Illuminating Transformative Learning/Assessment: Infusing Creativity, Reciprocity, and Care Into Higher Education

In this article, the authors speak to the paradox of assessing transformative learning (TL) in higher education. TL theory, developed by Jack Mezirow, is a theory of learning to describe the process of change in how individuals view the world based on previous experiences. Recognizing that the 10 phases of Mezirow’s TL theory are fluid and intertwined, three prominent aspects resonated within the individual narratives: the importance of a disorienting dilemma, the qualities of self-reflection, and liberatory actions. By exploring the complexities, challenges, and possibilities encountered in their classrooms, the shared narratives reveal how students were engaged in TL and embedded within are holistic assessment processes the authors enacted with learners. Throughout this dialogical narrative inquiry focused on assessment, the authors underwent their own TL in the presence of each other, confessing uncertainties and vulnerabilities, thus showcasing the potential to transform understanding with and through reciprocal learning.

Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue of the Journal of Transformative Education on Assessing Transformative Learning

Over 40 years ago, Jack Mezirow introduced the idea of transformative learning (TL) to the adult education community. Representing a profound shift in how one thinks and feels about one’s self and the socio-cultural context in which one is embedded, transformative learning has since evolved to reflect numerous theoretical lenses and its framework continues to be extended and elaborated. As TL theory expands within different contexts and across different disciplines, particularly within postsecondary education, the term transformative learning is often employed with scant connection to the theoretical framework in which it was initially grounded. Learners and educators alike frequently describe learning experiences as transformative, yet little consensus exists around a definition of transformative leaning However, if the field is to continue to evolve theoretically, we cannot accept these claims of transformation at face value. The phenomenon must be measured in some manner. The field continues to struggle with several perennial issues related to assessment. This special issue of the Journal of Transformative Education seeks to address the need to wrestle with these underlying theoretical and conceptual issues by critiquing the state of the field, introducing new approaches to operationalizing the phenomenon, and advancing new trajectories for research. We approach this charge through two major threads explored through eight papers that represent Methodological Innovations and Cases of Methodological Application. We close this introduction to the Special Issue with key themes represented in the eight papers and recommendations for addressing the challenges of assessing the processes and outcomes of transformative learning.

KECERDASAN VERBAL DALAM PERSPEKTIF AL-QUR’AN

The conclusions of this dissertation are: Verbal intelligence from the perspective of the Koran carries a transcendental transformative informative theory. This is based on the qaul (verbal) expression which is informative which means ensuring the meaning of the message reaches the communicant, with several types of expressions, such as: 1. Qaul Maisûr/phrases that are easy to understand, 2. Qaul Baligh/phrases whose message is conveyed, and; 3. Qaul Ma'ruf /expressions with attention to local culture. As for Qaul which is transformative, which means speech that is able to change the communicant to the understanding and application of Islamic teachings which is better used by the Koran with the words: 1. Qaul Sadîd /words/words that are on target, 2. Qaul Ahsan/speech or the best words, 3. Qaul Tsâbit/strong and lasting speech, 4. Qaul Layyin/uangkap who is gentle, 5. Qaul Thayyib/good expressions or speech (diction is not dirty), and; 6. Qaul Salâm/expressions or sayings that are full of peace. Qaul that is transcendental is Qaul al-Haqq/haqq speech (based on Islamic texts), namely: 1. Qaul Fashl /words from wise thoughts to reveal what is haqq and what is falsehood, 2. Qaul Tsâqil /yang means heavy utterances that are full of divine values, 3. Qaul Râdhiyan/sayings or expressions that are blessed by Allah, 4. Qaul 'Adzim words or expressions of great value with Allah, and 5. Qaul Karîm: sayings or words that are noble. This dissertation also reveals that the purpose of transformation in verbal communication can be realized if there is an interrelation between communicators (Surat ar-Rahman/55: 4), methods (Surat an-Nahl/16: 125), material (Surat al-Isra '/17: 36) and the communicants (Surat an-Nisa '/4: 164).The theory of verbal intelligence from the perspective of the Koran is an interrelation theory that combines the informative theory introduced by Claude Shannon (1948) and the transformative theory introduced by (Jack Mezirow (1978), "transformative learning refers to the process in which a person changes the accepted framework. able to change emotionally, and reflectively so that it can generate confidence in thinking and implemented in the form of action. Verbal intelligence with transcendental transformative informative theory in this dissertation is different from the opinion of Henry H. Calero (2005) who is more concerned with actions than words, as well as with Howard Gardner. This dissertation uses a qualitative method, while the method of interpretation used in this dissertation is the thematic interpretation method (maudhu'i). This method was chosen because it can reveal the perspective of the Koran regarding verbal intelligence that is adaptive to contemporary communication needs

