ABSTRACT
It is our intent in this chapter to describe transformative learning theory and practice and to situate transformative learning in the larger context of learning theory in general. First, we provide an overview of transformative learning theory, including a broad definition and a description of the ways in which the theory has evolved over time. Second, we examine in detail three main perspectives on transformative learning: the rational, the extrarational, and the social change perspective. Third, we review how transformative learning can be fostered in practice, focusing on six themes: the individual experience, critical reflection, the role of dialogue, authentic and supportive relationships, a holistic orientation, and the awareness of context. Transformative learning is a deep shift in perspective during which habits of mind become more open,
more permeable, and better justified (Cranton, 2006; Mezirow, 2000). According to Mezirow, the process centers on critical reflection and critical self-reflection, but other theorists (for example, Dirkx, 2001) place imagination, intuition, and emotion at the heart of transformation. Generally, transformative learning occurs when a person, group, or larger social unit encounters a perspective that is at odds with the prevailing perspective. This may be anything from a personal traumatic event to a social movement. The discrepant perspective can be ignored, or it can lead to an examination of previously held beliefs, values, and assumptions. When the latter is the case, the potential for transformative learning exists, though it does not occur until an individual, group, or social unit changes in noticeable ways. This definition is deliberately general so as to incorporate the wide variety of definitions and perspectives
now existing in the literature. Mezirow’s (1978) original theory was based on a study of women who, in returning to college, found that the experience led them to question and revise their personal beliefs and values in a fairly linear ten-step process. By 1991, Mezirow produced his comprehensive theory of transformative learning in Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. In this book, he drew on Habermas’s (1971) three kinds of human interests and the resulting three kinds of knowledge-instrumental, practical (or communicative), and emancipatory. In this view, transformative learning (the acquisition of emancipatory knowledge) occurs when people critically reflect on instrumental and communicative knowledge. At that time, Mezirow (1991) described three types of meaning perspectives-epistemic (about knowledge and how we obtain knowledge), sociolinguistic (understanding ourselves and the social world through language), and psychological (concerned with our perception of ourselves largely based on childhood experiences). He argued that we uncritically assimilate perspectives in each of these domains and do not realize that such perspectives are distorted until we encounter a dilemma that brings this to our attention.
The process of bringing distortions to light and revising them is an individual, cognitive, and rational process. Mezirow (2000) distinguishes between educational tasks-helping people become aware of oppressive structures and learn how to change them-and political tasks, which challenge economic, government, and social structures directly. Set up in contrast to Mezirow’s work is the extrarational approach, which substitutes imagination,
intuition, and emotion for critical reflection (Dirkx, 2001). Also within the individual focus is a developmental perspective. As is the case in developmental psychology in general, transformative learning in this framework describes shifts in the way we make meaning-moving from a simplistic reliance on authority through to more complex ways of knowing or higher orders of consciousness (Kegan, 2000). Belenky and Stanton (2000) report on a similar change in epistemology, but they emphasize connected knowing (through collaboration and acceptance of others’ views rather than autonomous, independent knowing). Transformative learning theory is, as Mezirow (2000) suggests, a “theory in progress.” Some theorists,
including Mezirow and Dirkx, focus on the individual, and others are interested in the social context of transformative learning, social change as a goal, or the transformation undergone by groups and organizations. Although this appears to be a divide in theoretical positions, there is no reason that both the individual and the social perspectives cannot peacefully coexist; one does not deny the existence of the other, but rather they share common characteristics and can inform each other. Gunnlaugson (2008) describes “first wave” and “second wave” theories of transformative learning, the first wave being those works that build on, critique, or depart from Mezirow’s seminal work, and the second wave being those authors who work towards integrative, holistic, and unified perspectives. In the next section, we explore three theoretical perspectives more fully.
