Application of Transformative Theory to Personal Learning - Essay Example

Application of Transformative Theory to Personal Learning Name Course Instructor’s Name Date Transformative learning is generally the type of learning we position ourselves into as we attempt to make meaning into our lives (O’Sullivan, et al, 2002). This kind of learning does not only involve classroom learning but it goes deeper to involve learning more about our lives. This paper centres on the mind transformation I undertook in order to realize my worth and achieve my realized goals. Personally, I have been transformed greatly by this kind of learning because I have achieved not only one thing but also several (Mezirow & Taylor, 2009). Since I was brought up in South America, in a well up family, my mind was set on the traditions and cultures of the South Americans and therefore I embraced some of this cultural value. Having come from a working class family, my parents provided for my basic needs and I was enrolled in a good school. When I was in school I never used to work hard because my mind was engaged into other affairs, thus could not cope with education very well that led to my poor performance. My parents on the other hand used to encourage me so much concerning my studies but my mind still was not so much on education and responsibilities (Mezirow, 1981). Staying with my parents for more than ten years gave me a great opportunity to observe their commitment and dedication towards us as a family. We loved each other and shared most of the life challenges together. During this period though I had very minor dreams, my mind was not in a position of figuring out how the dreams will come to pass since I was not so much interested with education and the lives responsibilities. I was depending greatly on my parent’s achievement and this fact gave me an assurance of a better lifestyle (Mezirow & Taylor, 2009). My life was full of “closed” mindset, I never at one single time permitted my mind to discover the greatness and potential that I was carrying within me (Miller & Seller, 1990). After several years of staying with my parents, a time came for me to be separated not only from their premises but also from that country. At this time, I had a baby boy who needed much of my support and attention. I moved from my home country South America to a new place in Australia. When I got this opportunity, I was not very comfortable since I was scared of how to start a new lifestyle, how to meet my basic needs, how my life will be and if I will be successful with my son. Immediately I arrived in Australia, life started a fresh with negative effects because I faced some complicated situations from my ex-husband. I was unable to cope up with this new kind of “unfair” lifestyle since I was not exposed to such previously. Life became so hard, tough and unbearable to survive especially now that I was a single mother, in a new environment and with no support from my family. I became so stressed up with life, lost confidence and developed a failure mentality. After a couple of some months I started reviving myself with the help of some people and I discovered I can become a successful person in future if only I changed my way of thinking and position myself into new mind set, this discovery was as a result of my tough experience in this new environment (Mezirow & Taylor, 2009). I started systematically, after I got my residency, my thinking capacity widened, and I started thinking about advancing my life. Immediately I made up my mind to achieve for success, I knew very well that, knowledge must be given the first priority and so, I started by evaluating the necessary adjustments that could be done either major or minor to assist in coping up with the new environment (O’Sullivan, et al, 2002). The first element I considered most was my language which was very dissimilar from everybody else because I had a plan to study again; hence I was forced to study for a course known as English for further studies which is basically designed for migrants and I combined with driving course. Having satisfactory accomplished my two courses I felt like a rebirth of confidence had just occurred in my life. This confidence gave me the potential to enrol for more courses as I was also mindful to provide for my son’s basic needs. In the year 2008 I enrolled for a “Terciary Preparation Certificate 4” and was highly performed well, this created a means to join the University and study for psychology, which from my personal experience was something very far from the reality. I am well equipped to deal with life challenges and no matter what come on my way; I have the ability to shun it away from obstructing my process of success. I believe am not a failure and my mind has now been transformed positively. I always think about the bright future of myself and my son. During this period of mind shifting, I realized that, every person must think for himself or herself instead of acting upon their learnt values, feelings, beliefs and judgment of other people. This kind of factors if given so much attention may end up hindering the person’s capacity to realize the worth that they carry. Our experiences of people, situations and things become a reality as we epitomize them. This procedures may have more to do with the way we come to associate our past experiences with our personal requirements for justification, power and a persuasive real sense of ourselves. Majority of the expectations might be of incidents or of beliefs centred to one’s own unthinking reactions to incidents-how an individual intuitively expects to be in a capacity to cope. I came to realize that most of our expectations strongly influence how we construe the experiences; they have the tendency to manifest as self-gratifying prophecies, though we have a penchant for categorical judgment (King, 2009). The progression by which individuals tacitly handle their beliefs may comprise of limited comprehension, stereotyping, rationalization, greatly selective attention, denial, projection and values taken for granted. That is why it is very crucial to be in a capacity to critically evaluate and bear out the assumption sustaining our own beliefs and prospect and those of different others. Learning to make a decision more insightfully for myself on the correct, favourable and incorrect thing was centrally concerned mostly with bringing into consciousness and negotiating my very own feelings, purpose, dispositions, beliefs, values, and judgment instead of acting on others values and beliefs (O’Sullivan, et al, 2002). If at all, the human sense of freedom is linked with