Ten Phases of Transformative Learning - Book Report/Review Example

Mezirow’s Ten Phases of Transformative Learning: The Lives of Rappers Shakur, Wallace and Minaj By Data Introduction Mezirow’s Ten Phases of Transformative Learning is a step by step phase for adults to take control of their life by addressing social, political and economic realities and discounting perceptions and assumptions. Transformative learning is a method by which adults come to terms with realistic alternatives to social, political and economic oppressions (Kitchenham, 2008). Transformative learning engages a self-reconstruction of one’s own experiences and involves a negotiation of a new and more productive path. Rather than relying on normative values and beliefs, the transformative learner becomes more critical about what others expect and believe and becomes determined to shape his or her own image. In other words, the transformative learner is determined to define himself rather than allow society and conditions define who he or she is (Mezirow, 1997). The ten phases of Mezirow’s transformative learning are, “a disorienting dilemma”, “a self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame,” “a critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural, or physic assumptions,” “recognition that one’s discontent and the process of transformation are shared and that others have negotiated a similar change,” “exploration of options for new roles, relationships, and actions,” “planning a course of action,” “acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plans,” “provisional trying of new roles,” “building of competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships,” and “a reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s perspective” (Kitchenham, 2008, p. 105). This paper demonstrates how each of the ten phases of Mezirow’s transformative learning applies to the lives of rappers Shakur, Minaj and Wallace. A Disorienting Dilemma Transformative learning begins when an adult is confronted with an “unsettling” event that turns his or her world inside out (Couto, 2010, p. 899). This disorienting dilemma will often be complex and shocking. Transformative learning encourages critical reflection and creative thinking and therefore requires the adult to solve the dilemma by changing the way that the adult sees the world. Rather than settling into old habits that do not work, the adult reinterprets the problem and looks for alternative solutions that will allow growth and development. In other words, rather than shrinking in the face of a disorienting dilemma, the adult takes a step back, takes “stock”, challenges “assumptions” and invites “new perspectives” (Couto, 2010, p. 898). Rappers Tupac Shakur, Christopher Wallace and Nicki Minaj all experienced disorienting dilemmas in their early lives and broke away from normative perspectives on confronting those dilemmas. Shakur, Wallace and Minaj all turned to creative solutions through rap music. For example, Shakur was exposed to a political activist mother who turned to substance abuse as a means of confronting political, social and economic struggles. Nevertheless, Shakur confronted these disorienting dilemmas by looking to the entertainment industry. Shakur first explored the possibility of acting, taking acting classes and eventually settled on rap becoming a successful chart topper (Bio., 2014). Like Shakur, Wallace too was exposed to a life in which drug addiction and drug dealing was a way of life and thus a life-long disorienting dilemma. Wallace sought to become what was expected of him: drug dealing. By age 17, Wallace was jailed for drug dealing and this might have been the defining disorienting dilemma for him. After leaving jail, rather than resuming his previous lifestyle, Wallace turned to music and became a successful well known rapper (Bio. 2014 A). Minaj too was exposed to a life of drug abuse and domestic violence. Her disorienting dilemma however, was her father’s plot to murder her mother by burning down the family home. Minaj came away from this experience with a new perspective. She did not want to end up like her mother and wanted her mother to find the strength to find a new life. As a result Minaj turned to rap music, forging a new identity for her life (Bio. 2014B). A Self-Examination with Feelings of Guilt and Shame The process of self-examination follows a disorienting dilemma. At this stage the individual conducts a critical evaluation of presumed values and beliefs. This phase frequently involves emotions such as guilt and shame as the individual comes to the realization that he or she needs to move forward in a different direction with a new perspective (Merriam & Clark, 2006). This phase is closely connected to the disorienting dilemma phase and as such can be implied in the trajectory of the lives of rappers Shakur, Wallace and Minaj. Minaj’s Self-Reflection rap song recalls how she engaged in self-examination after the fire started by her father. Up to that point, she did had not seen herself as a “winner”, but had identified with the “drop-out” and just getting into trouble with the police and with one another (Minaj, Self-Reflection). However, the fire that destroyed her family’s home, is equated with her desire to move on and make a positive change in her life. The following lines from Self-Reflection demonstrates this self-examination: I remember when I lost everything in a fire Now I got fire, 23’s almost higher…(Minaj, Self-Reflection). Shakur similarly reflected on the way of life in ghetto and the ruthless survival method in his rap song Changes. Shakur chastises himself and others growing up in the ghetto for selling crack to children as a means of accumulating wealth