Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Transformational Learning – Possibilities, Theories, Questions and Challenges

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Learning Through Community Engagement

Abstract

Developing “a culture of transformative learning” is the first of seven strategic priorities of Macquarie University (2013, p. 12). Through PACE and other education programs the university has set out to “develop and lead teaching models that promote enquiry driven learning, and prepare students for productive professional and civic lives” (p. 12). This vision of learning and teaching has implications for: the way the university views itself, relationships between academics and students, and relationships between the university and surrounding community. In this chapter we explore transformative learning in PACE and consider theoretical perspectives on transformative learning, pedagogical approaches, teaching practices, possibilities, challenges and questions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors have not used specific student stories or narratives in this chapter as evidence of transformative learning. Further research is needed on to establish a firm and empirical basis for such stories to determine whether they actually demonstrate transformation.

  2. 2.

    In this chapter the term `transformative learning’ will be used.

References

  • Barnett, R. (2004). Learning for an unknown future. Higher Education Research & Development, 23(3), 247–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R. (2005). Recapturing the universal in the university. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(6), 785–797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R. (2007). A will to learn: Being a student in an age of uncertainty. Maidenhead: Open University Press and Society for Research in Higher Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boud, D. (1993). Experience as the base for learning. Higher Education Research and Development, 12(1), 33–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, R. D. (1991). Personal transformations in small groups: A Jungian perspective. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Conklin, J. (2005). Dialogue mapping: Building shared understanding of wicked problems. Napa: CogNexus Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cranton, P. (1996). Types of group learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 71, 25–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cranton, P., & Taylor, E. W. (2012). Transformative learning theory: Seeking a more unified theory. In Taylor, E. W., Cranton, P. and Associates (Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 3–20). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dall’Alba, G., & Barnacle, R. (2007). An ontological turn for higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 32(6), 679–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daloz, L. (1986). Effective teaching and mentoring: Realizing the transformational power of adult learning experience. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dirkx, J. (1998). Transformative learning theory in the practice of adult education: An overview. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 7, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dirkx, J. (2000). After the burning bush: Transformative learning as imaginative engagement with everyday experience. In Proceedings of the third international transformative learning conference, Columbia University, New York, October 26–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dirkx, J. (2008). The meaning and role of emotions in adult learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 120, 7–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dirkx, J. (2012). Self-formation and transformative learning: A response to “calling transformative learning into question: Some mutinous thoughts”, by Michael Newman. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(4), 399–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entwistle, N. (2000). Promoting deep learning through teaching and assessment: Conceptual frameworks and educational contexts. Paper presented at TLRP conference, Leicester, November 2000. Online http://www.tlrp.org/pub/acadpub/Entwistle2000.pdf

  • Friere, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. London: Sheed & Ward.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gijbels, D., Donche, V., Vermunt, J. D., & Richardson, J. T. E. (Eds.). (2013). Learning patterns in higher education: Dimensions and research perspectives. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, M., Coulson, D., Mackaway, J., & Winchester-Seeto, T. (2010). Aligning reflection in the cooperative education curriculum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 11(3), 137–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howie, P., & Bagnall, R. (2013). A beautiful metaphor: Transformative learning theory. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 32(6), 816–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, J. (2011). Interrogating the goals of work-integrated learning: Neoliberal agendas and critical pedagogy. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 12(3), 175–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kucukaydin, I., & Cranton, P. (2013). Critically questioning the discourse of transformative learning theory. Adult Education Quarterly, 63(1), 43–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macquarie University (2013). Our university: A framing of futures. Office of the Vice Chancellor, Macquarie University, NSW. www.mq.edu.au/our-university/.

  • Marton, F., & Säljö, R. (1976). On qualitative differences in learning. 1 – Outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 4–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, K. (2014). The role of critical self-reflection in the practice of community development workers: A retrospective analysis of four community development projects in a rural community in Australia suffering social, economic and environmental hardships. PhD thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

    Google Scholar 

  • McRae, N. (2014). Exploring conditions for transformative learning in work-integrated education. Doctoral dissertation, University of Victoria, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (1989). Transformation theory and social action: A response to collard and law. Adult Education Quarterly, 39, 169–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. and Associates. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 1997(74), 5–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (2009). An overview on transformative learning. In K. Illeris (Ed.), Contemporary theories of learning. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J. (2005). Is higher education ready for transformative learning?: A question explored in the study of sustainability. Journal of Transformative Education, 3(1), 76–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. (2012). Calling transformative learning into question: Some mutinous thoughts. Adult Education Quarterly, 62(1), 36–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, D. L. (1996). Facilitating transformative learning: Attending to the dynamics of the educational helping relationship. Adult Education Quarterly, 47, 41–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W-M., Lawless, D., & Tobin, K. (2014). Toward a praxeology of teaching. Canadian Journal of Education, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C., Ferns, S., Russell, L., & Cretchley, P. (2014). The impact of work integrated learning on student work-readiness. Office for Learning and Teaching, Sydney. Retrieved from http://www.olt.gov.au/system/files/resources/SI11_2139_Ferns_Report_2014.pdf

  • Solomonides, I., Reid, A., & Petocz, P. (Eds.). (2012). Engaging with learning in higher education. Faringdon: Libri Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuckey, H. L., Taylor, E. W., & Cranton, P. (2014). Developing a survey of transformative learning outcomes and processes based on theoretical principles. Journal of Transformative Education, 11(4), 211–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, E. W. (2007). An update of transformative learning theory: A critical review of the empirical research (1999–2005). International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26(2), 173–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, E. W., & Cranton, P. (2013). A theory in progress?: Issues in transformative learning theory. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 4(1), 35–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigwell, K., Prosser, M., & Waterhouse, F. (1999). Relations between teachers’ approaches to teaching and student learning. Higher Education, 37, 57–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Velden, G. (2012). Student engagement: Whose education is it anyway? Talking about quality, 3. Gloucester: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Online http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/student-engagement.aspx

  • Van Gyn, G., & Grove-White, E. (2011). Theories of learning in education. In R. K. Coll & K. E. Zegwaard (Eds.), International handbook for cooperative and work-integrated education (2nd ed., pp. 31–39). Hamilton: University of Waikato/World Association for Cooperative Education.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Maria Amigo, Leanne Cater and Kate Lloyd for generously contributing details of their teaching and curriculum design (Fig. 7.2).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Theresa Winchester-Seeto, Anna Rowe, Ian Solomonides & Kate Williamson

  2. PACE, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Kathryn McLachlan

Authors
  1. Theresa Winchester-Seeto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kathryn McLachlan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anna Rowe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ian Solomonides
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kate Williamson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Theresa Winchester-Seeto .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie University School of Education, Sydney, Australia

    Judyth Sachs

  2. PACE, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Lindie Clark

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Winchester-Seeto, T., McLachlan, K., Rowe, A., Solomonides, I., Williamson, K. (2017). Transformational Learning – Possibilities, Theories, Questions and Challenges. In: Sachs, J., Clark, L. (eds) Learning Through Community Engagement. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0999-0_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0999-0_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-0997-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-0999-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation