The Transformative learner
According to Jack Mezirow (1996), transformative learning is the process of using prior interpretation to construe a revised or a new interpretation of the meaning of an individual's experience in order to guide future actions" The transformative learning theory outlines the process of perspective transformation as having three broad dimensions,Behavioral,conventional and psychological. Through the transformative learning, the individual (learner) goes under a change in perspective, the way he conceptualizes the world, himself and others around him.
Various authors have identified three factors that determine if a student will turn out be a transformative learner:
- Characteristics of the instructor and the student
- Learning environment
- Instructional activities
(Jones 2008) Developing students are not simply defined by accumulating grades and professional competencies, their learning process or confined by intrapersonal competencies. According to Jones, learning is more than accumulating grades and certificates. It goes down to empowering action and reflective thinking.
The Harvard professor Erick Mazur recently developed the force concept inventory to his students and discovered that they did not understand basic physics concepts at the end of the course in spite of earning good grades.Therefore, learning goes beyond earning grades, and it involves critically analyzing what has been learned, opening the mind to other alternatives and changing way of thinking.
Grading system in schools should be revised to assess experience, rational discourse and critical reflection in students.Mezirow considered critical reflection to be a distinguishing characteristic in learning. Rational discourse has been identified as a catalyst of transformation for the self and the world.
References
Elliott, C. M., Toomey, R. J., Goodman, B. A., & Barbosa, P. (January 01, 2012).
Transformative Learning. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 102, 1,
39-46.
