Transformative Learning
Employees benefit from incorporating transformational learning into their training and coaching sessions because it accelerates the rate at which they absorb the essential knowledge.
This material will provide you with a thorough grasp of transformational learning and the process through which this theory was established.
This course also provides you with an understanding of how to use transformational learning in the workplace in order to effect change in your staff.
What is Transformative Learning, and how does it work?
A person’s awareness expands as a result of this process, and they are able to challenge themselves about their own sentiments, beliefs, assumptions, and perspective on their life’s purpose. A transformational process is considered to fully rewire and convert an individual’s ideas, assumptions, and experiences into wholly new expressive views while they are through it.
Transformative learning is a notion that describes an action that people do in order to become more self-motivated, self-governing, logical, collaborative, and sympathetic.
Essentially, people typically have the capacity to reflect on things that they may have taken for granted or were not fully aware of in the past, and they are able to make deliberate judgments about them.
What is a transformational learning experience, and how might you have one?
The transformational learning experience may vary from case to case and is not always restricted to a certain setting, as some have suggested.
A person who has a transformative experience on the way they view life as a result of a traumatic experience, for example, can be anyone from an adult who improves their ability to spread their opinion after learning how to use social media and the internet to a child who has a transformative experience on the way they view life after experiencing a traumatic event.
Understanding the Importance of Transformative Learning
If you are an adult who wants to be successful in their industry, transformational learning may provide a variety of advantages.
As previously noted, transformational learning may assist a person in becoming more critical, independent, and ultimately accountable for his or her actions.
The following are the advantages of transformational learning in the workplace:
1. Improved problem-solving software applications
When it comes to establishing fundamental scientific competences, critical thought and life experience are quite crucial.
The competences gained via transformational learning are also strong enough to advance scientific studies by giving competencies that are required on the job.
2. Shifting one’s typical points of view
Having a great leader in a business means being someone who is consistently respected by his or her peers for a variety of distinct attributes.
These traits might include anything from attitude and conduct to work ethic and resolve.
It is common for transformational learning theory to be used in the training of such role models since they have a substantial influence on workers’ habitual viewpoints.
3. Struggling with developmental and reriodical transition issues
As previously said, there are certain transition phases in the life process and subsequent periods that may not be successfully completed with prior viewpoints.
Adjusting these eras is only achievable via the use of critical reflection and the viewpoint transformation technique, and as a result, it is only attainable through the rebuilding of one’s life.
4. Workplace and job adaption
Similarly, there are different transition moments in work and social life that cannot be resolved with conventional thinking and behaviors. Transformative learning is required at these times of change.
People can only overcome obstacles such as adjusting to a new job and workplace, moving through promotion stages, changing jobs, and retiring if they engage in transformational learning.
As a result, transformational learning methodologies are often needed for society development models and applications, which will be carried out in collaboration with contributions from local society, entrepreneurs, and cooperators.
5. Projects aimed at promoting social education
For applications in which current persons are more effective, critical, and creative, such as post-migration adaption to the city, adoption of a democratic way of life, and active involvement in civic society, transformative learning may be useful.
Critical reflection is a fundamental talent for achieving success in applications. These education apps will be useful in resolving issues that are deeply ingrained and have been entangled in a vicious cycle.
Professional educators are well aware of the fact that required and inescapable transformation cannot take place unless the processes of learning, comprehension, and application are altered.
The primary goal of transformational learning is to build cognitive and emotional abilities in order to engage in critical reflection via the development of new viewpoints and meaning structures.
This goal provides hints regarding the learning strategies and activities that should be used.
The Theory of Transformative Learning
Following a transformational encounter or scenario, this idea predicts that people’s perspectives, expectations, and assumptions would shift. This notion was first established by Jack Mezirow.
The work of Jack Mezirow
Jack Mezirow was a sociologist from the United States who continued his education at Teachers College, Columbia University.
He also served as an Emeritus Professor of Adult Education at the University of Minnesota, where he got his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Social Sciences and Education, respectively. He went away in September 2014, which was a tragic loss.
