Table Of ContentAn Exploration of the Nature of
Transformative Learning and Transformative
Pedagogy in a High School English Context
Susan Jane Marks
Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Sydney
Diploma of Education, Sydney Institute of Education
Associate of Trinity College, London (Piano Teaching)
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy within the Faculty of Education at the
University of Tasmania.
April 2005
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Associate Professor Bill Maidment, the
most wonderful teacher I have known. Being his student shaped me in significant
ways that continue to have an impact on my teaching and on who I am as a person.
This thesis explores the nature of transformative learning and transformative
pedagogy. It is fitting that it is dedicated to a profoundly transformative educator.
Declaration
This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any
university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material
previously published or written by another person, except where due
acknowledgment is made in the text of the thesis.
Susan Marks
Authority of Access
This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance
with the Copyright Act 1968.
Susan Marks
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Abstract
This study explores the nature of learning that transforms established frames of
reference for those who engage in it. It also explores the nature of pedagogy that
is likely to foster this transformative learning. It is based on the explorations of
the teacher-researcher as she reflects on the learning experiences of some of her
students and on her own teaching practice.
The teacher-researcher's reflections emanate from her experiences teaching high
school English to Years 10 and 11 students within a co-educational school in
Sydney. Through engaging in hermeneutic phenomenological research, the
teacher-researcher explores the types of learning contexts and pedagogical
approaches that may be effective in fostering transformative learning.
The literature review highlights the fact that explorations of the nature of
transformative learning and transformative pedagogy have occurred almost
exclusively within the domain of adult education and many researchers have
expressed the view that this is a uniquely adult phenomenon. In exploring the
transformative learning experiences of students between the ages of fifteen and
seventeen, this study calls into question the view that only adults may experience
transformative learning. It also raises awareness about the significance of
transformative pedagogy in a high school context.
The study highlights a number of pedagogical practices that are potentially
transformative and concludes that transformative learning is most effectively
fostered through relational forms of knowing emerging in dialogical learning
contexts. Critical reflection is seen as being central to transformative learning and
the importance of both affective and cognitive dimensions in the process of
critical reflection is emphasised. Within a high school English context, the value
of introducing students to a range of texts that may expose them to alternative
ways of seeing is highlighted. The study demonstrates that integral to
transformative pedagogy is the importance of providing students with both
challenging learning experiences and with scaffolds designed to equip them to
meet these challenges. The personally transformative nature of engaging in
teacher-research is also highlighted and this is seen to have implications for
models of staff professional development within schools.
Reference is made to the limitations of the study, including those associated with
being a teacher-researcher. As with other phenomenological studies, the findings
do not purport to have direct and specific relevance to other contexts, although
they may prove interesting to others interested in fostering transformative learning
through transformative pedagogy.
Acknowledgments
I am immensely grateful for the constant support given to me by my family
throughout this research. In particular, I extend my thanks to my mother and
father, Kay and Neil Marks, whose love, support and encouragement have been
instrumental in carrying me through the vicissitudes that inevitably accompany a
work of this length. My sister, Sandy Green, and my brother-in-law, Malcolm
Green, provided me with encouragement throughout the project and I extend
special thanks to my other sister, Vicki Marks, who assisted me with the layout of
the final manuscript. My deceased grandmother, Lilian Marks, was also a great
support in the early stages of my research, reminding me on a regular basis that
she believed in me. About half way through the project, I met and married my
husband, Arun Gordon. I offer him my grateful thanks for his loving patience and
support that have sustained me through the final stages of the thesis marathon.
I also extend thanks to my close friends, Astrid Eggins, Tracy Allan, Sarah
Walters and Annette Fritze-Shanks for their unstinting encouragement. I am
particularly thankful to my dear friend, Leonie Armstrong, who not only offered
me great encouragement throughout the project, but also read the final
manuscript. I also appreciate the invaluable assistance of Angelina Russell and
Tim Ryan who assisted with the layout and formatting of the thesis.
I offer my thanks to Dr Roderic Kefford, the principal of the school at which I
was both a teacher and researcher, for his interest in my research and for his
encouragement and support. I am also thankful for other colleagues, too numerous
to name, who have shown a genuine interest in my research and who have
afforded me opportunities to engage in dialogue about pedagogy. In this regard, I
extend my special thanks to Brad Merrick for his encouragement and for the many
stimulating discussions we have had about our respective fields of educational
research.
