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Working with Edge Emotions as a means for Uncovering Problematic Assumptions: Developing a practically sound theory
Abstract
The connection between cognition and emotion, and between mind and body, has been well documented by neuroscience. The adult education practitioners of critical reflection and transformative learning processes have understood this more holistic understanding of human nature both empirically and intuitively. However, the key theory of the field, Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning, has been given consistent criticism on its focus on rational and cognitive aspects of learning while understating its emotional and social aspects. Similarly, the conceptualization of the processes of reflection appears more appropriate to sophia than for phronesis. This, as is argued in the paper, leaves the theory rather idealistic while lacking understanding of the prerequisites for, and actualities of reflection. This paper presents a recent theoretical development that is both grounded in the analysis of Mezirow’s theory as well as extending and elaborating the theorization of reflection, by utilizing the insights from neuroscience. The presented theory explicates how cognition and emotion are intertwined in the processes of reflection. Further, the theory offers conceptual basis for further research and practice regarding reflection and transformative learning, not only showing the ideals, but offering conceptual tools to work with the challenges of reflection as well.
... Why then is it important to also focus on emotions felt in relation to conflicts that arise when people try to live in a more sustainable way than the current norm prescribes? In transformative processes when our meaning systems are not able to make sense of cognitive, social, or practice-based conflicts, the emotions and tensions that occur can often reveal something more than is obvious about the problems at hand [37,49,50]. Negative emotions are often closely related to that values that people cherish are being threatened [51][52][53]. ...
... In finding ways to promote critical emotional awareness, it could be productive to turn to the educational theory of edge emotions, which emphasizes the importance of taking account of emotions in transformative learning processes both in formal and informal contexts [49,50]. Edge emotions are negative emotions evoked when our meaning system is challenged and because they are uncomfortable to experience, they could push people back into their comfort zone and hinder transformative learning. ...
... This could aid the learning process since there is less risk that unconstructive coping strategies are used (see also [58]). Paradoxically a focus on emotions, thus, could lead to a more rational learning process [49,50]. ...
If we are going to be able to fight climate change in an effective way there is a need for a profound sustainability transformation of society. The question is how everyday pro-environmental behavior such as climate-friendly food choices should be looked upon in this context: as something that hides the need for structural change, or as a starting point for a profound transformation? The aim is to discuss how emotions related to conflicts encountered when trying to make everyday climate-friendly food choices in a society that is not always sustainable can be used to promote transformational learning. Interviews were performed with 15 adolescents. Emotions felt in relation to conflicts and how the youth cope were explored. The results show that the youth mainly felt individualized emotions of guilt, helplessness, and irritation and that they coped primarily by distancing themselves from emotions felt, but also sometimes in a problem-focused way and through positive reappraisal. Results are discussed in relation to theories about critical emotional awareness and prefigurative politics. It is argued that by taking account of emotional aspects related to everyday conflicts in a critical manner, issues such as justice could be brought to the surface and transformative learning could be enhanced.
... However, this proposal of a general theory of learning so far has not included an explicit development of the emotional and affective aspects of human learning. This is a shortcoming that is particularly notable in a context in which the emotional and affective aspects of learning have been discussed: as part of a broader understanding of student engagement (Loon & Bell, 2018;Macfarlane & Tomlinson, 2017), as a key element in learning (Booth, 2018;Mälkki, 2019;Mälkki & Green, 2018), or as an inherent aspect of the teaching experience (Chen, 2019;Zembylas, 2005), to name a few. ...
... The effort to avoid edge-emotions and stay close to the limits of the current knowledge structure would explain the necessity for reflection to learn, that is, to recognize the self-regulatory movement, make the conflict conscious and interrupt the tendency of meaning-making (Mälkki & Green, 2018). Although this would suggest that reflection is not a pleasant or an easy thing to carry out regularly and that it is even a threat to the current functioning of the learner, it would also mean that reflection is a type of work needed to transform affection in the experience of learning in a way that promotes learning. ...
Every learning process is an affective experience. Affect is central in experiencing learning as uncertainty. This article proposes an internal integration of affect into the learning process. The main concepts of learning are articulated with a take on the reflection framework and a dynamic and social understanding of affection, emotions, and aesthetic experiences, helping to integrate concepts like edge-emotions and liminal experiences into the learning process. These concepts support the idea that complex emotions play a central part in learning dynamics, while arguing for reflection as a self-regulatory movement of the learning process. It is argued that there would be no such thing as a merely cognitive learning process. Every time that people learn, they experience edge-emotions and liminal experiences. Furthermore, if the learning process occurs in educational settings, it is possible to think about learning experiences as being mediated by liminal affective techniques and so, open to transformation.
... Pfaffenberger, 2005;Torbert & Taylor, 2008) and extant theories on developmentally effective leadership programs were provided (Manners et al., 2004;. The literature review identified both existing contributing factors to vertical development (Kegan & Lahey, 2009;Manners & Durkin, 2000; and identified potential new avenues of research as yet not explored in the study of executive leadership programs, such as the role of emotions in vertical development (Mälkki & Green, 2018 an inductive, ground-up, approach was taken to analysing data (Yin, 2018). The chapter proceeded to outline the advantages and limitations of each of the data collection methods, as well as the strategy to combine pattern matching (Yin, 2018) and categorical aggregation (Stake, 1995) practice. ...
... This study responds to calls for additional research on the needs and growth mechanisms of post-conventional leaders undertaking learning programs (Baron & Cayer, 2011;. It draws on two theoretical foundations-Transformative Learning (TL), with an emphasis on its more recently discovered emotional aspects (Mälkki & Green, 2018;Mezirow, 2008) and Constructive ...
In a world rife with disruption leaders are tackling challenges of exponentially growing complexity. Supporting leaders’ capability to lead in disruption requires a radical evolution of leadership education: from knowledge transfer (horizontal development) to fostering psychological maturity (vertical development). This study explored the mechanisms of vertical development at the latest stages of consciousness and their implications for leadership learning and program design.
The study tracked the lived experience of consciousness transformation of 35 senior leaders going through a developmental learning program over six months. The methodology included pre/post vertical development stage assessment, weekly diary entries, researcher observation, in-depth interviews, and peer feedback. Participants were grouped into two main categories according to their vertical progression (labelled ‘developers’), stagnation, or regression (collectively labelled ‘non-developers) post-program.
The most significant finding was that developers were more aware of, and more proactive in responding to, emotional discomfort through the program than non-developers. When faced with disorienting dilemmas that triggered unpleasant 'edge-emotions' – such as fear, anxiety or confusion - developers chose to reframe these emotions as opportunities for growth. Consequently, they welcomed discomfort instead of avoiding it. They purposefully tempered their negative emotions by accessing a contrasting, more positive emotion, such as curiosity. Thus, they built a Contrasting Emotions Space (CES) for themselves, which allowed them to sustain the disequilibrium, actively engage in critical reflection, construct new meaning and experiment with new behaviours outside the program. This in turn allowed developers to not only develop into higher stages of psychological maturity, but to actively change behaviours as a result of the program – they tended to appreciate ELP more than their peers because it was challenging and took them out of their comfort zone.
By contrast, non-developers tended to reject the unpleasantness of edge-emotions and the learning experiences that triggered them. They did not seem to gain the same benefits from critical reflection, nor demonstrate subsequent vertical growth. They tended to judge aspects of the program they didn’t like, finding it more stressful, tiring and overall harder to navigate. They were also much less likely to actively experiment or take risks with new behaviours outside the program.
This finding resulted in the ‘Contrasting Emotions Space’ (CES) Theory of Vertical Development, which expands on previously cognitive-focused theories of consciousness transformation and specifically accounts for the role of emotions in the process of vertical development. This opens the door for a new understanding of the role of discomfort in transformative learning, with implications for leadership development, coaching or training program design.
The study also resulted in an empirical framework of vertical program design principles, which both support and build on previous models. The framework includes: creating psychologically safe holding environments; providing disorienting experiences; purposefully creating and utilising the Contrasting Emotions Space; facilitating inquiry and critical reflection and experimenting with new behaviours in the real world. The study also revealed five key principles for building and fostering developmentally effective peer-learning groups: diversity, similarity, mutual challenge, mutual support, and consistency in engaging with each other.
These findings inform both extant theory and practice and open new avenues for research in the field of vertical development of leaders. From a theoretical perspective, they show that transformative learning could foster vertical development if the complex emotions elicited by disorienting dilemmas are recognised and actively managed. This challenges the strong focus on cognitive processes of extant research and suggests that emotional management plays a key role both in transformative learning and in vertical development. From a practical perspective, this study opens new design opportunities for future leadership programs, including the opportunity to teach participants how to recognise and navigate the contrasting emotions space and how to maximise the developmental impact of their peer-group work. This study also opens new questions, particularly on the mechanisms of fallback that predominantly affect post-conventional leaders and how this phenomenon could be mitigated during an ELP.
... It is therefore a perspective that pairs well with the focus in ESD on preparing students for change. Transformative learning is especially valuable when educating about the super-complex sustainability problems because this pedagogical model emphasizes novel ways of approaching problems (see Mälkki and Green 2018). Merely transmitting knowledge and facts to the students are often said to be insufficient to deal with sustainability problems. ...
... concerning future studies, to further promote the transformative potential, the emotions experienced in relation to the conflicts and the emotion regulation strategies used should also be explored. Emotions can reveal aspects that are not always clearly articulated, for example, issues about global justice (Kowasch et al. 2021;Mälkki and Green 2018;Ojala 2013). ...
Transformative learning is important for handling climate change. How to include this kind of learning in formal education is, however, still debated. This article takes a bottom-up approach by learning from young people who make climate-friendly food choices to a high degree. Interviews were performed with Swedish adolescents. By focusing on conflicts and coping the aim was to explore if there are elements of prefigurative practice (e.g., to actualize ideals about the future in the here and now) in the young people’s everyday engagement and to discuss how to utilize these to promote transformative learning. The young people experienced, for example, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and structural/practical conflicts. They coped in two overarching ways: strategies to support climate-friendly choices despite conflicts and strategies to deal with less good choices. It is argued that by critically discussing conflicts and different ways of dealing with them transformative learning can be promoted.
