ABSTRACT
Transformative Education: Purpose, Process, and Psychology provides an introduction to Transformative Education, distinguishing it from traditional education approaches. We describe the values and goals of Transformative Education and discuss why Transformative Education and diversity courses are well matched. We present our understanding of Transformative Education as a psychological change process, and make connections with three central psychological theories that we will return to in later chapters: the transtheoretical model of change, group formation and change processes within groups, and racial identity theory. We briefly describe each theory area and share how it is particularly relevant to teaching a diversity course with a Transformative Education approach. We discuss the centrality of engaging the whole person, and the importance of inviting lived experience and emotional responses into the classroom, for both students and educators.
