TBers:
The posting below is a substantial look at how to encourage
transformational learning in your students . It is by Kelly
McGonigal, Ph.D. and is from the newsletter, Speaking of Teaching,
produced by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), Stanford
University , http://ctl.stanford.edu/Newsletter/ Spring 2005, Vol.
14, No.2. Speaking of Teaching is compiled and edited by CTL
Associate Director Mariatte Denman at [mdenman@ stanford.edu.]
Reprinted with permission.
Teaching for Transformation: From Learning Theory to Teaching
Strategies
No matter what you teach, you face the challenge of bringing students
from point A- what they currently know-to point B-the learning goals
of a course. In many courses, the distance between points A and B is
huge, and the path is not obvious. Students must not only acquire new
skills and information, but also radically transform their approach
to thinking and learning. This newsletter explores theories and
teaching strategies that address this universal teaching challenge.
The Challenge
Even though students may have no experience in your class or your
field, they enter your classroom with a long history of academic
training and life experience. For this reason, presenting new
information is not enough to guarantee optimal learning. Students
must recognize the limitations of their current knowledge and
perspectives. This means that you cannot simply unload your knowledge
on students. What is required is a true transformation of students'
existing knowledge.
Instructors from all fields face this challenge. In the sciences and
mathematics, it is common for students to have learned an
oversimplified definition or approach in high school. Students making
the shift from classical to modern physics, for example, cannot
simply layer new information onto old understanding. In the
humanities, students may, for the first time, be asked to develop
original interpretations of texts or to consider conflicting
interpretations of texts instead of seeking the one, instructor-
approved, "correct" interpretation. This new approach must replace
the approach that students have learned, practiced, and been rewarded
for. In the social sciences, instructors often have the difficult job
of helping students unlearn common sense beliefs that may be common
but unjustified. In all these cases, students' previous knowledge
must be completely revised, not merely augmented.
Transformative Learning Theory
Transformative learning theory (see Mezirow, 1997) addresses this
common teaching challenge. The theory describes the conditions and
processes necessary for students to make the most significant kind of
knowledge transformation: paradigm shift, also known as perspective
transformation. Mezirow (1991, p. 167) describes perspective
transformation as: ...the process of becoming critically aware of how
and why our assumptions have come to constrain the way we perceive,
understand, and feel about our world; changing these structures of
habitual expectation to make possible a more inclusive,
discriminating, and integrating perspective; and finally, making
choices or otherwise acting upon these new understandings.
Transformative learning is in clear contrast to the more common
process of assimilative learning, the type of learning that takes
place when students simply acquire new information that can easily
fit into their preexisting knowledge structures. Whereas some college-
level courses are aimed at assimilative learning, most courses
require at least some level of transformative learning.
According to transformative learning theory, paradigm shift/
perspective transformation is the result of several conditions and
processes:
1. an activating event that exposes the limitations of a student's
current knowledge/approach;
2. opportunities for the student to identify and articulate the
underlying assumptions in the student's current knowledge/approach;
3. critical self-reflection as the student considers where these
underlying assumptions came from, how these
assumptions influenced or limited understanding;
4. critical discourse with other students and the instructor as the
group examines alternative ideas and approaches;
5. opportunities to test and apply new perspectives.
When these processes occur, students are more likely to revise their
underlying assumptions, adopt a new paradigm, and apply this new
paradigm (Cranton, 2002).
Transformative learning theory also recognizes that changing one's
perspective is not simply a rational process. Being forced to
consider, evaluate, and revise underlying assumptions can be an
emotionally charged experience. Students have successfully used their
current paradigms to excel in school and understand the world. They
may reasonably be reluctant to abandon what they believe is the right
way to think, create, and solve problems. Resistance to perspective
transformation is common, even among students who are motivated to
learn (Illeris, 2003). For this reason, instructors who wish to
facilitate transformative learning must create an environment that
encourages and rewards intellectual openness (Taylor, 1998).
Teaching Strategies
The content of your teaching will necessarily make some strategies
more suitable than others, but instructors of any field can make
intentional use of transformative learning theory. Below, we consider
strategies for each process involved in transformative learning and
offer examples of what Stanford faculty members are doing to bring
these strategies into their classrooms.
The Activating Event
The activating event can be anything that triggers students to
examine their thinking and the possible limitations of their
understanding:
* Understand your students' backgrounds. To create an effective
critical event, you must anticipate what students believe and know.
Invest some time at the beginning of each quarter to learn about
students' backgrounds. In addition to basic classroom interactions,
anonymous pre-tests, surveys, and early graded or non- graded
assignments can all be effective tools.
* Provide conflicting viewpoints. Conflicting perspectives can
motivate students to examine their own perspectives. You can provide
these viewpoints in readings or in the classroom.
* Create a disorienting dilemma. Specifically, challenge what
students believe. You can do this with a case study, quote,
experiment, picture, demonstration, or story that does not fit their
expectations. The goal is to confuse and intrigue students and thus
increase their motivation to learn whatever you will be presenting in
class.
* Set students up for failure. Failure-driven approaches to teaching
recognize that students are most motivated to learn when their
current knowledge is insufficient to solve an interesting problem.
When students reach a problem- solving impasse, they should recognize
that new information or a new approach is needed. It is not enough to
hand students an unsolvable problem; you must convince them that the
impasse can be resolved and create conditions that encourage their
success. Instructors can present the missing piece in many ways; from
a simple explanation to helping students derive an idea or approach
themselves.
