John Heron's whole person theory can expand transformative learning theory by elaborating a more nuanced understanding of affect. In contrast to the vague conceptualization of affect's role and the interchangeable treatment of emotion and feeling in most adult learning scholarship, Heron's holistic theory grounds all experience in affective…

Mezirow's theory of perspective transformation has proved to be a great asset to the scholarship of adult education and has provided a solid theoretical base for understanding complex learning phenomena. However, in the discussions surrounding Mezirow's work, a certain "stuckness" appears which we think is unproductive. Critiques of…

In this article, the authors critically examine the way discourse enters into and becomes embedded in transformative learning theory, especially from the extrarational or depth psychology perspective. The authors begin by providing an overview of how transformative learning theory has developed in diverse directions, including the extrarational…

This study elaborates on how a disorienting dilemma, a life-event crisis, may trigger reflection. The study comprised an analysis of interviews with involuntarily childless women, who were in the process of negotiating emotionally chaotic experiences. The implications for Jack Mezirow's theory of transformative learning are explored. Compared with…

This article examines the experience of suicide bereavement through the lens of transformative learning. Its purpose is twofold: first, to analyse the dynamics of the grieving process and the transformative experience of the bereaved; second, to use this analysis to draw implications for theory, practice, and research on transformative learning.…