{"title":"“Moving the Rubble”: Reflection, Conscientization, and Transformative Learning With Men Incarcerated for Organized Crime in Mexico","authors":"R. Strickland","doi":"10.1177/15413446211051092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211051092","url":null,"abstract":"While many scholars have examined transformative learning in different prison education programs, the field has only recently reached Latin America. This article presents a participatory action research project which has been operating in a prison for men accused of organized crime in Jalisco, Mexico, since 2018. The analysis is based on testimonies related to personal and collective transformation in a context of multifaceted oppression. It also explores the blurry lines between reflection, conscientization, and transformation, inviting us to consider how transformative education relates to social stigma and freedom.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"379 - 395"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44405783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forum: Challenging Students to Engage Meaningfully Across Ideological Differences","authors":"Laura M. Harrison, Helen Williams-Cumberbatch","doi":"10.1177/15413446211062375","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211062375","url":null,"abstract":"As college student educators, we notice a pattern of difficulty in our students’ ability to engage meaningfully across ideological differences. In this work, we posit the social media mindset’s penchant for reductive framing and outgroup shaming as a potential diagnosis of the problem. We explore how these tendencies show up in the classroom; we present alternative frameworks for stimulating better conversations across differences. These frameworks include promoting democratic civility (as opposed to niceness), understanding ourselves as works in progress (as opposed to engaging call-out and cancel culture), and creating the conditions for the call-in (as opposed to “ducking diversity”).","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"9 - 23"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45429429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“I felt as if I was becoming myself anew”: Transformative Learning Through Action Research Projects Carried out by Beginner Teachers","authors":"Katarzyna Gawlicz","doi":"10.1177/15413446211049467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211049467","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores action research as a tool for promoting transformative learning of prospective teachers. Drawing on two B.A. or M.A. projects carried out at a university in Poland in which teacher-students used action research and the educational ethnography design to examine themselves as teachers and their practice, the article demonstrates the potential of such an approach for the transformation of students’ meaning perspectives and, eventually, of their personal and professional identities. The transformation the teacher-students experienced entailed their emancipation from the teaching models imposed on them in their institutions and the development of their personal teaching theories. This was followed by their transition to deliberate action, increased sense of agency, and readiness to assume responsibility for wider social change, consequently bridging the theory-practice divide. The author argues that despite the challenges of action research in the university context, its transformative potential makes it a valuable component of teacher education.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42866096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Transformative Learning in Human Rights Delegations: Critical Research on the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network","authors":"Lisa Rankin, L. English","doi":"10.1177/15413446211050365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211050365","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the experience of six participants in the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS) delegation program. Human rights education is central to this program that operates between Canada and Guatemala. Key findings from this research include participants’ rethinking of their own power and privilege upon returning to Canada and making connections with the struggle of Indigenous peoples in both countries. Another finding concerns how specific communal aspects of the BTS delegation (communitas) lead to social transformation and the development of solidarity relationships that are transformative to all. The research affirms the need for experiential learning experiences which use transformative learning approaches to support human rights and social change.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"20 1","pages":"361 - 378"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45993446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Wiley, Kristofor R. Wiley, Loren Intolubbe-Chmil, Devi Bhuyan, K. Acheson
{"title":"A New, Depth-Based Quantitative Approach to Assessing Transformative Learning","authors":"J. Wiley, Kristofor R. Wiley, Loren Intolubbe-Chmil, Devi Bhuyan, K. Acheson","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045164","url":null,"abstract":"Transformative learning (TL) goals are becoming commonplace in higher education, continuing education, and other adult learning contexts; however, valid and reliable assessments of TL are not so common. This imbalance begs the development of assessment methods that allow for a deeper understanding of how, when, and why deep reshaping of self takes place. We believe the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI) to be an effective quantitative measure of TL based on the alignment of its scales with constructs identified by Hoggan’s meta-analysis of TL research. In this article, we summarize the theoretical crosswalk between Hoggan and the BEVI, offer statistical evidence of construct validity for the BEVI as a measure of TL, and provide guidance for interpreting TL scores. We discuss implications of this methodology for higher education as well as other adult learning contexts such as mental health and wellness.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"400 - 420"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42887116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Whither Transformative Education? Taking Stock Well into the Twenty-First Century","authors":"A. Washburn","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045159","url":null,"abstract":"This article develops a framework for this special issue of JTE, and assesses the assessment of transformative learning. What and whom are the contributors assessing? For what ends? And how effectively? The call for manuscripts cited two “megatrends” in the transformative learning literature: 1. The importance of deep and transformative learning experiences that profoundly affect adult learners’ sense of self and their relationships and behavior in their community and broader world; 2. The need to clearly document these learning experiences and interventions and rigorously assess their outcomes, both proximal and distal. In what follows, I pose questions that these trends suggested to me and use them to take stock of transformative learning theory and education in the 21st century. At the end of each section, I synthesize what I found to be relevant from my review of the articles in this issue, highlighting what I see to be major contributions.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"306 - 338"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49242890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Transforming Conflict Narratives","authors":"Beth Fisher-Yoshida, Joan C. Lopez","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045173","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045173","url":null,"abstract":"Narratives, both personal and social, guide how we live and how we are acculturated into our social worlds. As we make changes in our lives, our personal stories change and, in turn, have the potential to influence the social narratives of which we are a part. Likewise, when there are changes in the culture and social worlds around us, that social narrative changes, thereby affecting our personal narratives. In other words, personal and social narratives are strongly linked and mutually influence each other. We may feel and know these transformations take place and understand the ways in which our lives are affected. However, we often struggle to document these shifts. This article suggests using the practical theory, Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) (Pearce, 2007), for narrative analysis to identify and surface personal and social narrative transformations.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"433 - 444"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44086270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using the Graphic Narrative to Stimulate Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory in Learners","authors":"Keith Tedford, Andrew Kitchenham","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045174","url":null,"abstract":"This article describes a bounded action research case study that examines how reading and discussing a graphic narrative (March Book Two, a comic autobiography of John Lewis’s life as a civil rights activist) enabled transformations in a group of seven adult student participants at a Canadian postsecondary institution. Data primarily gathered from photocopies of student work, including reflective journal entries, postsemester interviews, and the primary researcher’s daily reflexive and reflective research journal entries, were evaluated with Kitchenham and Chasteauneuf’s framework of assessing transformative learning with critical reflection types such as objective and subjective reframing of assumptions. The authors found that both the participants and the primary researcher engaged in a number of shifts, including engaging in systemic critical self-reflection of and on assumptions.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"445 - 458"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44300996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Grounding Transformative Learning Through Assessment: TROPOS (TRansformative Outcomes and PrOcesses Scale)","authors":"R. Cox","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045163","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents the development, results, validation, and implications of the TRansformative Outcomes and PrOcesses Scale (TROPOS), a 30-item, exploratory instrument to assess transformative learning (TL) among participants in educational programs. Core findings include a reliable (α = .884) and internally valid instrument with moderate correlation between transformative processes and outcomes (r = .593). This study reflects the importance of critical reflection’s association with TL (r = .541) but also places potential constraints on its prominence as a central component of TL, raising subtle questions into additional moderating or mediating constructs impacting TL.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"383 - 399"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44161052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue of the Journal of Transformative Education on Assessing Transformative Learning","authors":"K. Acheson, J. Dirkx","doi":"10.1177/15413446211045158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/15413446211045158","url":null,"abstract":"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.","PeriodicalId":51740,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Transformative Education","volume":"19 1","pages":"295 - 305"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47063601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}