Beyond Literacy: Transformative Learning

About This Session

Summary

Adults have an advantage of prior knowledge, but sometimes that knowledge can get in the way of learning new things. Let’s look at how we can create an environment for Transformative Learning, which means questioning what we know to problem solve and communicate more effectively.

What we'll cover:

This session will look at how to apply Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow) in literacy lessons for adults. We’ve all had experiences where something we thought we knew got in the way of something we needed to learn, something we needed to accomplish, or something we needed to say. Together, let’s discuss how to help learners reflect on existing meaning schemes and perspectives to add, adapt, or reject them so that they can more easily learn and apply what they are learning.

We will cover the basics of Transformative Learning theory.

What is a disorienting dilemma and how can we create a safe psychological space to deal with it?

How do we encourage adult learners to examine their current beliefs and understanding and critically assess the assumptions that are making?

What can we do to help learners plan a course of action once they have identified prior knowledge, meaning schemes and perspectives that no longer serve them?

Finally, how can we help learners build self-efficacy so that they can take their new knowledge, meaning schemes, and perspectives into their next learning experience with confidence?