Redemptive Transformational Learning for Ministry and Theological Education, Part 1

This article continues the conversation between theological education and Transformative Learning (TL) theory by proposing a Redemptive Transformational Learning paradigm. The author explores a biblical-theology of transformation across Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation, reviews the development of TL from Jack Mezirow to its contemporary formulation, and offers an appreciative critique of TL. This critique orients the path forward, toward a redemptive approach to the practice of TL in theological education and church-based educational ministries.

Transformative Learning

Originating and most often used in the discipline of adult education, the term transformative learning “refers to processes that result in significant and irreversible changes in the way a person experiences, conceptualizes, and interacts with the world” (“Transformative Learning as a Metatheory: Definition, Criteria, and Typology.” Adult Education Quarterly 66.1 [2016]: p. 71, cited under Origins and Overviews). Its origins are in a white paper published in 1978, wherein Jack Mezirow of Teachers College, Columbia University, reported the results of a study of women’s re-entry work programs in community colleges across the United States (Education for Perspective Transformation. Women’s Re-Entry Programs in Community Colleges [1978], cited under Origins and Overviews). In this report, he coined the term perspective transformation to describe the profound changes experienced by some of the women in their study. Over the next several decades, Mezirow developed and continually refined this concept into a comprehensive theory of adult learning, always maintaining a focus on the transformative potential of learning, i.e., its ability to help learners change in fundamental ways rather than merely adding knowledge or skills. During this theory development, his use of terms extended beyond perspective transformation, as he referred to his work as transformation theory and then transformative (or transformational) learning theory. From these beginnings, a large base of literature emerged addressing the profound changes that are possible from learning in adulthood. Of the various names used over time by Mezirow and others, transformative learning is the most ubiquitous term in this scholarship. It is used to refer to Mezirow’s evolving theory of adult learning, but it is also used to refer to any of a number of theories that focus on significant changes that learning can have on people, especially those changes that are not adequately encompassed by the usual descriptors: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Many of these theories were developed independent of Mezirow’s work, sometimes even prior to it. It is probably most accurate to say that transformative learning is not a single theory, but rather a collection of theories around a similar phenomenon. This collection of theories (and more commonly called “approaches” to transformative learning) derived from numerous, disparate disciplinary perspectives that often had little theoretical connection with each other. Therefore, when scholars write about transformative learning, they may be referring to Jack Mezirow’s theory, another theory in the adult education literature that addresses transformation, or the range of theories (or approaches) as a whole. Nevertheless, beginning with Mezirow there has arisen a literature around the phenomenon of the transformative potential of adult learning. Although historically this literature has been mostly by North American scholars, it is increasingly being used by scholars in other countries (especially Europe) and disciplines. This article organizes and presents some of the most prominent pieces within that literature.

