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Three case studies in Adult and Higher Education analyze values surveys, interviews, and focus groups, arguing transformative learning can be practiced effectively in academic development.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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learning theory into practice  \nMichael Christie  \nMichael Carey Ann Robertson  \nPeter Grainger  \nUniversity of the Sunshine Coast (USC)  \nThis paper elaborates on a number of key criticisms of Mezirow’s transformative learning theory as well as providing arguments that validate it. Our paper exemplifies how Mezirow’s theory can help adult educators and prospective school teachers understand that social structures and belief systems can influence student learning, that learners make meaning of their experiences in various ways which influence the sort of value systems they develop and that disorienting dilemmas often challenge the validity of one’s values and the assumptions that underpin them. It exemplifies how Mezirow’s theory can be put into practice in Adult and Higher Education via three case studies undertaken by the authors in different places, at different times and with different sets of learners. These include mature aged women returning to study, PhDs at a Swedish Engineering University, and domestic and international students studying at an Australian regional university. The case studies make use of a values survey, interviewsand subsequent focus groups. Data from the survey and interviews are analysed and used to argue that transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991) can be practiced, to good effect, in university staff development  \n10 Michael Christie, Michael Carey, Ann Robertson, Peter Grainger and teacher education courses.  \nKeywords: Transformative learning; Adult and Higher Education; Academic development.  \nIntroduction  \nOne of the research questions that informs this paper asks ‘Can transformative learning theory be put into practice, and if yes, what are some of the differences it makes to the lives of learners?’ A  \nmore specific question is ‘Can disorienting dilemmas be triggered by carefully designed exercises, and, if yes, what are the effects on student transformative learning?’ To do this we need first to define and critically review Mezirow’s theory, which has, over time, become known as transformative learning theory. According to Mezirow, this theory explains how adult learners make sense or meaning of their experiences, how social and other structures influence the way they construe that experience, and how the dynamics involved in modifying meanings undergo changes when learners find them to be dysfunctional (Mezirow, 1991). Mezirow’s theory owes much to the critical theorists and, in particular, to Jurgen Habermas. Habermas’s theory of Communicative Action (1984 and 1986) postulates that there are different types of action that are motivated by different types of reason. He labels his first category Strategic or Instrumental Action. This type of action uses unilateral, non-inclusive means to achieve its aims when the end is considered important enough. Communicative Action uses understanding and agreement, via a process of rational and fair discourse, to achieve a mutually acceptable end (Gougoulakis & Christie, 2012). According to Habermas ‘the system-world’ that includes the market, government and non-government organizations, has been increasingly characterized by Strategic or Instrumental Action. Habermas does not exclude the use of communicative action in the system world but is concerned that instrumental reason and action, which is most often found there, is ‘colonizing’ both public and private spheres of ‘the life-world’(Eriksen & Weigård, 2003, 101) . Jack Mezirow’s theory is much more focused on individual transformation but it too emphasizes rational and non-coercive dialogue as a means to make a change for the better. The aim of transformative learning is to  \nPutting transformative learning theory into practice 11  \nhelp individuals challenge the current assumptions on which they act and, if they find them wanting, to change them. This includes a mental shift as well as a behavioural one","cbCaiezjvSAD9Ukr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiezjvSAD9Ukr","pdf",312450,22,"English","# Introduction\n## Mezirow’s theory and action research","[{\"question\":\"What is the paper trying to do with Mezirow’s transformative learning theory?\",\"answer\":\"It elaborates on key criticisms of the theory and provides arguments validating it, showing how it can be put into practice in adult and higher education contexts.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper link transformative learning to learners’ values and assumptions?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that learners construct meaning from experiences in different ways, which influences the value systems they develop, and that disorienting dilemmas can challenge the assumptions underpinning those values.\"},{\"question\":\"What methods are used in the case studies?\",\"answer\":\"The case studies use a values survey, interviews, and subsequent focus groups, with survey and interview data analyzed to support the argument for practicing transformative learning effectively in staff development and teacher education courses.\"}]","Putting transformative learning theory into practice - April 2015 | PDF",1792074631,55]