Quaco Cloutterbuck's List: transform

• of deep learning that goes beyond just content knowledge acquisition, or learning equations, memorizing tax codes or learning historical facts and data.
• desirable process for adults to learn to think for themselves, through true emancipation from sometimes mindless or unquestioning acceptance of what we have to come to know through our life experience, especially those things that our culture, religions, and personalities may predispose us towards, without our active engagement and questioning of how we know what we know.  
• our society and world to become a better place
• elf-authorship
• greater understanding and awareness of the world and issues beyond us
• ontextual understanding
• critical reflection   on assumptions
• validated meaning by assessing reasons.
• John Dirkx and Patricia Cranton   have researched "soulfulness" and the process of intuition and   the unconscious on our meaning-making
• transformative   learning theory has expanded to include what Jung considers the "unconscious   functions."  Dirkx and Cranton expand on this in their work
• biographical, historical and cultural –   in which they are embedded.
• different dimensions   of awareness and understanding;
• Our understandings and beliefs   are more dependable when they produce interpretations and opinions that   are more justifiable or true than would be those predicated upon other   understandings or beliefs (Mezirow, 2000, p. 4).
• Developing more   dependable beliefs of our experience, considering them in the context   of our lives and being able to improve our decision-making based on our   insights, these are all critical to adult learning.

• Transformative Learning   – (Mezirow addition) Becoming aware of one's own tacit assumptions   and

   

     expectations and   those of others and assessing their relevance for making an interpretation   (Mezirow,

   

     2000, p.4).

• Kitchener – Three levels   of cognitive processing:

   

  •  compute, memorize, read and comprehend

   

  •  (Metacognition) monitor own progress and products as they are engaged in first order cognitive tasks

   

  •  Epistemic cognition   – explain how humans monitor their problem solving when engaged   in ill structured

   

     problems –   limits of knowledge, emerges in late adolescence, form may change during   adult years

   

     (Mezirow, 2000 p   4-5).
• pistemic cognition (Mezirow, 2000 p.5)
• rds to make meaning (ex. Art, music, empathy, feeling, transcendence,   inspiration, kinesthetic, aesthetic).
• Dirkx writes of learning through soul   involving a focus on the interface where the socioemotional and the intellectual   world meet, where inner and outer converge (Mezirow, 2000, p.6). These   processes are another approach from the purely rational and cognitive   lens.

• We must become critically reflective of the assumptions of the   person

   

     communicating.     Assumptions include intent, implied as subtext, conventional wisdom, a   particular

   

     religious world   view –this often requires a critical assessment of assumptions supporting   the justification

   

     of norms (Mezirow,   2000, p. 9).
• In the context of Transformative   Learning Theory, is that specialized use of dialogue devoted to searching   for a common understanding and assessment of the justification of an interpretation   or belief (Mezirow, 2000, p. 10).
• This is about making personal   understanding of issues or beliefs, through assessing the evidence and   arguments of a point of view or issue, and being open to looking at alternative   points of view, or alternative beliefs, then reflectin
• ritically on   the new information, and making a personal judgment based on a new assessment   of the information.
• Mezirow reminds us of our need   to find collective experience and arrive at a best decision.
• To develop common ground   we need to help others and ourselves move from self serving debate and   move towards empathetic listening and informed constructive discourse.
• knowing and managing our own emotions and motivating ourselves   as well as recognizing emotions in others and handling relationships
• Goleman's research shows that emotional intelligence accounts for   about 87% of success at work! (Mezirow, 2000, p. 11).
• A Habit   of Mind – Broad based assumptions that act as a filter   for our experiences; these include: moral consciousness, social norms,   learning styles, philosophies including religion, world view, etc., our   artistic tastes and personality type and preferences.   Sometimes   this may be expressed as our point of view (Mezirow, 2000, p 17 &   18).
• Resulting   Point of View – These include our points of view,   attitudes, beliefs and judgments. Since it is here where our sense of   self and our values are interwoven, we must be mindful of viewpoints that   challenge our beliefs, or realize that if someone expresses a contrary   or different point of view, we are not under personal attack especially,   as are our beliefs and views may
• Transformations   – A process whereby we move over time to reformulate our structures   for making meaning, usually through reconstructing dominant narratives   or stories.
• This requires us to become open   to others points of view, and to be able to reflect on new points of view   and information and often go back and reconstruct what we know and how   we know it
• If we are truly open   to understanding we might engage them in dialogue and through discussion   find out that our sense of them and their issues may be totally erroneous,   thus leading us to make a new frame for how we see and experience them.
• Mezirow suggests transformations   come about due to one of four ways:
• ollowing phases of meaning becoming clarified:

• A Disorienting Dilemma – loss of job, divorce, marriage, back to school, or moving to a new culture

