This article offers a reflective analysis on how the author came to a deeper understanding of transformative learning while collaborating on a research project with Patricia Cranton from 2012-2014... Show More

This article offers a reflective analysis on how the author came to a deeper understanding of transformative learning while collaborating on a research project with Patricia Cranton from 2012-2014, resulting in A Novel Idea: Researching Transformative Learning in Fiction, published by Sense Publishers in 2015. They read six contemporary novels and then analyzed the transformative experiences of the main characters. They created imagined dialogues between the characters to explore emergent themes from the research. They further explored the themes through dialogues between the two of them. Through her work and relationship with Patricia Cranton, Randee had the opportunity to explore new and exciting ways to understand transformative learning and to contribute to the development of theory. This writing is her tribute to Patricia.

Mezirow's (1978) transformative learning was influenced by Kuhn's (1962) paradigm and Freire's (1970) emancipatory learning. In this paper, the author provides readers a clear guide about the main... Show More

Mezirow's (1978) transformative learning was influenced by Kuhn's (1962) paradigm and Freire's (1970) emancipatory learning. In this paper, the author provides readers a clear guide about the main components of transformative learning: Experience, critical reflection, and rational discourse. The author emphasizes that experience in transformative learning is not the ordinary, daily mundane experience, or the new experience added on top of our old experiences, but that experience which fundamentally conflicts with what our assumptions can explain. Transformative learning is to challenge or disturb the fixed assumptions. Through critical reflection, learners examine the origins of beliefs in their historical and biological context and take actions to change their pre-existing assumptions to better understand the current disoriented experience. Finally, the author provides recommendations about how to apply transformative learning in practice.

Spiritual disciplines are practices of transformation intentionally pursued through the day-to-day actions of deeper living. The spiritual disciplines are conceptualized here in their relationship... Show More

Spiritual disciplines are practices of transformation intentionally pursued through the day-to-day actions of deeper living. The spiritual disciplines are conceptualized here in their relationship to profound learning. The authors contend that profound learners exhibit certain dispositions, such as curiosity, that facilitate continual growth. These dispositions, when developed, become practices, habits, or routines which result in continual exploration, skill development, growth in understanding and, over time, transformation of the individual. Spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, fasting, and worship, which move the individual toward the divine, are experienced in all the traditional religious traditions. This is an intentional process of personal transformation, evolving over time, and not contingent on serendipitous circumstance. Transformational learning within this framework is a process of individual conversion from shallowness toward becoming an ever deeper, more authentic person.

Events or experiences that have a transformative effect on people's lives can have an even greater impact if they are documented and disseminated through books, articles, or other forms of media.... Show More

Events or experiences that have a transformative effect on people's lives can have an even greater impact if they are documented and disseminated through books, articles, or other forms of media. Whether one learns of such episodes through personal interaction or published sources, these personal stories enrich and inform one's own life, providing unique insights that help one to understand oneself and others. Scholars have studied transformative learning for 40 years, but Michael Kroth and Patricia Cranton, in their 2014 book Stories of Transformative Learning, expanded the world's understanding by focusing on firsthand accounts of this phenomenon. Using Kroth and Cranton's work as a backdrop, this article presents stories of adult learners who set out to earn graduate degrees but also discovered a renewed sense of themselves along the way. The stories shared here illustrate how learners' beliefs were constructed, challenged, and then transformed, enabling them to overcome prejudices, increase their self-confidence, and experience a new sense of personhood. The participants' transformative learning experiences were authenticated through interviews, writings, and artistic expressions. Notably, these stories were collected many years after the individuals featured had completed their programs, validating the claim that transformative learning has a long-term effect and that truly transformed people do not eventually revert to their prior ways of thinking and being. A brief literature review is also included.

This manuscript examines the past and present frameworks for conceptualizing community, community-based education, and their relationship to transformative education/learning. A case is made for the... Show More

This manuscript examines the past and present frameworks for conceptualizing community, community-based education, and their relationship to transformative education/learning. A case is made for the importance of community-based education providers serving as a mechanism for the engagement for such learning.