... With deepened contextual understanding my practice of being critical, threatens my security, physical and economic. In day to day realities my epistemological position is challenged beyond edge emotions (Malkki and Green 2018). ...
Proceedings of 14th International Transformative Learning Conference. Transformative learning is the process by which we call into question our taken for granted frames of reference to
make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, and reflective so that they may generate beliefs and opinions
that will prove more justified as a guide for action. Although this definition of transformative learning originates
from Jack Mezirow’s theory of adult learning, this Association embraces the wide array of disciplines that explore
learning that cultivates fundamental change in human systems—individual or collective—in how they perceive
themselves and take action in the world.
The knowledge content of university-level introductory sustainability courses elicits emotional reactions by students that are novel within the typical classroom context. Common negative reactions include 'sadness', 'worry', 'guilt' and 'disgust', while more positive responses include 'feeling angry', 'empowered', 'like trying to make a difference' or 'having raised awareness'. These emotions are indexical of a deeper social epistemic collision between historically established social identities, including behavioural scripts consistent with, and generative of, unsustainability on the one hand, and
p>In this paper we look into the conditions in which dialogue could be utilized to facilitate transformative learning and reflection. We explore the notion of a safe and accepting learning environment from the relational and phenomenological viewpoint, and analyze what it actually means and how it may be developed. We understand facilitating conditions as an inseparable aspect of the learning process similarly to the way a greenhouse supplies right conditions to facilitate the growth of the plant. Similarly as the ground, warmth and light play their essential roles in the growing of the plant, in our paper we offer conceptual tools to understand the dynamics of safe and accepting learning environment in facilitating the processes of reflection and transformative learning.</p
The silent ascendancy of a therapeutic ethos across the education system and into the workplace demands a book that serves as a wake up call to everyone. Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes' controversial and compelling book uses a wealth of examples across the education system, from primary schools to university, and the workplace to show how therapeutic education is turning children, young people and adults into anxious and self-preoccupied individuals rather than aspiring, optimistic and resilient learners who want to know everything about the world. The chapters address a variety of thought-provoking themes, including how therapeutic ideas from popular culture dominate social thought and social policies and offer a diminished view of human potential how schools undermine parental confidence and authority by fostering dependence and compulsory participation in therapeutic activities based on disclosing emotions to others how higher education has adopted therapeutic forms of teacher training because many academics have lost faith in the pursuit of knowledge how such developments are propelled by a deluge of political initiatives in areas such as emotional literacy, emotional well-being and the 'soft outcomes' of learning The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education is eye-opening reading for every teacher, student teacher and parent who retains any belief in the power of knowledge to transform people's lives. Its insistent call for a serious public debate about the emotional state of education should also be at the forefront of the minds of every agent of change in society from parent to policy maker. © 2009 Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes. All rights reserved.
For the past decades reflection has been the buzzword of adult and higher education. Reflection is facilitated in many practices and there is abundant research on the issue. Despite the popularity of the concept, the reasons why bringing about reflection in educational practices is difficult remain unclear. The prevailing theories inform of the process in its ideal form. However, to a great extent, they fail to offer conceptual tools for understanding and working with the actualities of reflection.
The aim of the doctoral thesis was to explore the challenges and prerequisites of reflection in order to theorize the nature of reflection. By the term reflection it is here referred to becoming aware of and questioning the assumptions that orient our thinking, feelings and actions.
The doctoral thesis consists of five studies that approach these questions from different viewpoints and within different contexts. The methods involve both a philosophical and an empirical approach. This multifaceted approach embodies the aim of both gaining a more thorough grasp of the phenomenon and to develop the methodology of researching reflection.
The theory building is based on conceptual analysis and rational reconstruction (see Davia 1998; Habermas 1979; Rorty1984) of Mezirow s (1981; 1991; 2000; 2009) theory of transformative learning. In order to explore the aspects which, based on the analysis, appeared insufficiently considered within Mezirow s theory, Damasio s (1994; 1999; 2003; 2010) theory on emotions and consciousness as well as Clausewitz s (1985) view on friction are used as complementary theories. Empirical analyses are used in dialogue with the theoretical, in order to challenge and refine the emerging theorization.
Reflection is examined in three different contexts; regarding university teachers pedagogical growth, involuntarily childless women recovering from a life-event crisis, and soldiers preparing to act in chaotic situations of the battlefield as well as recovering from it. The choice of these contexts is based on Mezirow s notion of disorienting dilemma as a trigger for reflection. This notion indicates that reflection may more naturally emerge in association to life-event crises or other cumulative sets of instances, which bring our worldview and beliefs under question. Nevertheless, reflection is often being promoted in educational contexts in which the trigger conditions may not readily prevail. These contextual issues as well as the differences between the facilitated and non-facilitated contexts have not, however, been considered in detail within the research on reflection (or transformative learning).
