Essays on Transformative Learning

For the traditional student, college is the next step after high school. He takes only a few months off between high school and college as he did between the previous 12 years of his scholastic life, a whirlwind transition that leaves little time for maturation or new life experiences between being a senior in one place and a freshman in the next. Adult learners, however, bring a fully-formed identity as an adult with them into the college classroom. Educationally, they may have finished high school several years prior, not have finished high school at all, or be completing a ...

For the traditional student, college is the next step after high school. He takes only a few months off between high school and college as he did between the previous 12 years of his scholastic life, a whirlwind transition that leaves little time for maturation or new life experiences between being a senior in one place and a freshman in the next. Adult learners, however, bring a fully-formed identity as an adult with them into the college classroom. Educationally, they may have finished high school several years prior, not have finished high school at all, or be completing a ...

For the traditional student, college is the next step after high school. He takes only a few months off between high school and college as he did between the previous 12 years of his scholastic life, a whirlwind transition that leaves little time for maturation or new life experiences between being a senior in one place and a freshman in the next. Adult learners, however, bring a fully-formed identity as an adult with them into the college classroom. They may have families at home and full-time jobs to work when they’re not in class. Educationally, they may have ...

The theories of adult learning provide educators a clear insight into how an adult learns, thus helping trainers to be more effective in training adults through being more responsive to their learning needs. The theory of self-directed learning states that majority of adult learners take the decision to learn without the intervention of others. They also plan, execute and evaluate their learning experience and align their new knowledge with the job roles. The main advantage of self-directed learning is that the learner can readily incorporate what he learns through the training program into everyday workplace requirement. The limitation of ...

Adult learners are older individuals having different socio-cultural and educational backgrounds along with diverse experiences and family responsibilities. Mostly, adult learners do not continue their education in a regular school after completing their high school; instead, they return to school after acquiring work experience for some years. In other words, their necessity to enroll in a study program is driven by their need to remain competitive and a desire to develop their career. Adult learners usually continue their higher education through part-time programs while continuing to work and take care of their families. More often, adult learners take up ...

Introduction

Transformative learning, unlike traditional learning, empowers students to re-define the meaning of their experiences. It sets aside meandering assumptions and voodoo rules to explore one's capabilities, new roles, and responsibilities. While critical self-reflection is the essence of transformational learning, rational discourse is the method that empowers the learner to go through the required transformation. This paper is an exercise to reflect on a personal learning experience through the lenses of various tenets, principles, and practices of transformative learning. While I narrate my experience in detail, viewing and reflecting it through the concepts of transformative theory strengthens my knowledge about ...