Abstract:

Transformative learning has been important in the development of college and adult education since Jack Mezirow proposed it more than 40 years ago as a theoretical description of the steps learners undergo in changing their worldviews. From the educator’s perspective, transformative learning is when a learner is struck by a new concept or way of thinking and then follows through to make a life change; it supplements more common types of learning such as acquiring facts or learning new skills (Cranton, 2006). Little quantitative study has been made of the incidence of transformative learning or the ten steps predicted by Mezirow to precede it (Taylor, 2013).

It should be necessary a more European involvement regard research on transformative learning, considering that the theory of transformative learning does not have concrete roots in the conceptual formation of the European adult educators (Kokkos, 2012). This is unfortunate; particularly considering that European adult educators’ rich scholarship focuses on the social and critical dimensions of adult learning (Bourdieu, Foucault, Mayo), and would have much to offer the study of transformative learning theory (Taylor&Cranton, 2013).

The real innovation could be the integration of the transformative learning with ideas, theories and methodologies of freirerian pedagogy and of democratic adult education, such as Theatre of Oppressed and Forum Theatre, derived from the theory of Augusto Boal (2005). Our purpose is to create a collaborative international research finalized to study the processes of transformative learning occurred during university laboratory experiences based on Freire’s pedagogical tools and on Boal’s Forum Theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed with graduating students. This work presents the international pilot study for the validation of the instrument for assessment of the transformative learning adopting the perspective of the theory of ten precursor steps (Taylor, 2007; Brock, 2011) .

References:
[1] Boal A. (2005). Teatro do oprimido e outras poéticas polìticas. Civilização Brasiléira, Rio de Janeiro.
[2] Brock, S., Florescu, I., & Teran, L. (2011, May). Tools for change: A quantitative examination of transformative learning and its precursor steps among undergraduate students. Research Presentation. 9th Transformative Learning Conference, Athens, Greece.
[3] Cranton, P. (2006). Understanding and promoting transformative learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[4] King, K. (1998). A guide to perspective transformation and learning activities: The learning activities survey. Philadelphia: Research for Better Schools, Inc.
[5] Kokkos, A. (2012). Transformative learning in Europe: An overview of the theoretical perspectives. In E. W. Taylor & P. Cranton (Eds.), Handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 289-303). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
[6] Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning to think like an adult. In Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Francisco, CA: J.M. Associates.
[7] Strollo M.R., Vittoria P. (2012). Educational policies of the Theater of the oppressed in the Universities of Naples and Rio de Janeiro în Acta Universitatis Lucian Blaga.Iurisprudentia, Nr. 02/2012, Editura Universul Juridic, Bucureti, pp. 350-361.
[8] Taylor E.W., Cranton P. (2013). A theory in progress? Issues in transformative learning theory.European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, Vol.4, No.1, 2013, pp. 33-47

Keywords:

Assessment of transformative learning, international action-research, adult education, critical pedagogy.