This paper evaluates the merits of transformative learning theory, primarily as conceived by Jack Mezirow, and its practical value for adult and postsecondary learners. The paper acknowledges a potential tension between the lofty ideals of perspective transformation and students' pragmatic goals of academic and career success. Drawing on three empirical studies — Lane's qualitative case study of Ukrainian women handcrafters, Cragg et al.'s research on RN-to-BSN nursing students, and Kember et al.'s questionnaire-based study on reflective thinking — the paper argues that transformative learning serves both instrumental and intrinsic purposes, helping students excel academically while also broadening their worldviews and professional values.
From a purely objective stance, the merits of transformative learning in education are somewhat ambiguous. In order to properly weigh the benefits against any potential drawbacks of this theory of learning, it first becomes necessary to clarify a number of its defining characteristics. Foremost among these is the fact that this learning theory is primarily reserved for adults (Cheney, 2010). For the purpose of this paper, transformative learning will apply to those in the latter stages of high school as well as to any individuals who are in college or are of conventional college age.
It is worth noting that many students, both in high school and in collegiate institutions, primarily pursue an education not for significant personal enrichment, but rather for the pragmatic purpose of fulfilling the requirements needed to obtain certain levels of employment. In this context, the overriding benefits of transformative learning — the change in perspective and the intellectual freedom it affords — may seem irrelevant to the overarching goal of achieving high grades in high school, attending a reputable college, and ultimately earning a well-paying job.
However, an examination of the literature on transformative learning reveals that this theory can not only aid students in achieving their immediate goals of academic proficiency and upward career mobility, but can also help them achieve greater satisfaction in their lives through certain intrinsic qualities of the theory.
Prior to examining the body of literature that substantially supports the preceding thesis, it is necessary to provide an overview of transformative learning in order to fully understand the many perspectives associated with its importance. The concept was widely pioneered and propagated by Jack Mezirow, particularly in his seminal 1981 publication "A Critical Theory of Adult Learning and Education" (p. 3). Within this and subsequent works, Mezirow defined his transformational theory as one distinct from theories focused on process or content learning — one that instead involved producing changes within the perspective of the learner (Clark, 1993, p. 48). Such changes directly affected the frame of reference through which an individual viewed the world.
Frames of reference are shaped by experiences innate to a particular learner and are colored by process and concept learning as well as by the general worldview of that learner. Mezirow believed that the changes induced by transformative learning could propel an individual beyond his or her previous conception of the world and allow for a greater awareness, tolerance, and understanding of one's surroundings than was previously possible (Cooper, n.d.). Although other authors made important innovations within the theory — most notably Boyd and Taylor (Moore, 2005, p. 404), who differed from Mezirow in their ideas about how to most effectively induce transformative learning — these basic tenets of Mezirow are generally and broadly applied to the concept.
The attentive reader will notice an incongruence between the lofty ideals of transformative learning and the practical objectives that characterize the goals of most adult learners — particularly those in secondary and postsecondary institutions who view education primarily as a means to financial ends. However, several pieces of literature indicate that transformative learning produces a synthesis of both effects within students.
One of the most compelling pieces of literature offering empirical evidence for this is Penelope Lane's "Transformational Learning in Post-Soviet Ukraine." In this study, the author collected data through field observations and personal interviews with a group of women in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine who were compelled to pursue careers in women's handcraft. The relevance of this research is underscored by the fact that many of the subjects were formally trained, college-educated engineers, doctors, and other professionals who were forced to adopt new careers as handcrafters due to Ukraine's economic transition from a socialist/communist system to a free-market capitalist one. Because their salaries in their previous professions were no longer supported by the state, these women had to learn a new occupation to provide economic support for themselves and their families.
This was a qualitative research study involving only four subjects. Despite the small sample size, an examination of the data clearly indicates that the basic principles of transformative learning were beneficial to all participants. One philosophical interpretation of transformative learning calls for strong guidance from an encouraging, trustworthy, and compassionate educator, so that learning can ultimately be applied to aspects of a student's life beyond the immediate educational context. One of the women in the study (Katia) contrasted the transformative approach of her instructor in handcraft creation with that of her superiors in her previous job, remarking that the instructor's encouragement and general "positive energy" were of immense benefit to her (Lane, 1996, pp. 89–90).
Ultimately, the data in Lane's paper indicate that this nurturing approach — a hallmark of transformative learning — not only helped these professionally trained women adopt new means of earning a living, but also facilitated a greater understanding of themselves and of their country's sudden shift to capitalism, as the following quotation underscores:
"The findings indicate substantial changes in these women as they have developed critical thinking skills that allowed them the intellectual space to reflect not only on images of themselves as individual subjects but also on the conditions of their lives as political subjects of a dominant state authority" (Lane, 1996, p. 100).
This duality of learning — both for pragmatic ends and as a means of informing one's broader life and adopting a new perspective — is indicative of the benefits that transformative learning produces.
"Cragg et al. study measures professional value shifts in nurses"
"Kember et al. compare graduate and undergraduate reflective thinking"
A substantial body of empirical evidence demonstrates that transformational learning holds significant value for students. It not only enables them to achieve their immediate goals of academic success and entry into rewarding careers — such as those in healthcare and other lucrative fields — but also helps them internalize the ideals and attitudes that professionals in specific fields are expected to embody. The former point was consistently demonstrated across the literature reviewed in this paper: students at more advanced stages of postsecondary education regularly showed a greater aptitude for reflecting the values and shifts in perspective that transformative learning is known to produce.
The latter point is most vividly illustrated in Lane's study, in which the transformative learning method not only helped women from disparate professional backgrounds become successful handcraft workers, but also helped them contextualize and more deeply understand the profound economic transformation that had taken place in their home country of Ukraine. In this instance, the marked change in attitude and perspective characteristic of transformative learning was especially profound, helping learners to genuinely alter their behavior and adapt to a new world.
The use of empirical evidence in this paper, and in the other research articles examined here, validates the merit of transformative learning across a wide range of applications that are both pragmatically useful and genuinely enriching for students' broader development.
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