On a recent visit to Murmansk, Russia to explore collaborative possibilities between the University of North Florida and Murmansk State Pedagogical University (MSPU), two educators jumped at the chance to visit a local kindergarten. As a former kindergarten teacher, one was curious to see how this kindergarten varied from what she had experienced…

The continued persistence of sexism and institutional gender bias in schools is well documented. The empirical research in this area has uncovered a host of negative outcomes associated with gender inequity for all children. Research suggests that schools provide an excellent forum in which issues of gender inequities may be examined and…

Action research includes a variety of methods engaged in by practitioners who wish to learn more about their work and the possibility of constructively changing it. This paper describes an action research dissertation project that focused on the work of a group of community activists to construct new understandings of their work and, as a result,…

Why do some teachers demonstrate great cultural sensitivity in their work with children while others seem mired in stereotypes, perpetuating a view of diversity as exotic or denying that race is an issue in their classrooms? Why is it so difficult to change these dispositions of teachers? And what can we do in teacher education to further the…

Several national trends are converging to impact adult education today. First, the increasing presence of adults in higher education is accentuated by the expansive Baby Boom generation who are demanding greater access to the higher education system in the United States. Second, regarding workforce and economic development in the 21st century,…

As our understanding of learning focuses on the whole person rather than individual aspects of learning, so the process of learning is beginning to be studied from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplines. This handbook presents a comprehensive overview of the contemporary research into learning: it brings together a diverse range of…

This chapter offers a conceptual map for describing different means by which expressive ways of knowing support a holistic approach to transformative learning.

The use of computers within the school curriculum raises critical pedagogical issues. The Maddux (1991) classification of educational computer applications as Type I or Type II remains apposite. Type I applications simply reinforce existing teacher-learner paradigms, whereas Type II applications of ICT (Information and Communications Technology:…

Stemming from a 1998 Columbia University conference on transformative learning, this 3-part book contains 12 articles that examine the concept of how adults learn to change ("transform") their frames of reference. The following are included in Part One: Developing Concepts of Transformative Learning: "Learning To Think Like an Adult: Core Concepts…

A relevant question for educators is how adult learning and education can cultivate change with individuals and groups. M.D. Hohn (1998) identifies four types of change: change by exception, incremental change, pendulum change, and paradigm change. A change agent tries to bring about a change deliberately. The change process is transformative, is…

What is considered legitimate learning is culturally and contextually specific, depending on what values are involved. Different values are engaged depending on whether legitimate learning is considered transformation of the individual in relation to self, in relation to society, or in relation to the workplace. (SK)

Narrative analysis of interviews with 11 HIV-positive adults in 1995, 1998, and 1999 found the following: (1) perspective transformation remained stable; (2) changes in meaning schemas in 1998 had been acted on; (3) new meanings included increased appreciation for the human condition and an expanded view of intimacy; and (4) social interaction was…

Interviews with 12 adult educators in English and English as a second language revealed that most were not aware of transformative learning, Freire's critical theory, or Mezirow's perspective transformation. They were also aware of the need to balance teaching ideals with practicalities, barriers facing students, and negotiation between learner…

Data from an Australian evaluation of competency-based training (CBT) suggest that it emphasizes development of procedural, technical knowledge over reflective problem solving and precludes transformative learning. CBT's empowerment discourses are often belied by workplace realities. Identities of workers and vocational educators are circumscribed…

Narratives of three women experiencing crisis suggest the following: (1) crisis context presents conditions incompatible with transformational education; (2) adult basic education's structure of mastery or absolute knowledge is an obstacle; and (3) the fragmented self is a more appropriate organizational structure for the concept of meaning…