or simply to survive. Implicit in this self-examination is feelings of guilt, shame and anger. Shakur’s chorus constantly reminds that it is time to take a different approach to survival: We gotta make a change... Its time for us as a people to start makin some changes. Lets change the way we eat, lets change the way we live and lets change the way we treat each other. You see the old way wasnt working so its on us to do what we gotta do, to survive (Shakur, Changes). Wallace also raps of self-reflection in his song Suicidal Thoughts where he too chastises his way of life as a youth: All my life I been considered as the worst Lyin to my mother, even stealin out her purse Crime after crime, from drugs to extortion (Wallace, Suicidal Thoughts). In Suicidal Thoughts Wallace comes to the realization that he was better off dead and therefore demonstrates strong feelings of guilt, shame and anger toward his lifestyle and a desire to change. A Critical Assessment of Epistemic, Sociocultural, or Physic Assumptions At this critical assessment of assumptions the individual steps back and reassesses dominant and internal norms prescribing the behaviour of a culture. At this phase the individual is prepared to consider that these prescriptions are erroneous and need not be adopted (Baumgartner, 2012). Shakur’s Brenda’s Got a Baby provides a critical assessment of epistemic, sociocultural and/or physic assumptions. Brenda’s Got a Baby is a narrative about African American life in the inner city where alienation leaves the youth looking for criminal solutions to economic problems. Brenda’s Got a Baby begins with the following lines: I hear Brendas got a baby But, Brendas barely got a brain A damn shame The girl can hardly spell her name (Thats not our problem, thats up to Brendas family) (Shakur, Brenda’s Got a Baby). Shakur goes on to demonstrate how Brenda, at the age of 12, with a baby is abandoned by family and friends and left to take care of a child on her own. This leads to prostitution and dealing crack and exposes yet another child to a cycle of destruction and this impacts the community. Minaj’s Save Me also appears to be a metaphor for her previous life and an assessment of assumptions. In Save Me Minaj describes “driving” for what seems an eternity in an attempt to “find myself” amid “all these screams, all these voices in my head” (Minaj, Save Me). Wallace also conducts a critical assessment of assumptions in his rap son Big Poppa where he acknowledges that African Americans in the inner city tend to aspire toward wealth, but do so in ways that are self-destructive. This reflection is captured in the following lines: Still tote gats strapped with infrared beams Choppin os, smokin lye an Optimos Money hoes and clothes all a nigga knows (Wallace, Big Poppa). Therefore, Wallace is asking whether accumulating wealth through a life a crime is counter-productive. Recognizing One’s Discontent and the Process of Transformation are Shared and that Others Have Negotiated a Similar Change and Exploring Options for New Roles, Relationships, and Actions Recognizing one’s discontent and that others have negotiated similar change refers to gaining inspiration from others who have left the cultural norms behind and moved ahead in a positive way (Mezirow, 1997). In the case of rappers, Wallace, Minaj and Shakur, this step is directly tied to the next phase in transformative learning: exploring options for new roles, relationships and actions. In the exploration phase, the individuals step out of their prescribed roles and conditioned behaviour and try something new, creative and more productive (Mezirow, 1997). Wallace was inspired to take on the rap industry after his imprisonment at the age of 17. After his release from prison he returned to the streets of Brooklyn but this time with a new influence: Old Gold Brothers. Old Gold Brothers was a street rap group and it was through this group that Wallace began to explore an alternative way of living and accumulating wealth (Bio. 2014). It was also obvious that others who were inclined to take path that distanced them from criminal lifestyles had an impression on Wallace for example, in Can I Get Witcha, Wallace observed a female’s discontent and desire to negotiate change as follows: She said "If I get witchu I gotta get witcha whole hood rat crew (Wallace, Can I Get Witcha). Minaj was introduced to the rap industry by fellow rapper Lil Wayne who grew up in one of the poorest neighbourhood in New Orleans. Lil Wayne had his first hit at the age of 17 and was therefore a new and inspiration frame of reference for Minaj (Bio., 2014B). Shakur appears to have accumulated his own discontent through experience and saw the entertainment sector as a means of negotiating change. This is evidenced by his decision to take acting classes as a young boy in his early teens (Bio. 2014). Phases 6-9 Phases 6-9 of Mezirow’s transformative learning are, planning a course of action, acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plan, provision of trying of new roles and building competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships. These phases are described together by Merriam and Clark as a fluid process that occurs almost simultaneously. Once the individual experiences phases 1-5, the individual is determined to make a positive change. The individual therefore decides on a new “plan of action and implements it by exploring new options” and forms “new relationships” or acquires “new skills and knowledge” (Merriam & Clark, 2006, p. 35). As previously noted Wallace’s disorienting dilemma occurred once he was imprisoned. Upon returning from prison, he immediately formed new relationships through the Old Gold Brothers and acquired