Adult students may have more formed personality traits and a greater wealth of life experiences, but they are still capable of change and growth like younger students. Furthermore, adults are often more willing partners in the learning process and better-equipped to engage in self-directed learning to realize a goal. Educators themselves are on a learning journey and "if educators see self-directed learning as the goal of their work with learners but not themselves, there is a discrepancy in their perspective."

Cranton offers practical suggestions to the educator so he or she can become a transformative teacher, as well as engage in transformative education of the self. Keeping a journal, writing down one's philosophy of practice, contrasting one's philosophy with other educators, and viewing one's self in action on video are help the teacher to continually assess and transform his or her methods and attitude.

This enables teachers to continually take inventory of their assumptions, assumptions they might not be otherwise aware of, just as Tim was unaware of the fact that he viewed certain scientific concepts to be self-evident -- an attitude that was borne out in his attitude and manner towards his less confident, newer students.

The stakes, Cranton states in no uncertain terms, are high for educators. Through using transformative processes in the classroom, and upon themselves when engaged in their own learning, they can enact real change. Ultimately, the goal of transformative learning is to change society, one learner at a time. "Increased participation in social reform of various kinds is a goal of educator development."

By seeking to educate adults, concrete change in the world can be achieved. While the young are often the focus of most calls to transform the world through education, adults must add to their skills and scope...

Teachers will be called upon to provide more diverse functions for society, and also to change their approach to suit the modern environment, without sacrificing their principles. All teachers, throughout the ages, regardless of discipline, have faced criticism when they have challenged conventional expectations. In the most repressive regimes, this type of oppression has often taken the form of direct political action such as arrests, but even within modern Western democracies, iconoclastic teachers have been denied tenure, pay raises, and fair voice within the departments. The fact that teaching is so frightening to many societies is a potent indicator of its power.
Teaching requires hard work on the part of the educator, not simply in lesson preparation but also how the teacher presents him or herself to the classroom. To be an effective communicator the teacher must understand him or herself and how he or she is perceived by others. Teaching is always a dialogue, and for true communication to be effective, it must be self-reflective and understand the purpose of teaching. Cranton's book provides the reader with practical suggestions as to how to do this, as well as advocates her transformative educational philosophy.

Bibliography

Cranton, Patricia. Professional development as transformative learning. Jossey Bass, 1996.

Patricia Cranton, Professional development as transformative learning (Jossey Bass, 1996), pp. 3-4.

Cranton, p. 123.

Cranton, p. 121.

Cranton, p51.

Cranton, p. 84.

Cranton, p.151.

Cranton, p.157