The doctoral thesis offers a new perspective into reflection which, as a further development on Mezirow s transformative learning theory, theorizes the nature of reflection. The developed theory explicates the prerequisites and challenges to reflection. The theory suggests that the challenges of reflection are fundamentally connected to the way the biological life-support system affects our thinking through emotions. While depicting the mechanisms that function as a counterforce to reflection, the developed theory also opens a perspective for considering possibilities for carrying out reflection, and suggests ways to locate and deal with the assumptions to be reflected on.
The basic dynamic of the challenges to reflection was explicated by conceptually bridging the gap between Mezirow s and Damasio s theories, through exploring the connections between the meaning perspective and the biological functions of emotions. The concepts of comfort zone and edge-emotions were formed so as to depict the emotional orientation of our thinking, as part of the explanation of the nature of reflection.
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 the more often discussed role of reflection in facilitated contexts, the analysis shows differences in the role of reflection in this nonfacilitated context, where it appears to enable meaning making in a chaotic situation that was not understandable from within existing meaning frameworks. Furthermore, disorienting dilemmas are manifested in various emotional experiences, indicating that one’s relation to these emotions—as opposed to the nature of the emotion—becomes essential with regard to triggering reflection. Last, the social dimension appears as a second-wave trigger of reflection, as one’s changed assumptions are found to collide with views of significant others.
The aim of this article is to outline a theoretical framework for an empirical study focusing on the question of how schools from socio-culturally different areas face new governance and its power mechanisms. The authors' aim is to bring together Pierre Bourdieu's and Michel Foucault's approaches to power, capitalising at the same time on Risto Heiskala's recent synthesising theorisation of power. In terms of elaboration, the authors outline a four-dimensional framework in which episteme, ethos, theasis and techne constitute the four faces from the Foucauldian perspective. The respective Bourdieuan contributions constitute linguistic markets, institutional habitus, distinctions, and mechanisms of reproduction. In this treatment, it appears that the strength of the Foucauldian tools in the authors' intellectual box for their empirical research on the effects of new governance is on the level of the political, whereas Bourdieu also provides tools for the analysis of politics. The authors' conclusion is a heuristic device, a catalogue of possibilities, a springboard for field study.
Reflection and the promotion of reflective practice have become popular features of the design of educational programmes. This has often led to learning being more effectively facilitated. However, alongisde these positive initiatives have grown more disturbing developments under the general heading of reflection. They have involved both misconceptions of the nature of reflection which have led to instrumental or rule-following approaches to reflective activities, and the application of reflective strategies in ways which have sought inappropriate levels of disclosure from participants or involved otherwise unethical practices. The article examines the question: what constitutes the effective use of reflective activities? It argues that reflection needs to be flexibly deployed, that it is highly context-specific and that the social and cultural context in which reflection takes place has a powerful influence over what kinds of reflection it is possible to foster and the ways in which this might be done. The article concludes by exploring conditions in which reflective activities might appropriately be used in professional education.
Reflection has become a buzzword in the education literature. Differences in the conceptualizations of reflection underlying different studies and lack of theorizing over how these frameworks relate to one another, however, can diminish the contributions such studies can make to our understanding of educational development in higher education. This article considers two models of reflection, Mezirow's (199036.
Mezirow J (Ed.) (1990) Fostering critical reflection in adulthood San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass View all references, 199135.
Mezirow J (1991) Transformative dimensions of adult learning San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass View all references) theory of transformative learning and Zimmerman and Schunk's (1998) notion of self‐regulated learning, and explores how each can enhance our understanding of educational development in tertiary settings. The assumptions each theory makes about the validity of the outcomes of the reflective process are addressed. Two recent qualitative studies, each informed by one of two theories of reflection, are discussed with the goal of making a first attempt at addressing the lack of theorizing over the meaning of findings from different studies. The article concludes with concrete suggestions for future research on reflection and the practice of educational development.
The sixteen essays in this volume confront the current debate about the relationship between philosophy and its history. On the one hand intellectual historians commonly accuse philosophers of writing bad - anachronistic - history of philosophy, and on the other, philosophers have accused intellectual historians of writing bad - antiquarian - history of philosophy. The essays here address this controversy and ask what purpose the history of philosophy should serve. Part I contains more purely theoretical and methodological discussion, of such questions as whether there are 'timeless' philosophical problems, whether the issues of one epoch are commensurable with those of another, and what style is appropriate to the historiography of the subject. The essays in Part II consider a number of case-histories. They present important revisionist scholarship and original contributions on topics drawn from ancient, early modern and more recent philosophy. All the essays have been specially commissioned, and the contributors include many of the leading figures in the field. The volume as a whole will be of vital interest to everyone concerned with the study of philosophy and of its history.