Disorienting Dilemmas: A Studio Model for Teaching Meaning-Making and Reflection in Action

The term meaning-making has been used in constructivist educational psychology to refer to the personal epistemology that persons create to help them to make sense of the influences, relationships and sources of knowledge in their world.1 According to the transformative learning theory of sociologist and educator Jack Mezirow, adults interpret the meaning of their experiences through a lens of deeply held assumptions.2 When students experience something that contradicts or challenges their way of negotiating the world they have to go through the transformative process of evaluating their assumptions and processes of making meaning. Mezirow called these experiences that force individuals to engage in this critical self-reflection “disorienting dilemmas”.3In ‘Educating the Reflective Practitioner’, Prof. Donald Schön suggests that artistry is necessary for the solution of problems in professional practice that occupy the indeterminate zones of uncertainty, uniqueness, and conflict. The two traditional approaches to the teaching of artistry, however, are problematic. The first, its elimination from a curriculum based on technical rationality, is predicated on the belief that artistry is mystical and essentially unteachable. The second, its reduction to a set of procedures, has proven not to work with indeterminate phenomena that are inherently unmanageable. Schön proposes a third strategy: reflection in action, based on his observations that considerable tacit knowledge is already built into practice. By entering the condition of action and reflecting on what has been done, one can resolve “indeterminate” problems in situ by d oing.4It is the view of this paper that by first positioning students in a disorienting dilemma, and by second, providing a framework for ‘reflection in action’ for students to identify and use analogous architectural research elements, students develop a personal methodology and their own contextual position relative to the history of architecture.

Pour une conception rythmique des apprentissages transformateurs

En prenant appui sur la théorie de l’apprentissage transformateur (TAT), développée par Jack Mezirow aux États-Unis, cet article propose une réflexion sur les temporalités qui caractérisent les processus de transformation, susceptibles d’être promus ou accompagnés en formation d’adultes. La réflexion proposée s’articule en trois temps. Premièrement, les fondements de la TAT sont énoncés de manière à situer leur pertinence en formation d’adultes. Ces apports sont repris afin de problématiser la manière dont on conçoit les temporalités impliquées dans un processus de transformation, et plus spécifiquement la nature à la fois continue et discontinue d’un tel processus. Finalement, l’apprentissage transformateur est envisagé à partir d’une perspective rythmologique, démontrant l’intérêt de développer une approche centrée sur les rythmes constitutifs des transformations vécues tout au long de la vie.

Transformative Adult Learning: Turn towards a «Holistic Understanding of Subjectivity»

According to the challenges of globalization age and demands of international community to determine the role and content of education in the processes of transformation, internationalization and integration, there are some problems of transformative education for adults both on theoretical and practical plane: what is a nature of "Holistic Subjectivity’s" transformation; which role do rational and extra-rational components of cognitive processes perform; what adequate pedagogical practices should be; what creative potential of individuals is revealed through new semantic horizons. In the process of intersubjective becoming, the theory of transformative learning, founded by Jack Mezirow, has found both its internal and external development potential. The first one is ability of the Theory to self-transformation on the basis of scientific communication, critical reflection and rational discourse. The second one is related to openness and inclusiveness of the Theory in pluralistic space of methodologies of the transdisciplinary science. The combination of internal and external development factors has created the conditions for implementation of a methodological turn-shifting emphasis from rational-cognitive paradigm to enactivism as a concept that is based on the principles of holism, corporeality, affectivity, emotionality of cognitive processes and their self-organization as complex dynamic systems. This allowed us to look at the person's transformation as a corporeal and affective reframing and make a conclusion about his important role in the transformative adult learning. In the context of the given methodological turn, the main task is to mobilize researchers’ attention to the nature and role of all extra-rational components of transformative learning. It is the enactivist approach, including theory of self-organization of complex dynamical systems, which can help us clarify the role of feelings and dynamics of a holistic living body in the person's transformation.

A New Model of Adult Transformative Learning: Contextualizing Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) Theory

<em>In 1978, Jack Mezirow divulged the theory of adult transformative learning. For over thirty-years, transformative learning theory has inspired a considerable amount of empirical research and theoretical musing. The primary focus of this research has been exploring ways to expand the transformative learning process in adult education. The objective of this study is to extend the theoretical exploration of transformative learning by advocating a new model of the transformative learning process that contextualizes empirical research findings of neurologists, cognitive scientists and psychologists that is being termed here collectively as spiritual intelligence (SQ) theory.</em>