   

  •  Self-examination with feelings of fear, anger, guilt, or shame

   

  •  A critical assessment of assumptions

   

  •  Recognition that one's discontent and the process of transformation are shared

   

  •  Exploration of options for new roles, relationships and actions

   

  •  Planning a course of action

   

  •  Acquiring knowledge and skills for implementing one's plans

   

  •  Provisional trying of new roles

   

  •  Building competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships

   

  •  A reintegration into one's life on the basis of conditions dictated by one's new perspective

   

  (Mezirow, 2000, p. 22).
• reframing we are   speaking of two different means of reframing.
• Objective Reframing – involving   critical reflection on assumptions of others encountered in a narrative   or task oriented problem solving
• Subjective Reframing – involving critical self-reflection of one's own assumptions about narrative (applying reflective insight from someone else's narrative to one's own experience, a system (economic, social or educational), an organization or workplace, feelings and interpersonal relations (counseling or psychotherapy) and the way we learn (Mezirow, 2000, p. 23).
• Critical to teachers helping effect transformative learning in adults, is the understanding of the importance of supportive relationships in the adult students lives, who may be experiencing transformative learning.
• In summary, Transformative Learning Theory provides a structure and process through which to better understand adult growth and development.

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• explores the role of Jungian personality type in the context of Transformative   Learning Theory.
• on framing Transformative Learning in a way that   practitioners, teachers, adult trainers, and others who work with adults   on their lifelong learning process, can grasp the theory and have some   insights into how they can personally help to facilitate their learners   on their quest for learning; especially transformative, ?deep? learning.
• Consciousness-raising   is an association with freedom from oppression and educator/theorist Paulo   Freire, is his landmark book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed , wrote   about the transformative power of education.
• She tells us, ?Indeed, individual   or personal consciousness raising as defined by Jung can be seen to form   the basis of freedom from oppression as defined by Hart.  
• The psychological   definition of consciousness-raising will be followed here: it is the process   of developing self-knowledge and self-awareness   (Chaplin, 1985).
• In   some situations, consciousness-raising is provoked by exposure to new   information, knowledge, insights, or values, especially if they are discrepant   with currently held meaning schemes
• The   concept of consciousness-raising is critical to understanding transformative   learning, since it provides the importance of an elevated awareness that   transcends, or goes beyond, what we perceive as normal consciousness.
• When we experience   a consciousness raising awareness, we find that we can put what we knew   before, in a new and perhaps unique context, or we go beyond and leave   what we experienced and knew before, and now are framing an entirely new   experience which takes us beyond our former boundaries.    
• Mezirow (1991) ?describes a meaning   perspective as a habitual set of expectations that constitutes an orienting   frame of reference.   This serves as a system for interpreting and   evaluating the meaning of experience.
• In Chapter One of this volume, he   lists psychological characteristics as habits of the mind.
• as they move towards what Jung termed,   Individuation, or personality integration, a life-long, organic proces
• Jung's   approach to personality involves the use of two processes that he calls     "Individuation takes place as we break from that collective   and come to critically question the habits of the mind of which we have   been unaware.
• that is, the goal is not to   become only separate but to continue to group, differentiate, and regroup   with other social collectives as we grow and develop.
• The development of the personality   means "fidelity to the law of one's own being," the segregation   of the individual from the undifferentiated and unconscious herd,"   and this means isolation (p.48).
•     One goal of adult education, and transformative learning in particular,   is individuation, the development of the person as separate from the collective,   which in turn allows for the person to join with others in a more authentic   union.
• psychological preferences
• describes the   transformative learning as ?fundamentally extrarational and intensely   personal.' The 'sitting' (listening or waiting) she writes, ?with the   images requires us to descend into a kind of darkness.' Scott has a depth-psychology   orientation to transformation based on Jung, as does Boyd (1991).
• In this interpretation it is the unconscious and the collective unconscious   where emotional work, as transforming learning is seen to be, starts."   (
• This process, called   individuation, incorporates the development of a dialogue with ourselves,   a way of becoming separate from the collective, developing an authentic   self, and regrouping with the collective in a more authentic and real   way.  