Rational reconstructions standardly operate so as to transform a given problematic philosophical scientific account-particularly of a terminological, methodological or theoretical entity-into a similar, but more precise, consistent interpretation. This method occupies a central position in the practice of analytic philosophy. Nevertheless, we encounter-even if only in a very few specific publications-a vague image of it. This is due on the one hand to the problem of the intentions of application, i.e., of the normativity of rational reconstruction (descriptive/prescriptive-ambivalence). It is also due on the other hand to the problem of the significance of the method in the field of history of philosophy (systematic/historical-dichotomy). The varied usage within analytic philosophy, as well as the increasingly inflationary and interfering usage outside, contribute to make rational reconstruction somehow appear a Proteus in contemporary philosophical methodology. This paper attempts to administer first aid and to close a bit of the theoretical gap and thus to reach a more exact image for the interests of analytic philosophy. Self-application of the method appears to be the right remedy. A graduating rational reconstruction of a standard concept of rational reconstruction will be suggested, differentiating the concept of rational reconstruction according to normativity, and explicating the method of rational reconstruction into two such variants.
The rapidly changing environment requires an ability for critical reflection. In this chapter, I suggest that our abilities to engage in transformative learning and critical reflection on our taken-for-granted assumptions may be significantly strengthened by gently yet critically harnessing ‘edge-emotions’ as our guiding friends in the processes of learning and development. The theory of edge-emotions argues that resistance to reflection is deeply rooted in the biology of emotions and cognitive functions acting together in favour of self-preservation. This chapter offers an understanding of the dynamics of edge-emotions and suggests ways in which we can learn to harness edge-emotions in practice for supporting critical reflection and transformative learning.
Higher education has long been seen as the heart of knowledge and epistemological development. However, recent advances in the sphere of research on learning challenge higher education to take a broader and more integrative perspective, so that the ontological self of the student can be “brought into view and engaged with” (Barnett 2007, 9).
The article focuses on the development of a theory. A discussion is presented about steps involved in developing a theory, such as seeing which factors logically should be considered as part of the explanation of the social or individual phenomena of interest. The authors assert that authors developing theories are considering these factors, they should err in favor of including too many factors, recognizing that over time their ideas will be refined. The article presents information about the importance of sensitivity to the competing virtues of parsimony and comprehensiveness.
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 Mezirow are often repeated, secondhand or thirdhand, causing important issues and tensions to become simplified and dichotomized, which causes complex aspects of the theory to lose the nuance that a good theory provides. This article draws on recent contributions to the literature in order to elaborate on the theory of perspective transformation in light of these recurring critiques. In so doing, we introduce three key concepts to the lexicon of perspective transformation: continuity, intersubjectivity, and emancipatory praxis. For each, we address the underlying omission or weakness in Mezirow’s theory and offer revised conceptualizations of the theory.
Critical reflection underpins socially just and inclusive practices that
are distinguishing features of democratic learning communities.
Critical reflection supports educators’ interrogation of the underlying
assumptions, intentions, values and beliefs that shape their worldview
and sociocultural standpoint. Dominant sociocultural norms
unwittingly shape the worldview and sociocultural standpoint
of educators, which in turn, can contribute to systemic barriers to
educational achievement for disenfranchised youth. This paper draws
on doctoral research and professional practice with educators in a
network of non-traditional flexi schools. The context of flexi schools
influences educator identity and development. Much research has
highlighted the significance of relational pedagogy as a feature of
best practice. However, educators’ engagement with critical reflection
to enhance the relational dynamics within the learning community
requires further research.
This volume of essays demonstrates and comments on philosophical methods in educational research. Offers a clear picture of what philosophers do when they study education. •Brings together a series of essays from an international cast of contributors from Canada, UK, Finland, and Cyprus. •Examines a range of new and established philosophical methods which can be used in educational research. •Demonstrates how philosophy of education can be understood methodologically. •Draws from both Continental and Analytical traditions. •Fills a gap in the research methods literature in education and the social sciences.
How We Learn deals with the fundamental issues of the processes of learning, critically assessing different types of learning and obstacles to learning. It also considers a broad range of other important questions in relation to learning such as: • modern research into learning and brain functions • self-perception, motivation and competence development • teaching, intelligence and learning style • learning in relation to gender and life age. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to both traditional learning theory and the newest international research into learning processes, while at the same time being an innovative contribution to a new and more holistic understanding of learning including discussion on school-based learning, net-based learning, workplace learning and educational politics. How We Learn examines all the key factors that help to create a holistic understanding of what learning actually is and why and how learning and non-learning take place. It is also however a refreshing and thought-provoking piece of scholarly work as it adds new research material, new understandings and new points of view. © 1999, 2006 Roskilde University Press; 2007 Knud Illeris. All rights reserved.
Although the notion of transformative learning points to a desirable destination for
educational endeavors, the difficulty in the journey is often neglected. Our intention
is to map the experiential micro-processes involved in transformative learning such
that the phenomenon is illuminated from a first-person rather than third-person
point of view. Employing that point of view, we believe, provides a common frame
of reference for both the mentor and the prote´ge´. We employ the notions of liminality,
comfort zone, and edge emotions to elucidate the transformative process. The
more intimate understandings that result should assist educators to support students
who are undergoing such a metamorphosis. In addition, the article will consider
some of the challenges encountered by the educator who wishes to support
students through this process.