the skills for rapping and producing his own rap music (Bio. 2014A). His music was picked up by Sean Puffy Combs who signed Wallace to a contract with Combs’ label Bay Boy Entertainment. Wallace continued to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary for his own solo records by performing with Mary J. Blige. He then moved on to producing solo albums with immediate success (Bio., 2014A). Shakur’s disorienting dilemma was arguably his exposure to political activism and his mother’s substance abuse. Shakur moved from home to home with his mother and eventually found stability at an acting academy in Baltimore. Once he moved to California he became a background dancer for rap groups and this is where his new found role and plan of action took place. Shakur joined the rap group Digital Underground and after appearing on two recordings he went sole with immediate success (Bio. 2014). Minaj’s disorienting dilemma was arguably the exposure to her father’s substance and domestic abuse which appeared to have moved her, particularly with respect to its impact on her mother. The final straw for Minaj was her father burning down the family home in an attempt to murder her mother. Minaj began exploring a new role for herself and by extension her mother at an early age. At age 12, Minaj wrote her first rap song and took acting classes at La Guardia High School of Music and Art, the school imitated in the film Fame (Bio. 2014B). Minaj, like Shakur sought to acquire skills and knowledge through formal education and training and in doing so discovered a niche for negotiating change. Lil Wayne is arguably the individual that introduced Minaj to new relationships in the entertainment industry, as she explored her new role as a successful rapper. A Reintegration into One’s Life on the Basis of Conditions Dictated by One’s Perspective In the final phase of Mezirow’s transformative learning, the adult has successfully negotiated a new perspective on life. At this point, the individuals has a “new set of beliefs” referred to as a “meaning perspective” (Peruniak, 2010, p. 114). These new beliefs are acted upon and shape the trajectory of the individual’s life and old assumptions are abandoned (Peruniak, 2010). In other words, in an attempt to survive or to accumulate wealth, the rappers studied in this paper no longer felt that crime or drugs were a means to an end. Rather, the way forward was through legitimate work and creativity. Minaj started out a bit earlier than Wallace and Shakur as she began exploring and negotiating change prior to entering her teens. Moreover, Minaj herself was not involved in criminal behaviour or drug abuse, but was exposed to it. Thus Minaj acquired skills, knowledge and confidence to not only safeguard her own future, but to change her mother’s life. Shakur’s change is phenomenal by comparison considering how he lived his life prior to negotiating change. For example in his rap song Days of a Criminal he recalls his life as a criminal: Now come and get a good look at the crook, who Lives his life in the streets of the jungle Some call me animal, tell me how you figure though Put em in the nimp, in the days of a criminal (Shakur, Days of a Criminal) Shakur demonstrates his confidence in his new skills by reintegrating his new life through narrative. Shakur further reintegrates his new perspectives by chastising his old lifestyle and choices through rap songs such as Days of a Criminal. Wallace also reintegrates his new found perspectives by rapping that rap music changed his life and saved him from a life that was filled with drugs, violence and crime. For example in Hypnotize Wallace admits that rap, is a non-violent, legitimate source of wealth, while others who are resorting to crime, soon find themselves poor and the cycle of crime continues. The chorus in Hypnotize demonstrates Wallace’s reintegration into his life with a new perspective: Biggie Biggie Biggie cant you see Sometimes your words just hypnotize me And I just love your flashy ways Guess thats why they broke, and youre so paid (uh) (Wallace, Hypnotize). This chorus illustrates Wallace’s new perspective. It is his words through rap music that has rescued him from a life filled with struggles whereas his old perspectives did not work and exposed him to imprisonment. Works Cited Baumgartner, L.M. (2012). “Mezirow’s Theory of Transformative Learning From 1975 to Present. In Taylor, E.W. and Cranton, P. (Eds.) The Handbook of Transformative Learning: Theory, Research and Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 99-115. Bio. (2014). “Tupac Shakur.” A&E Television Networks, LLC. http://www.biography.com/people/tupac-shakur-206528#related-video-gallery (Retrieved 20 July 2014). Bio. (2014A). “Biggie Smalls.” A&E Television Networks, LLC. http://www.biography.com/people/biggie-smalls-20866735 (Retrieved 20 July 2014). Bio. (2014B). “Nicki Minaj.” A&E Television Networks, LLC. http://www.biography.com/people/nicki-minaj-579574 (Retrieved 20 July 2014). Couto, R.A. (2010). Political and Civic Leadership: A Reference Handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Kitchenham, A. (April 2008). “The Evolution of John Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory.” Journal of Transformative Education, Vol. 6(2): 104-123. Merriam, S.B. and Clark, M.C. (2006). “Learning and Development: The Connection in Adulthood.” In Hoare, C. (Ed.) Handbook of Adult Development and Learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 27-51. Mezirow, J. (Summer 1997). “Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, Vol. 74: 5-12. Peruniak, G. (2010). A Quality of Life Approach to Career Development. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Read More