He left us with the transformational theory that he established back in 2000, which we are still using today. He developed this notion in 1978 while researching adult women who choose to re-enter higher education after a period of time away.
Through his original research and further investigation, he came to the conclusion that people do not adapt previous learning methods to new learning circumstances; rather, they feel the need to gain fresh views on things in order to better grasp the shift in an event.
The Transformative Learning Theory is comprised of many essential components.
Three main components of the Transformative Learning Theory help to enable the learning and transformation of adults in the work setting.
It is necessary to engage in critical inquiry as well as the significance of experience and reasonable dialogue.
1. Critical Inquiry and Introspection
To modify their perspectives, people must be able to think critically about their own experiences and draw conclusions from them. This technique increases self-awareness and develops a more in-depth degree of self-understanding in the individual.
2. Providing Reasonable Disclosure
Specifically, this component of the transformational learning theory refers to the experiences that have the potential to result in transformative learning.
A form of discussion with others is presented in the theory that focuses on personal and socially held beliefs and assumptions, which is conducted in a logical and rational manner to identify and address any biases, blind spots, or inconsistencies that may exist, allowing the individual to make conscious decisions about how they will proceed.
3. The Importance of Personal Experience
According to the final component of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, such experiences would include what people do, what they believe in, what they are willing to put up with, the way they react to certain situations, what they would be willing to suffer for, and, more importantly, their desires, perspective, dream, and faith in a greater or lesser degree.
Simply defined, this component provides an explanation of their life narrative to date as well as the events that they have experienced.
The Transformative Theory’s Fundamental Principles
This idea is based on four broad scientific rules, which are as follows:
Adults demonstrate two types of learning: declarative and inductive.
Individuals who are entrusted with determining the cause or impact of certain events or circumstances are said to be instrumental.
Individuals learn how to communicate their desires, feelings, and emotions through developing their communication abilities and expressing themselves.
In transformational theory, learning entails a shift in meaning structures, which are represented by schemes and perspectives.
Reflection on content, procedures, or premises leads in a shift in the meaning structures that are represented.
Developing new ideas, shifting viewpoints, or adding more significance to current plans or programs are all examples of how learning might take place.
Mezirow defines transformative learning stages as those that occur throughout the course of a person’s life.
According to Jack Mezirow’s study on adult women who were successful in their studies at public institutions, there were 10 stages that happened regularly throughout this viewpoint shift. These were:
1) A perplexing predicament
When a person’s present meaning structure does not correspond to a past experience, he or she finds themselves in a confusing situation.
Individuals do not apply transformational learning when their abilities and experience collide with their meaning structures.
2) Introspection and self-examination
Following a confusing problem, students do a self-test to assess their beliefs and understandings, as well as consider how previous experiences relate to the present difficulty.
Individuals who are learning experience a shift of perspective when they understand that their own point of view may not be the only one available.
3) A rigorous evaluation of the underlying assumptions
It is necessary to evaluate and critically analyze previous assumptions, as well as to determine their veracity.
It assists them in acknowledging that some of their assumptions were incorrect and in remaining open to fresh knowledge.
4) Acknowledgement that others have had a similar shift
When an employee understands that their dissatisfaction with the change process is shared by others, they may know that they are not alone in their feelings.
5) Experimentation with new roles or behaviors
The person might seek out new jobs that are suitable with his or her newly acquired talents throughout a transformational learning process.
Along the way, as they hunt for coworkers who can help them in fulfilling duties in their new role, they develop stronger connections with them.
6) The development of a strategy for moving forward
While on a transformational learning journey, we should strive to increase our confidence in our own views and understandings of the world.
It provides the ability for a person to make their own choices.
7) Acquiring the necessary information and abilities for carrying out the plan
Employees get a perspective change after realizing that their previous ideas were incorrect or misinformed. They then plan a course of action to rectify the situation.
This approach necessitates the forms of learning necessary to have a complete understanding of the problem.
8) Putting the strategy into action
It is during this process that people learn the most as they follow out their plan and go farther in their transformational learning.