Higher education has long been seen as the heart of knowledge and epistemological development. However, recent advances in the sphere of research on learning raise a challenge to consider also the project of higher education from broader and more integrative perspective, so that the ontological self of the student can be ‘brought into view and engaged with’ (Barnett, 2007, 9). Furthermore, Blackie et al, (2010, 641) suggest that ‘if we are to take the idea of the person of the student (transformation) seriously, we need to begin to pay attention to the emotional side of education’.
In this chapter we thus pay attention to student emotions and bring into view and engage with the possibilities of transformation in the context of higher education. We first explore the historical landscape of learning by presenting a brief outline of evolving views about human learning. We verify the increased understanding of integration and complexity. The paper then focuses attention on the problematic relationship between affect and reason: we suggest that interaction with knowledge per se can generate ambivalence and so we suggest that at the edge of knowing lies at a difficult emotional territory, where the interaction between the epistemological and ontological self presents opportunities for transformation while involving challenges that need to be paid attention to. The paper also offers a practical case study to integrate theorising with practice and to illustrate the role of emotions in perspective change and transformation.
Thus, this chapter approaches the theme of interaction in education by exploring, from a theoretical perspective, the challenges of student interaction with knowledge, within the epistemological track of higher education. We propose that a more fruitful way to consider and work with these challenges comes by recognizing and considering both the epistemological and the ontological tracks of higher education, and especially the interaction between those two tracks.
The prevailing theoretical discussion on reflection within adult and higher education focuses on the cognitive and rational dimensions of reflection, at the expense of the emotional and social dimensions. Consequently, the theories deal with the ideals, but leave issues pertaining to the understanding of the prerequisites, challenges, and obstacles of reflection largely unaddressed. This article proposes a theory which sheds light on the nature and the prerequisites of the process of reflection. The theory development was based on analyzing Jack Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning. In order to deepen the understanding of the emotional dimension which was fruitfully yet insufficiently conceptualized within Mezirow’s theory, Antonio Damasio’s neurobiological theory of emotions and consciousness was utilized as a complementary theory. Based on these differing theories, it was possible to construct a theory which conceptualizes the challenges to reflection and opens new directions for further research concerning integrating the cognitive and emotional perspectives.
The concept of reflection is common to a range of learning theories and therefore carries various meanings and differing significance. Within theories of adult education, reflection is predominantly conceptualized as the rational analytical process through which human beings extract knowledge from their experience. This article critiques this cognitive bias. However, the author argues that a perspective of embodied experiential learning should not give preference to the body over the mind as a source of knowledge. Nor should researchers reject reflection as an exclusively cognitive process. Reflective practices can facilitate a learning dialogue between our implicit embodied experience and conceptual aspects of our consciousness. The author illustrates this with the example of the theory and practice of Gendlin’s Focusing. In conclusion, the author proposes a set of elements, characteristic of individual and collective human experiential learning, that can provide a framework for a more expansive and integrative conceptualization of reflection.
This paper proposes basic epistemological, communicative and critically analytic criteria for the development of formal theory in adult education. Epistemological criteria focus on the ways in which the categories of knowledge comprising a theory are judged to be intellectually sound. Communicative criteria focus on the necessity for a theory to communicate its tenets clearly to practitioners. Critically analytic criteria refer to the manner in which a theoretical effort invites and exemplifies the critical scrutiny of its central propositions.
This critical literature review is an attempt to build upon the theoretical debate of Mezirow's transformative learning theory by investigating what the empirical studies have to say about a perspective transformation. The review finds much support for Mezirow's theory, but at the same time suggests a need to reconceptualize the process of a perspective transformation. The review discloses a learning process that needs to recognize to a greater degree the significant influence of context, the varying nature of the catalyst of the process, the minimization of the role of critical reflection and increased role of other ways of knowing and relationships, and an overall broadening of the definitional outcome of a perspective transformation. Research needs to continue, particularly in the areas of cultural diversity, the fostering of transformative learning in the classroom, and the nature of and relationship between critical reflection and other ways of knowing. Designs of research including other methods beyond interviews, such as observations and content analysis in an ongoing educational context, would also be valuable.
This article outlines a contemporary and comprehensive theory of learning that has been developed to match the modern concept of competence and therefore includes not only cognitive learning but also emotional and social dimensions. In relation to this, different kinds of learning are discussed and a framework is suggested comprising four learning types, including, as the most complex, transformative learning. The article also identifies three main types of nonlearning defined as mislearning, learning defence, and learning resistance. Two kinds of learning defence are described as everyday consciousness and identity defence, respectively. Finally, the terms habits of expectations (Mezirow) and sets of assumptions (Brookfield) are taken up as the key expressions to understand nonlearning in transformative learning theory, and it is concluded that this theory could profit from dealing more specifically with the emotional and social dimensions of learning and nonlearning.
