ABSTRACT
In order to work towards social justice, participation must be broadened (Chapters 1 and 2), but pedagogy must also be adapted to empower pupils to overcome social and educational barriers. In this chapter, I argue that Jack Mezirow’s theory of ‘transformative learning’ is a functional framework through which these adaptations to pedagogy can be conceptualized. In order for learning to be transformative, a ‘disorienting’ experience must be offered to pupils, which invites them to question existing perceptions of themselves. To exemplify the challenges of offering a ‘disorienting experience’, I discuss key problems and solutions experienced in the Young Heroes project. From this reflection, I extract six steps which, together, ensure courses for classics at primary school empower children to reflect on, and activate the potential to overcome, educational barriers in their life.