• Individuation takes place as we break from collective   and come to critically question the habits of the mind of which we have   been unaware.
• If people run with the herd, if they have no sense   of self as separate from others, there is no hope for finding one's voice   or having free full participation in discourse, as Mezirow puts it in   this book? (Cranton, 2000, Mezirow et. Al)
• he now sees individuation   as a much more unconscious and intuitive process, more of what Dirkx would   call, "soulfullness."
• Different   ways in which we transform include handed-ness, brain hemisphere dominance   and approaches that differ from abstract theorization to concrete literal   thinking.
• A study conducted by Mary Lou Arseneault   in depth interviewing seven people revealed that while most of the people   reported experiencing disorientation, self-examination, critical assessment,   exploration of options, engaging in discourse, and planning a course of   action, not all of the participants experienced transformative learning.
• Cranton suggests ?perhaps it is the movement from critical self-reflection   to transformative learning that is most clearly related to psychological   preferences.
• ecoming critically reflective   of problematic frames of reference and generating interpretations that   are more justifiable fall readily into the purview of thinking function   while judgments made using the feeling function are based on values, the   goal being to remain in harmony with the norms, expectations and values   of others within the community or culture?
• What does this mean?   While both thinking and feeling   are what Jung calls, ?rational functions? feeling is not critical rationality   nor is it critical reflection in the same way as it is for thinking
• When considering the rational functions it is important   to remember that a tendency toward subjective reframing follows from the   introverted attitude, and objective reframing from the extroverted attitude.
•      When considering the irrational functions of sensing and intuition, one   who is more perceptive likes to continue to take in information and impressions   through the five senses or their intuition, and put off coming to closure   since they are still taking in information either from the senses or their   intuition.   Perceptive functions cannot by virtue of definition,   do critical reflection on assumptions or beliefs, since those are judgmental   processes.
• When the sensing or intuiting function is more introverted,   the process is personalized and subjectified.   Introverted intuition   reveals images, fantasies, and hunches that seem to come out of nowhere,   from the unconscious, and trigger subjective, almost inexplicable reactions   to things in the outside world.
• To some extent, Dirkx's (1997)   concept of soul in learning mirrors that which comes forth from introverted   intuition?
• Fostering   transformative learning involves helping bring the source, nature, and   consequences of taken-for-granted assumptions into critical awareness   so that appropriate action can be taken? (Cranton, in Mezirow, 2000, p.   195).
• irst, given that our psychological predispositions form a habit of mind   that influences how we make meaning out of experience, educators have   a responsibility to assist learners in becoming aware of their psychological   preferences.  
• Second, because we are involved in a continuous lifelong   process of developing and individuating as human beings, educators have   a role to play in encouraging critical questioning of psychological habits   of mind and supporting the differentiation of the individual from the   collective
• Third, if our psychological preferences influence the   way we engage in reconstructing frames of reference, educators need to   help create learning experiences that involve learners of different predispositions   in that process.   Integral to each of these is the educator's own   self-awareness of her psychological predisposition and how it influences   her work with learners? (Cranton, in Mezirow, 2000, p. 197).
• Epochal transformations   that arise out of traumatic personal experiences or dramatic insights   are not often within the scope of the educator's responsibility, though   they may sometimes be stimulated by something an educator says or does.    
• To do this well, people need to   understand how their minds work.   Helping learners become fully   aware of their preferences assists them in seeing their strengths, their   blind spots, their prejudices against others different than themselves.
• she cautions correctly that this should ONLY be done   for self-development and never for an   end to themselves. She also   will pass out notes the students may read in class, such as, ?I am a well   organized person' and then have the student agree or disagree; this provides   the students with a variety of types and subtypes, helping them to see   the value in all.   Calling attention to the various types in class,   and their learning styles also provides the students with additional understanding
• As part of mentoring students along their voyage of life, the educators   can also facilitate the student's journey towards individuation through   helping the student see their own views from the views of the collective.