Encouraging adults to undertake critical reflection is one of the most frequently espoused aims of graduate programmes of adult education. A considerable body of adult educational literature has been produced in this area, most of it focusing on conceptual analysis or on debate reflecting the strains between progressive, humanistic and liberal interpretations of these processes and radical, critical, socialist interpretations. Missing from the debate surrounding critical reflection as an adult capacity has been attention to the way adults feel their way through critically reflective episodes ‐ to understanding the visceral, emotive dimensions of this process. This paper uses Marton's concept of phenomenography ‐ the exploration and portrayal of how learners experience and interpret learning ‐ to outline a phenomenography of critical reflection as it pertains to one group of adults who happen to be adult educators. Five themes emerge from journals, conversations and autobiographies: impostorship (the sense that participating in critical thought is an act of bad faith), cultural suicide (the recognition that challenging conventional assumptions risks cutting people off from the cultures that have defined and sustained them up to that point in their lives), lost innocence (the move from dualistic certainty toward dialectical and multiplistic modes of reasoning), roadrunning (the incrementally fluctuating flirtation with new modes of thought and being) and community (the importance of a sustaining support group to those in critical process). The paper elaborates these themes and describes how developmental activities for adult educators in critical process can be grounded in participation in critical conversations within learning communities.
Peer Observation of Teaching is one process employed within higher education establishments in Britain that can be instrumental in developing the reflective practices of professional lecturers. It is a means of making the focus and purpose of reflection more explicit and effective through allowing academics to consider their roles as professional educators, and to seek and engage in relevant developmental processes as a consequence. In so doing, peer observation becomes key in attempting to define the quality of learning and teaching within an institution. This paper reports on peer observation practices in one post‐1992 university. It utilises data from semi‐structured interviews with lecturers, and identifies the need for peers to be more aware of what reflective practices involve. In addition, it identifies a need for using reflection to open up wider academic debate in order to develop more meaningful learning environments for students to work in.
Schön's formative and influential notion of ‘reflective practice˚s is in danger of being widely adopted in higher education without rigorous interrogation of the central notion of ‘reflection˚s itself. This article sets out to situate the notion of ‘reflectivity˚s historically, and to critically examine its possible forms, interpretations and underpinning values. Schön's description of professional practice as an ‘artistry˚s (rather than a technique) is formally progressed, teaching being described as a critically reflexive, aesthetic practice. The article notes four underpinning epistemologies for reflective practice: technical rational; humanistic emancipatory; postmodern deconstructive; and radical phenomenological, and offers an articulation of different forms of reflectivity. A proposal is made for a complex, synthetic ‘holistic reflexivity˚s—distinguished from other kinds of reflection—as an aesthetic and ethical apprehension grounded in an ontological framework of radical phenomenology.
Transformational learning is fundamentally concerned with construing meaning from experience as a guide to action. In his theory of perspective transformation, Mezirow presents a significant conceptualization of that process, but it is flawed in one major aspect: It fails to account for context. We examine the absence of context in the theory itself, then focus on the decontextualized form of rationality that underlies the process of critical reflection central to perspective transformation. Finally, we propose a contextualized view of rationality which maintains the essential link between meaning and experience.
This article examines intercultural learning as a lifelong process. The data on which the article is based consist of 10 biographical interviews in which Finnish teachers were asked to talk about their lives from the perspective of intercultural learning. The analysis of the interviews showed that other people were involved in many of the experiences being referred to, and that these individuals played an important role in the stories. This article, therefore, focuses on the role of significant others in the intercultural learning of teachers. Three roles of significant others that arose from the data are introduced: transforming attitudes towards diversity; awakening and developing intercultural awareness; and developing ethical orientation.
A set of ground rules and vocabulary to facilitate focused discussion about the structure of organization and management theories are proposed. The many previous efforts at defining and evaluating theory help establish criteria for theory construction and evaluation. In the establishment of these criteria, description is distinguished from theory, and a matrix of criteria for evaluating the variables, constructs, and relationships that together compose a theory is developed. The proposed matrix may be useful both for defining the necessary components of good theory and for evaluating and/or comparing the quality of alternative theories. Finally, a discussion of the way theories fit together to give a somewhat broader picture of empirical reality reveals the lines of tension between the two main criteria for evaluating theory.
This book seeks to locate the essence of adult experiential learning, a central phenomenon in adult education. Chapter 1, The Theme of Adult Experiential Learning in Research, addresses theory building in adult education and developing a deeper understanding of adult experiential learning. Chapter 2, Theoretical Underpinnings and Methodology, describes sources, how to generate the research problems, and these methodological principles: hermeneutical text interpretation and grounded theory method. Chapter 3, Knowledge and Knowing in Theories of Adult Experiential Learning, considers the overall attitudes of Knowles, Kolb, Mezirow, Revans, and Schon to knowledge and knowing. Chapter 4, Individual Dimensions of Adult Experiential Learning, examines what "experience" means to the five scholars; how they describe the act of learning; how reflection and learning are related; how they define "the end point" of learning; and how learning and development are linked. Chapter 5, Social Dimensions of Adult Experiential Learning, addresses what kind of andragogical implications seem to follow from the individual dimensions of experiential learning; how an adult educator comes into the individual learner's learning; what kind of "being-with" an individual learner requires; and what an educator does. Chapter 6, Conclusion, gives a general profile of adult experiential learning by re-constructing its main categories and recommends directions for future research and practice. (Appendixes include 41 notes and 264 references.) (YLB)
Within higher education, reflection has been seen as a prerequisite to quality teaching and developing as a teacher. However, little empirical research exists concerning the link between teacher reflection and action, which defines the extent to which the teacher’s reflection-based views are channelled to the benefit of the students. This article focuses on this link, as manifested through interviews with 76 university teachers. The findings shed light on practical challenges and obstacles along higher education teachers’ path from reflection to practice, and indicate that, despite the strong emphasis on reflection, it is far from being a self-evident tool for developing a teacher’s practice. Besides the pedagogical perspective, this link also appears essential from the viewpoint of the teacher experiencing teaching as rewarding. Issues that arise when theories of learning and reflection are applied to the context of the development of university teacher are considered.