Identifying Current Assumptions
The best strategies for helping students identify their current
assumptions all require that students explain their thinking:
* Use a critical questioning technique. Ask students to explain their
reasoning and the reasons behind their reasoning. Help students
identify their assumptions by offering counterexamples, alternative
scenarios, or differing perspectives.
* Ask students to make a prediction about an experiment, event, or
procedure. Have students explain their predictions, in discussion or
as a quickly written exercise. This can be particularly effective
when the actual outcome will provide a disorienting dilemma.
* Have students talk through their thinking or problem-solving
strategy. This is particularly helpful if you use a failure-driven
approach as the critical event. Give students a challenging question
or problem and have them talk through the thought process. This can
be done with partners, small groups, or through direct interaction
between student and instructor.
* Ask students to evaluate a specific position, solution, or reading
and justify their critique. This can be done as a small group
discussion or as a written assignment. If you provide conflicting
readings or alternative solutions, ask students to defend one and
provide in-depth reasoning. Follow-up with a class discussion.
Encouraging Critical Reflection
Transformational learning is both a social and solitary process
(Taylor, 1998). The most solitary part of transformational learning
is critical reflection, which requires that students privately
examine their current assumptions. Critical reflection is likely to
occur outside of the classroom, as the student absorbs and integrates
what happened in the classroom. Writing assignments are an excellent
way to invite students to engage in solitary reflection:
* Ask students to keep a class journal of questions, observations,
and experiences. Encourage students to keep track of "Aha!" moments
(when they suddenly understood a new concept or viewpoint), as well
as conflict and confusion. To encourage participation, you can give
students five minutes at the end of each class to write in their
journals. At various times in the quarter, have students turn the
journal in or exchange journals with a classmate.
* Ask students to respond to a specific class experience or reading.
Provide a set of semi-structured questions to guide their
reflection . For example, what surprised you and why? How does this
experience/reading conflict with your previous experience or
understanding about the subject? Does this experience/reading change
your thinking about it?
* Ask students to create a "perspective history" timeline. For any
given topic, from critiquing art to analyzing the ethics of business,
ask students to reflect on life experiences and academic experiences
that have influenced their current perspectives. When was the first
time they remember forming an opinion about this topic? What people
and events shaped their assumptions? Have they changed perspectives
over time? What people and events triggered this change?
Encouraging Critical Discourse
Critical discourse is the most social aspect of transformative
learning. Create opportunities for students to reflect through
conversation:
* When you introduce a new strategy, concept, or paradigm in class,
ask students to analyze the approach and compare it with their
previous assumptions. You can lead the discussion yourself or break
the class into small groups for analysis or discussion.
* Make time during class for more extended periods of discussion and
debate. Not all discussion is critical. For example, transformative
learning is unlikely to occur when you allow students to use
discussion to reinforce their existing perspectives or to persuade
others of their viewpoint. All students need to have their
assumptions respectfully challenged. You can invite a student to play
devil's advocate-challenging everyone's assumptions-or you can play
the role yourself. You can also ask students to explain and defend a
viewpoint they disagree with. This will challenge students' thinking
habits and bring to the discussion points that might not otherwise
have been raised.
* Keep the conversations going outside of the classroom. Online
discussion boards or email lists provide an opportunity for students
to continue challenging assumptions and considering new perspectives.
* Group projects or study groups can encourage small- group critical
discourse, especially when the assignment involves analysis,
comparison, and integration of ideas, readings, or approaches.
Giving Students an Opportunity to Test a New Paradigm or Perspective
For transformational learning to move from thought to action,
students need opportunities to apply new knowledge (Taylor, 1998).
Create activities and assignments that empower students to apply new
approaches with a high likelihood of success:
* Return to the disorienting dilemma or failure-driven exercise and
have students approach it with their new knowledge.
* Give students one problem or assignment and ask them to approach it
with multiple perspectives or problem-solving approaches. You can
assign different approaches/perspectives to specific students and
discuss the varying outcomes in class, or you can ask students to
tackle the same assignment more than once.
* Create classroom exercises, such as role-playing or debates, that
give students the opportunity to try on new perspectives.
* Ask students to observe and interpret events, experiments,
readings, or experiences using their new knowledge. Journals,
assignments, online discussions, and exams can all be used for this
purpose.
Fostering Intellectual Openness
For transformative learning to occur, the instructor must strike a
careful balance between support and challenge. Trust among students
and the instructor is especially important in any course that uses
writing and discussion as a primary strategy for critical reflection
and discourse. On the other hand, Cranton (2002, p. 66) argues that
although student empowerment and support are important, an
"environment of challenge" is the central ingredient for
transformative learning. Students must have their beliefs and
assumptions actively challenged. Boyd and Myers (1998) recommend that
instructors practice "seasoned guidance" and "compassionate
criticism." Push too hard and students resist; push too little and
the opportunity for learning quickly fades. To be an agent of change,
you must understand the process of change and provide both the
catalyst and support necessary for transformative learning.
Bibliography
Boyd, Robert D. and Myers, J. Gordon. "Transformative Education."
International Journal of Lifelong Education, 1988, no. 7, 261-284.
Cranton, Patricia. "Teaching for Transformation." New Directions of
Adult and Continuing Education, 2002, no. 93, 63-71.
Illeris, Knud. "Towards a Contemporary and Comprehensive Theory of
Learning." International Journal of Lifelong Education, 2003, no. 22,
396-406.
Mezirow, Jack. Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
Mezirow, Jack. "Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice." New
Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 1997, no. 74, 5-12.
Taylor, Edward W. "The Theory and Practice of Transformative
Learning: A Critical Review." Information Series No. 374. Columbus:
OH: ERIC, 1998.
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