indication and the self-changing power of mindset, and then central is the procedure by which we evaluate and re-evaluate the major reasons that support our thinking modes, feel and respond towards the experiences and our future. This therefore, demands that, we ought to comprehend why and how we, together with others who communicate to us, have obtained our orienting routine of mind and ensuing points of view and the character of the implied assumptions that maintain them. Through my own experience, I came to realize that as an adult; it is not possible to trust fully most of the things they know or believe in due to the reason that, there appear to be no fixed certainty and situation change (Mezirow, 2000). Hence, we are urgently required to comprehend the meaning of every experience we once encountered. In order to facilitate this, we must engage in purposeful learning- by making use of prior interpretations to take into meaning a new or modified experience as a channel to future action. We can possibly also engage in supplementary and assimilative learning. Majority of these adults bring out the meaning of some of their experiences by creatively projecting value loaded symbolic models to construe via analogy. This process however functions tacitly through our obtained frames of reference- mindsets of becoming conversant with assumptions and prospect. The frames of reference comprise of our own paradigms, values, learning preferences, affective dispositions, morals and sense of ourselves. They highly entail getting used to patterns of mind and consequential points of view. They delimit, shape and regularly misrepresent how we bring out meaning of the experiences we encountered. Frames of reference are resultant from the language, idiosyncrasies and the culture of the chief caregiver. As I was studying, I became more of intrasubjective and I began searching for beliefs that are more reliable and understandings by evaluating the experience, purpose and personality of other people who were communicating with me, and by becoming seriously reflective concerning the assumptions sustaining the feelings, values, judgment and beliefs of others, not forgetting my own. A number of the adults bear out disputed beliefs that pertain to communicative learning via discourse (O’Sullivan, et al, 2002). Communicative learning entails comprehending what dissimilar individuals portray when they start communicating with us. Discourse is the kind of dialogue in which we involve ourselves plus others whom we consider objective, informed and cogent to evaluate reasons that give explanation for problematic beliefs. This kind of a dialogue leads to an excellent tentative judgment, which is always subject to substantiation or arguments, point of view and new insights. The quality of this evaluation is, itself, enabled through free, wholly involvement in a progressing discourse comprising of critical reflection on hypothesis with a gradually more and broad varied group of knowledgeable and open minded contributors having the largest range of views promising. For every learner to transform his or her emotional reactions, attitudes or specific beliefs, they have to engage in serious reflection on their personal experiences, which afterwards results to a perspective transformation (Mezirow & Taylor, 2009). This perspective transformation is the practice of becoming vitally conscious of why and how our assumptions have come to hold back the manner in which we recognize, comprehend, and think. With reference to our world; shifting these formation of routine expectation to compose probable a more general, selective, and amalgamating perspective; and, lastly, making alternatives or otherwise performing upon these fresh understandings". Perspective transformation gives explanation on how the significance formation that many adults have attained over a lifetime sequence becomes transformed. These significance formations are frames of reference which are based on the entirety of person’s cultural and related experiences and that affect how they conduct themselves and interpret situations. For instance, a person’s meaning structure will determine how she or he decides to vote or otherwise how she responds to ladies who suffer from physical abuse (O’Sullivan, et al, 2002). The meaning system which makes up meaning construction may possibly change as the human being adds to or joins together ideas within an accessible system and, in reality, this alteration of meaning system occurs more often than not through learning. Perspective transformation resulting to transformative learning, on the other hand, takes place much less frequently. Psychologist believes that it regularly outcomes from situation termed as "disorienting dilemma," that is generated by a life catastrophe or major life changeover, although it may well outcome from a build up of conversion in meaning schemes for several periods. Meaning schemes are founded upon experiences, which are in a position to be deconstructed and worked on in a coherent way. Psychologist suggests that, this comes about through a sequence of phases that commence with the disorienting dilemma. Some other phases consist of self-examination, serious consideration of assumptions, acknowledgment that other people have also shared identical transformations, investigation of new responsibility or actions. In addition, establishment of a plan for necessary action, achievement of skills and knowledge for putting into operation the plan, audition of the plan, advancement of competence and self-assurance in new responsibility, and reincorporation into life on the origin of new perception. Reference King, K. (2009). The Handbook of the Evolving Research of Transformative Learning Based on the Learning Activities Survey, 10th Ed. New York: IAP. Mezirow, J. & Taylor, E. (2009). Transformative Learning in Practice: Insights from Community, Workplace, and Higher Education. Sydney: John Wiley and Sons. Mezirow, J. (1981). A Critical Theory of Adult Learning and Education. Adult Education 32 (1981): 3-23. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation: critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Miller, J.P. & Seller, W. (1990) Curriculum: perspectives and practice. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman O'Sullivan, E. (2003) Bringing a perspective of transformative learning to globalized consumption. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 27 (4), 326–330 O’Sullivan, E.Morrell, A. & O’Connor, M. (2002). Expanding the boundaries of transformative learning: essays on theory and praxis. London: Palgrave Macmillan. . Read More