This chapter describes different ways of understanding emotions and their role in adult learning. The author suggests that our understanding of emotions is shifting from one where they are viewed as an obstacle to reason and knowing to more holistic and integral ways of knowing one's self and the world.
The last significant review of research about transformative learning was in 1998 and was mostly focused on unpublished dissertations. In response, this paper reviews an exhaustive body of research conducted since that time, involving 40 studies, published in peer-review journals with a lens of analysis of new findings and insights on transformative learning theory. The review finds less research less about identifying transformative experiences in different setting, and more about fostering transformative learning and the complex nature of critical reflection, relationships, the nature of a perspective transformation and the role of context. Furthermore, even though qualitative designs still dominate, they have become more sophisticated and creative, including longitudinal and mixed-method designs and the use of video and photography.
A crucial challenge in terms of research methods in philosophy of education is that of combining philosophical ways of analyzing and arguing, with the dialogical and pluralist way of thinking needed in educational research. In this article I describe how I dealt with this challenge in my research project focusing on educational implications of the positions defended in the debate on constructivism and realism between Israel Scheffler and Nelson Goodman. The key to my methodological approach is an emphasis on the role of a thoroughgoing process of analysis and synthesis. I see this process as the prerequisite for profound philosophical dialogue on education. © 2009 Journal of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain.
Abstract As even its defenders admit, reflection in education suffers from a lack of conceptual clarity. In this essay, Henk Procee provides a philosophical analysis of the central concepts in this domain. In the current literature, these concepts are usually taken from the pragmatic school of John Dewey and from critical social theory associated with Jürgen Habermas. In contrast, Procee argues that Kant’s philosophy incorporates ideas better suited to understanding reflection in education — particularly through his distinction between understanding (“Verstand”) and judgment (“Urteilskraft”), a distinction that supports an epistemology that accepts the special nature of reflection as judgment as opposed to formal learning (which, in Kant’s analysis, is part of understanding). In addition, Procee discusses some consequences for the aims and methods of reflection in education.
This chapter updates transformative learning theory through discussing emerging alternative theoretical conceptions, current research findings, and implications for practice.
We describe here the outcomes of our research on the reflection of six professors considered exemplary in their teaching. For instance, we found that they all held and used considerable knowledge about learners, as groups and as individuals, and used this knowledge in reflecting on the impact of their teaching. We use this information to elaborate on the role of reflection in the construction of teaching knowledge. Lastly, we address how the model of reflection we developed helps us understand the factors influencing one's ability to effectively reflect on teaching.
We empirically explored whether academics from pure/soft and pure/hard fields engage in reflective practice on teaching differently
and, if so, whether these differences could be partially explained by the epistemological structure of their discipline. Interview
data from academics in pure/hard (N=30) and pure/soft fields (N=10) were deductively analyzed according to different types and domains of reflection as well as the nature of learning
underlying these reflections. The greatest differences between the two groups were found with respect to reflection on core
beliefs as well as within the domain of educational goals and purposes, both being more common in soft fields. Soft and hard
fields engaged in instrumental, communicative as well as emancipatory learning about teaching but to different degrees. We
propose that teaching expertise requires a disposition to engage in reflection on core beliefs, particularly but not exclusively
within the domain of goals and purposes, the latter involving both communicative and emancipatory learning. The theoretical
and practical implications of the study are discussed.
Reflection is claimed as a goal in many teacher preparation programs, but its definition and how it might be fostered in student teachers are problematic issues. In this article, a report is provided of a review of literature on reflection, in particular focusing on strategies which assist its development in preservice programs. Next there is outlined a research project where types of reflection have been defined and applied to an analysis of student writing. Finally, the authors propose a framework for types of reflection as a basis for further research development in teacher education.
Interpreting the ideas of Jurgen Habermas, the nature of three generic domains of adult learning is posited, each with its own interpretive categories, ways of determining which knowledge claims are warranted, methods of inquiry as well as its own learning goals, learning needs and modes of educational intervention. Perspective transformation is seen as one of the learning domains and the domain most uniquely adult. The nature and etiology of perspective transformation is elaborated with particular focus on the function of reification and of reflectivity. Implications of a critical theory for self-directed learning and adult education are explored. A Charter for Andragogy is suggested.