organization culture of human services offices (Baumgartner, 2001). Reference: Baumgartner, L. (2001). An Update on Transformational Learning, In The New Update on Adult Learning Theory, Ed. Sharan, M. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, pp.15-24.

Q. 2. List and discuss ethical considerations of transformational learning. The role of educators is an important aspect while talking ethics of transformational learning as it directly shows the relationship between the educators and learners. With personal experience, self-examination and re/integration of options and ideas, the learners achieve transformation of knowledge. As a part of ethical considerations, Robertson (1996) suggests a number of recommendations to develop the dynamics of the teacher-learner relationship: 1. The field must recognize a teacher-learner approach 2. The focus must be on dynamics of the teacher-learner relationship 3. There should be a forum to discuss for adult educators

(Quoted in Baumgartner, 2001, p. 21). Besides, how students perceive the professors’ thoughts and values is another aspect in transformational learning to be considered. Many students see their professors as their friends whereas some students consider the professors as authority figures. Mainly the older students can easily share what they think and what they plan after reading particular subject matter. However, the younger students may not question the professors owing to their professors’ values. As Baumgartner (2001) mentioned, transformational learning involves “emotions”. Students from diverse social and cultural background take the learning process from various angels. An adult educator in the classroom of diverse population of learners may get difficulty to plan transformational learning in some geographical settings. However, the concept of transformation learning is well received in the domain of adult education. Reference: Baumgartner, L. (2001). An Update on Transformational Learning, In The New Update on Adult Learning Theory, Ed. Sharan, M. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, pp.15-24.

Transformative Learning has to be: Experience based Subjective Depth instead of breadth Reflective Use of story Imaginative and symbolic Embodied (how the body takes on what it feels, for example when I am teaching my body also comes alive) Transformative Learning-Transformative learning is basically the kind of learning we do as we make meaning of our lives. It's become a very popular topic in adult education because it doesn't just involve classroom learning--it involves learning about our lives. This is important because as adults, the meaning making process can change everything about how we look at work, family, and the world. If you read the literature of adult education, you'll find a lot of theoretical writing on this subject and quite a few studies. One of the best known experts in this area is a scholar named Jack Mezirow, who started studying this area in the 1970s. Mezirow came up with a set of phases that people go through when they experience transformation and those steps are:  experiencing a disorienting dilemma  self-examination  critical assessment of assumptions

 recognizing that others have gone through a similar process  exploring options  formulating a plan of action  reintegration Now, as you can see here, transformation is something that is usually triggered by a problem, and very often transformative experiences are painful to go through. After identifying their problem or challenge, people seem to enter a phase where they reflect critically on this--this is typically a problem that you've never experienced before, so it takes a lot of thinking and talking to others to work through. During the thinking phase, people may find that they can no longer keep their old ways of thinking and being--they are compelled to change. Finally, there is an action phase where people decide to do something. This could mean that you have to break off certain relationships that don't fit your beliefs anymore; it could mean that you decide to make a career change--action can take many forms. Also, the process itself may take a long time. You could reflect on something for years before you are ready to accept new beliefs and act on them. So clearly, transformative learning is not "little" learning, and this is one of the problems that people have with this whole theory. For example, what if you go back to school and get a degree--have you transformed yourself? This is a tough question and the answer won't be the same for everybody. What Mezirow says is that learning "can consist of a change in one of our beliefs or attitudes" (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 320); this is what he calls a "meaning scheme." But this isn't transformational learning in Mezirow's opinion. It's only when we change our entire perspective on something ( our meaning perspective) that we really transform. So for example, if you said,

"Well, I met someone from another country and now I think totally differently about that culture," for Mezirow this wouldn't really be considered a moment of transformative learning. Mezirow would say that you'd have to engage in all the phases of transformation first--but this encounter with this person could lead you to start questioning your assumptions about a lot of things and that could, in turn, eventually lead to transformation.