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My indebtedness to my students, whose experiences form the basis of this study,
will be clearly evident to anyone who reads this thesis. I am grateful to them for
their curiosity, courage, good humour and generosity of spirit.
Finally, it is with deep gratitude that I acknowledge the support, encouragement
and expertise of my supervisor, Professor Roslyn Arnold. Her particular field of
expertise lies in the area of empathic intelligence and I thank her not only for
sharing with me what she knows about this area, but for being a living testimony
to its transformative power.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 — Introduction: The Origins and Purpose of the
Study
1.1 The Genesis of the Study 1
1.2 Purpose and Scope of the Research and the Research Question 2
1.3 Brief Overview of the Study 5
1.4 Significance of the Study 6
Chapter 2— Transformative Learning Theory and
Pedagogical Practice: A Review of Literature
2.1 The Research Question and the Literature Review 9
2.2 Transformative Learning: Definitional Issues 10
2.2.1 Introduction 10
2.2.2 Meaning Schemes, Frames of Reference and Perspective
Transformation 11
2.2.3 Domains of Learning 12
2.2.4 The Centrality of Experience, Critical Reflection and
Reflective Discourse 13
2.2.5 The Focus of the Study 15
2.3 Transformative Learning: Adults Only9 16
2.4 Models of Transformative Learning 19
2.5 The Fusion of Rationality, Emotion and Other Ways of Knowing 21
2.6 The Importance of Empathic Learning Contexts 24
2.7 Autonomous versus Relational Knowing: A False Dichotomy 28
2.8 Individual versus Social Transformation and the Issue of Power 30
2.9 Fostering Transformative Learning Through Transformative
Pedagogy 34
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2.9.1 The Value of Transformative Learning and Transformative
Pedagogy: Different Perspectives 34
2.9.2 Creating Disorienting Dilemmas 37
2.9.3 The Application and Testing of Ideal Learning Conditions
for Transformative Learning 39
2.10 The Intention and Organisation of This Study 39
Chapter 3— The Methodology Mosaic: Piecing Together a
Path for Discovery
3.1 Nothing Comes From Nothing: The Research Question, Tacit
Knowing and Reflection-in-Action 44
3.2 The Two Shall Become One: The Symbiotic Nature of the
Teacher-Researcher 47
3.3 The Deep and the Meaningful: Subjective Reality for Teacher-
Researchers and Qualitative Research 50
3.4 Phenomenology 57
3.4.1 The Wide World of Phenomenology 57
3.4.2 Hermeneutic Phenomenology 61
3.4.3 Van Manen's Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach to
Human Science Research 62
3.5 The Scope of the Research 65
3.6 Turning the Kaleidoscope: Finding Helpful Research Methods 66
3.6.1 A Kaleidoscopic Vision 66
3.6.2 Learning Logs 68
3.6.3 Reflection Statements 71
3.6.4 Peer Mentor Reviews 72
3.6.5 Critical and Imaginative Writing 72
3.6.6 Focus Group Interviews 73
3.6.7 Conversations 75
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3.6.8 Observation 76
3.7 Articulations of Life Works in Progress 77
Chapter 4— The Transformative Power of Dialogism in
Teaching, Learning and Research
4.1 Dialogism 79
4.2 Unfolding Narratives 80
4.3 Dialogic Research 81
4.4 Reflective Discourse and the Dialogic Classroom 83
4.5 Descriptions of a Dialogic Classroom 85
4.6 The Confronting Nature of the Dialogic Classroom 92
4.7 The Dialogic Classroom and Transformative Learning and
Pedagogy 101
4.8 The Art of Pedagogy in the Dialogic Classroom 105
Chapter 5— The Role of Peer Mentoring in
Transformative Learning
5.1 The Importance of Peer Support 109
5.2 Mentoring in a Historical Context 111
5.3 The Context for the Peer Mentor Program 112
5.4 A Peer Mentor as a Sounding-Board 114
5.5 Mentoring and Metacognition: A Transformative Connection 117
5.6 The Affective Benefits of the Peer Mentor Program 122
5.7 Peer Mentor Relationships: The Compatibility Factor 127
5.8 Degrees of Involvement and the Tyranny of Time 136
5.9 Mutually Supportive Peer Partnerships: A Key Dimension of
Transformative Learning 138
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