ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the educational relevance of Robert Grosseteste and Jack Mezirow and, in some small way, examines both illumination and transformative learning. It outlines the overarching ideas of Grosseteste and Mezirow and provides an overview of their social and academic backgrounds. The chapter explores the motivation that underpins much of their work, and offers some initial parallels between the two concepts. The development of transformative learning starts with ‘experience, moves through critical reflection and discourse to changes in a person’s actions within the world’. The chapter reviews contemporary thoughts, as well as associations with other educational thinkers. Illumination and transformative learning, it is argued, were not only built upon previous ideas, but were radical and bold concepts in their own right, causing a significant shift in the way people thought about the acquisition of knowledge and learning by challenging conventional assumptions.
