How to make transformative learning happen.

A defining condition of being human is our urgent need to understand and order the meaning of our experience, to integrate it with what we know to avoid the threat of chaos.

- Jack Mezirow

Transformative learning is a type of experience that causes a shift in an individual’s perspective or attitude.

The Transformative Learning Theory was developed by Jack Mezirow (1923 - 2014). It proposes that learning is “the process of making new interpretations based on the meaning derived out of the experience.” Some experiences in life result in changes to viewpoint, expectations, and assumptions, followed by a change in frames of reference for understanding and interpretation.

Simply put, people can develop the ability to reflect upon and make conscious decisions about something they had taken for granted or were unaware of previously. In the transformative learning theory, this is termed as a transformative experience.

There are three components in transformative learning:

• Contextual understanding

• Critical reflection on assumptions

• Validating meaning by assessing reasons

The transformative theory focuses on how we learn to negotiate and act on our own purposes, values, feelings, and meanings, rather than those we have uncritically assimilated from others.

How do you go about accepting and integrating the information and perspectives of others to your own knowledge and perspective? How do you assess underlying assumptions of any given information? Asking these questions can help you discern what is truly yours vs. what is coming from outside of you.