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• John Dirkx, professor at the   Michigan State University, developed an approach to transformative learning   through identifying and integrating an important part of transformative   learning into the basic theory.
• Dirkx refers us to work by Cranton,   Meire and Freire for more insights on the transformative process that   occurs from wresting consciousness and knowledge from the forces of unconsciousness   and ignorance This ego-based view provides only a partial understanding   of the process of change, self-discovery, and social critique inherent   in transformative learning.
• Transformative theory moves us away from the technical   rational view of learning and towards an understanding of patterns and   forms of communication, as well as towards a learning that encompasses   the learner's experience, as well as how they come to frame their experience.    
• Dirkx helps us to see through the lens of mythos, as opposed to   the singular lens of logos, which allows us to look at our experiences   through powerful images, which bring us closer to learning through soul.    
• Mezirow   discusses the importance of a ?disorienting dilemma? as a prerequisite   to transformative learning, or a part of the transformative learning experience.     If a teacher can provide active and experiential forms of teaching   and learning, characterized by high levels of ambiguity, uncertainty and   paradox, then these approaches may challenge students to a level of engagement   that could provide the stimulus for a transformative learning experience.
• Learning   is not simply a preparation for life. It is life, the experience   of living.

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• While much of transformative learning theory is based upon the individual   experiencing deep and transformative learning, Kasl and Elias propose   that small groups can learn as entities (Kasl and Elias, ed. Mezirow,   2000, p. 229).
• Citing isomorphism among   levels of human systems (individual, group and organization), the Kasl   and Elias suggest that in addition to shared systems characteristics,   that small groups may also have a ?group mind.?   Accepting   these premises, a small group, like an individual can learn collectively,   as well as an organization or community.
• Bennett   suggests that the experience of being marginal to a dominant or mainstream   culture serves as a catalyst for movement from ethnocentricity to ethnorelativism.    Kasl and Elias suggest that while Mezirow's theory of transformative learning   ?addresses the content of consciousness; both Kegan and Bennett address   the structure of consciousness, especially the structure that engages   a system with understanding its own identity (Kasl & Elias, Mezirow,   ed. 2000, p.232).
• ?Transformative   learning is the expansion of consciousness in any human system, thus the   collective as well as the individual.   This expanded consciousness   is characterized by new frames of reference, points of view, or habits   of mind as well as by a new structure for engaging the system's identity.     Transformation of the content of consciousness is facilitated when   two processes are engaged interactively: the process of critically analyzing   underlying premises and the process of appreciatively accessing and receiving   the symbolic contents of the unconscious.  
• Transformation of the   structure of consciousness is facilitated when a learner is confronted   with a complex cultural environment because effective engagement with   that environment requires a change in the learner's relationship to his   or her or the group's identity? (Kasl & Elias, Mezirow, ed. 2000,   p.233).
• In their chapter,   Creating New Habits of Mind in Small Groups, (Learning as Transformation,   Mezirow & Associates, 2000), Kasl and Dean recount the experience   of creating a new school within a school
• Culturally, the new school   exemplified a diverse student body, with a majority of students of color,   a unique cohort design and a pedagogy that emphasized a highly collaborative   learning experience.  Additionally, the school pioneered a hybrid   structural design that emphasized on-line learning combined with three   day weekend residencies
• From a developmental constructivist lens, the unique   school within the school provided a unique and student focused program;   however acceptance by the other schools within the institution of learning   was tenuous at best as the other schools suffered budget cut-backs to   fund SHE, the School for Holistic Education, the unique school within   a school.
• Dean Elias commented that he saw their group   functioning at what Harvard professor Robert Kegan calls, ?Fourth Order   Level of Consciousness,? characterized by a group's sense of self-authorship,   identity, autonomy, and individuation.
• Dean saw the   challenges of their group being absorbed into larger organizations as   a transformative experience for the individual group members.   When   faced with thereality of the small, cohesive ?group from the margins?   being absorbed into larger programs within the school, Elias noted a movement   towards what Kegan calls Fifth Order Consciousness, as they collaborated   with their new colleagues in crafting   a new identity, moving from   Fourth Order Consciousness, characterized by group identity to Fifth Order,   a categorical   consciousness characterized by structures in ?which   a group has identities that can be the object of its own self-reflection?   (Kasl & Elias, Mezirow, ed. 2000, p.238).
• Bennett describes the ethnorelative   person as always in the process of becoming a part of and apart from a   given cultural context (p.64).   The experience of being marginal   stimulates capacity to use frames of reference of various cultures as   situations demand.
• In summary, Kasl notes the change in content of consciousness from the   group's initial change in its frame of reference for faculty, then next   added a new frame of learning community, and finally created a new identity   as a praxis collective.
• Kasl also mentions the importance   of archetype, symbol and the expressive arts in evoking the mythical and   somatic, important in the group's growth and evolvement.

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• Daloz   uses a definition of transformative learning as ?a deep shift in frame   of reference s Mezirow defines it.   As a constructive developmentalist,   I also assume that such changes towards ?more dependable frames of reference?   are probably developmentally related? (Daloz, ed. Mezirow, 2000, p. 104)
• he way in which we know and make meaning.     Daloz discusses the way psychologist Robert Kegan refers to these   ?meaning making frames? as ?orders of consciousness? that are both internally   driven and externally driven, including social complexity.
• Daloz suggests that forces largely   responsible for this transformation to occur include particular environmental   and cultural forces at work in the individual's life.  
• ?Clearly,   some conditions, such as an effective education and good friends, are   more conducive to transformation, than, say, growing up alone in a hostile   world.   From Piaget on, it has been forcefully argued that human   development is interactive with the environment.
• While   transformation is often seen as a solitary and sudden event, the what   Daloz calls, ?catalytic events? often presage and ?activate? transformation   come from our own Spirituality or from those people who are close to us,   family and intimate friends.   Mezirow calls this process, ?incremental   transformation.?
• aloz   suggests that as we move towards ?an education that reveals and enhances   our radical interdependence with all creation frees us from a ?false consciousness'   of our separateness into a richer understanding of our underlying relatedness.

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