ABSTRACT
In examining teacher learning that matters, identity and teacher change, this chapter focuses on learning theorists like Knud Illeris (e.g., 2009) who see significant learning, expansive learning, transitional or transformative learning as the most profound type of learning. This type of learning involves personality changes. In this chapter we use the term transformative learning, which directly relates to identity learning and was introduced and described extensively by Mezirow (e.g., 1978, 1990, 2009). Illeris (2009) observed:
This learning implies what could be termed personality changes … a break of orientation that typically occurs as the result of a crisislike situation caused by challenges experienced as urgent and unavoidable, making it necessary to change oneself in order to get any further. Transformative learning is thus profound and extensive, it demands a lot of mental energy and when accomplished it can often be experienced physically, typically as a feeling of relief or relaxation. (p. 14)
