Transformative Learning Concepts Flashcards
“Transformative learning develops…”
“…autonomous thinking”
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
“Adults have acquired a coherent body of experience…”
“…—associations, concepts, values, feelings, conditioned responses—frames of reference that define their life world.”
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
Frames of reference
structures of assumptions through which we understand our experiences.
“We have a strong tendency to reject ideas that fail to fit our preconceptions, labeling those ideas as…”
“…unworthy of consideration—aberrations, nonsense, irrelevant, weird, or mistaken”
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
Encompasses cognitive, conative, and emotional components, and is composed of two dimensions: habits of mind and a point of view.
Frame of reference
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
“Broad, abstract, orienting, habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and acting influenced by assumptions that…”
“…constitute a set of codes. These codes may be cultural, social, educational, economic, political, or psychological.”
Habits of mind
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
“…become articulated in a specific point of view—the constellation of belief, value judgment, attitude, and feeling that shapes a particular interpretation.”
“Habits of mind…”
An example of a habit of mind is ethnocentrism, the predisposition to regard others outside one’s own group as inferior.
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
“…are primarily the result of cultural assimilation and the idiosyncratic influences of primary caregivers.”
“Frames of reference…”
Jack Mezirow - Transformative learning: theory to practice 1997
Points of view are subject to continuing change as we reflect on either the content or process by which we solve problems and identify the need to modify assumptions.
This happens whenever we try to understand actions that do not work the way we anticipated.
We can try out another person’s point of view and appropriate it, but we cannot do this with a habit of mind.
learning may be instrumental—learning to manipulate or control the environment or other people to enhance efficacy in improving performance;
In instrumental learning, the truth of an assertion may be established through empirical testing. But communicative learning involves understanding purposes, values, beliefs, and feelings and is less amenable to empirical tests.
communicative—learning to understand the meaning of what is being communicated. Communicative learning involves at least two persons striving to reach an understanding of the meaning of an interpretation or the justification for a belief. Ideally, communicative learning involves reaching a consensus.
In communicative learning, it becomes essential for learners to become critically reflective of the assumptions underlying intentions, values, beliefs, and feelings.
subjective reframing
self-reflectively assessing our own ideas and beliefs
Self-reflection can lead to significant personal transformations.
objective reframing
We may be critically reflective of assumptions when reading a book, hearing a point of view, engaging in task-oriented problem solving