It takes time and effort to learn new things and examine alternative views on old problems.
In new responsibilities, the development of competence and self-confidence is important.
The key to success in transformational learning is investigation and an attempt to comprehend all of the changes that have occurred.
It goes beyond just learning new things; it involves actively seeking out new experiences.
The return to normalcy on the basis of fresh insights.
Individuals may successfully integrate into life on the basis of new views gained throughout these stages because they establish a strategy for putting their new perspectives into action.
They obtain the information and abilities necessary to carry out their strategy.
The Theory of Transformative Learning has a variety of applications.
The presence of disorienting problems in learning settings occurs when people or trainees are given the opportunity to critically evaluate new ideas and advancements.
This idea cannot be directly or accurately applied to the education of an adult because it lacks direct and exact methods of application. As a result, the theory’s implementation must be evaluated with a high degree of resilience.
It is true that application procedures differ based on your sector and team skills, but the following are some important conclusions from implementing the idea.
Learning environments that are appropriate for the student promote trust in the learning environment. According to this notion, a trustworthy environment serves as a facilitator in the teaching and learning of adults.
This notion lends support to a learner-centered approach to instruction. Furthermore, it encourages the use of effective learning techniques, as well as the autonomy, collaboration, and engagement of learners throughout the course of transformational learning.
Activities that encourage a person to engage in critical reflection are very important in the education of adults in the workplace.
Considering the following two implementation tactics when implementing transformational learning in the workplace is the best course of action:
1. Provide opportunity for critical thinking.
Through the presentation of fresh ideas or perspectives, critical thinking possibilities are offered to the audience. Employees work with the most up-to-date material and debate it with their coworkers while critically examining their own assumptions and beliefs in the process.
2. Provide a chance for people to act from different viewpoints.
Employees should be given the opportunity to put their newly discovered beliefs into action. An sign of a successful transformation is when an employee openly recognizes their changing viewpoints as a result of the transformation.
Exemplifications of transformative education
In the aftermath of a transformational event, a person is better able to reflect on a situation or something that others assume or are ignorant of, and to make more informed judgments. Using Mezirow’s learner-centric philosophy, students may develop key skills for making sense of their life deliberately. Transformational learning examples include the following, which may be used to encourage transformational learning in an organization.
1st-hand experience in the workplace
One of the most typical forms of transformational learning is acquiring an understanding of the duties required and having hands-on experience in the work of a senior member who is in a position that you want to have in the future.
2. Scenario-based learning is a technique for teaching and learning.
Developing skills and capacities via scenario-based possibilities in a secure setting under the supervision of a senior member of the organization is an excellent example of transformational learning.
3. Adaptation to a different culture at work
Due to advancements in technology, businesses now have the ability to collaborate with a variety of teams that are located all over the world.
These teams must be aware of and respectful of the many cultural backgrounds of its members if they are to function well together.
By providing workers with diverse cultural experiences, employers may assist them in broadening their perspective on the world while also encouraging empathy, compassion, and a respect for diversity among employees.
The decision to make a professional shift.
It is possible for a person to be completely transformed by a shift in their work and to have their viewpoint completely altered.
This is due to the fact that a person will receive a larger experience by being immersed in a totally different setting, which he or she may then compare to past encounters.
About the end, topics that they previously didn’t think much about or had quite radical opinions in may be seen differently from their point of view.
Employees that get promoted to a higher position within their department are an illustration of what I’m talking about. When this kind of job advancement occurs, they will gain new knowledge, be given more responsibilities, and begin to view things in a different light.
Exemplification: One great scenario would be when an employee believes that a particular part of the business was too strict, or that there was a simpler way to do things in order to speed up a particular process, only for the employee to realize that things aren’t the way they initially thought after being promoted,
(5) Collaborating with colleagues from various disciplines
The capacity to collaborate with a variety of various departments within a firm may significantly increase an employee’s knowledge, comprehension, and ability to adapt to new situations. An increase in employee viewpoints from various backgrounds may be made possible by such collaboration, which can also benefit the company.
