MODULE 7

LESSON 1: SOCIAL EMANCIPATORY VIEW: TRANSFORMATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

The following text is adopted from Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A
guide to theory and practice. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Transformative learning theory has been criticized for not paying enough attention to social change. Mezirow
believed that individual transformation preceded social transformation.

The social transformation has long been a goal of adult education. One example comes from Canada. The
Antigonish Movement was founded in the late 1920s to help ordinary people foster economic development
through cooperatives and credit unions. Using mass gatherings, study groups, kitchen meetings, and community
courses, the leaders of the movement sought to “help the people build greater and better democratic institutions,”
as reflected in the six principles of the Antigonish Movement:

1. Individual needs are primary and need to be developed in social contexts.

2. The root of social reform lies in education.
3. Individuals are most concerned with economic needs; education must start there.
4. Group settings are most suitable for education.
5. Social reform both causes and depends on the change in social and economic institutions.
6. A full, self-actualized life for everyone in the community is the aim of the movement.

Another example is the Highlander Research and Education Center in the United States. The goal of the movement
was to provide education for ordinary people as a way of effecting change. The development of literacy skills was
considered one way of fostering both social and personal transformation. Another goal of the center was to bring
people together to challenge oppressive organizations and governments. The center practices the following:

1. Providing a safe place to encourage discourse and reflection

2. Assuming participants bring a wealth of knowledge and experience
3. Helping people discover they are not alone
4. Facilitating critical thinking
5. Helping people develop voice and confidence to act
6. Solving problems through synergy
7. Encouraging lifelong and diverse learning for change
8. Promoting the idea that everyone is an essential member of a community

According to Brookfield, the purpose of transformative learning was to “help people uncover and challenge
dominant ideology and then learn how to organize social relations according to noncapitalist logic.” The
transformation includes the structural change in the individual’s way of seeing himself or herself and the world and
structural change in the social world that provides the context for the individual’s life.

Torres (2003) views transformative learning as an instrument for social justice. Democracy implies participation
based on the assumption of equality among people. Yet, people need to be educated in democratic participation.
Knowing how to engage in discourse, collaborate with others, and exercise democratic rights and obligations is
both a precondition and a product of democratic participation.

Assessment 1
In this activity, you are asked to identify and describe how a particular non-governmental organization uses
transformative strategies to effect social change. Choose only one from these NGOs: IBON Foundation, Philippine
Center for Investigative Journalism, Haribon Foundation, Philippine Animal Welfare Society, Habitat for Humanity
Philippines, and Pro-life Philippines. Guide questions:

1. What is the goal of the organization?

2. What is the problem that the organization aims to address?
3. What are the activities of the organization to effect change?
4. In what way the organization’s advocacy is transformative?

The minimum number of words: 150. 25 points.

Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a non-government organization whose very goal is to protect
all animals against various forms of animal cruelty. They deeply address the growing indifference of people whose
motive is to generate profit from cat or dog meat, as well as trading of wild animals which causes great imbalance
in the ecosystem. So to counter the neglecting and abusive acts of animal owners, the organization gives shelter to
injured and/or homeless cats and dogs, including orphaned wild animals. And through campaigns, they educate
the majority to love and treasure animals as family and fellow living being. One of the organization’s campaign
entitled “Adopt, Don’t Shop” with actress and animal lover Carla Abellana, encourages pet lovers to adopt
homeless ones instead of “patronizing breeders and pet shops.”
 The organization’s advocacy is definitely transformative in a way that it does not only enlighten people on
the importance of all living beings, but of the fact that we should care for animals as such loss may cause us
greater consequence with our environment. Also, it continuously move people to become advocates of their own
stories of their love for animals.

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LESSON 2: PSYCODEVELOPMENTAL VIEW: TRANSFORMATION IN GROUPS AND

ORGANIZATIONS

The text below is adopted from Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide
to theory and practice. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Group and organizational transformation is another branch of inquiry in transformative learning theory. The idea
here is that a group as an entity can learn. Kasl, Marsick, and Dechant (1997) claimed that a group, as a system, can
create knowledge for itself. Transformation occurs through action learning and collaborative inquiry. Action
learning involves learning in small groups or teams by working on a real project or problem in the organization.
Collaborative inquiry is the “process consisting of repeated episodes of reflection and action through which a
group of peers strives to answer a question of importance to them.” There is an emphasis on co-inquiry,
democratic process, and holistic understanding of the experience. According to Yorks and Marsick (2000),
organizations transform along several dimensions: the nature of the environment, the vision or mission of the
organization, the organization’s products or services, the organizational structure, management of the
organization, and how members of the organization see their roles.

Can groups learn and transform? Kasl and Elias (2000) said they could. They used the following concepts to support
this assumption: (a) individuals, groups, and organizations all share common characteristics and (b) the idea of a
group mind. Transformative learning becomes an expansion of consciousness that is collective as well as the
individual.

LESSON 3: CULTURAL-SPIRITUAL VIEW: TRANSFORMATION BEYOND RATIONAL APPROACH

The text below is adopted from Cranton, P. (2016). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide
to theory and practice. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

The extrarational approach to transformative learning theory goes beyond Mezirow’s cognitive understanding.
Boyd and Myers (1988) used Jungian psychology to describe a process of discernment in which symbols, images,
and archetypes play a role in personal illumination. Boyd (1989) reported working in small groups in which
individuals struggle to deal with unconscious content. The group itself affects how individual members create
images, identify personal dilemmas, and relate developmental phases to personal stages. Boyd defined personal
transformation as “a fundamental change in one’s personality involving conjointly the resolution of a personal
dilemma and the expansion of consciousness resulting in greater personality integration.” Boyd suggested that
transformation is an inner journey of individuation, the process of learning through reflection on the psychic
structures that make up one’s uniqueness.

Dirkx (2001) took up the challenge of extending transformative learning theory beyond the ego-based, rational,
and objective traditional approach. Dirx proposed that transformative learning involves very personal and
imaginative ways of knowing—the way of mythos rather than logos. Mythos reflects a facet of knowing that we
can see in symbols, images, stories, and myths. Framing learning as a critical reflection problem leads us to neglect
the emotional, spiritual, and imaginative aspects of transformation and yields a limited, fragmented perspective
rather than a holistic, whole-person understanding.

Dirx (1997) described soul through examples of experiences rather than through a definition—being awestruck by
a sunset, gripped by pain and helplessness in the face of another’s suffering. We experience soul through art,
music, and film. It is that magic moment that transcends rationality and gives depth, power, mystery, and deep
meaning to the connection between the self and the world.

Assessment 2
In this activity, you are asked to share a story about how a personal spiritual experience transforms your
understanding of yourself. A spiritual experience may be in the form of a prayer, looking at the sunset, listening to
someone sharing his or her suffering, taking a walk at dawn, solitary camping, etc. Guide questions:

1. Describe the experience. What kind of experience was it?

2. How did you feel at the moment of experience?
3. What have you learned about yourself that you never knew before the experience?
4. How did the experience provide an occasion for transformative learning?
The minimum number of words: 150. 25 points.

Sunsets were one of my most loved occurrence which I have not given much attention to before but somehow
gave me consolation and time to be grateful these past few months. Every time I go to and from school, I would
stare at the sky and see how clouds and the colors change to not notice the long time I have to travel every single
day. And during this pandemic, I found a great place to witness different sunsets which I took time to sit and
capture with my eyes. However, by this time, it gave me silence and peace against my fear over the future. I
continuously appreciate as well how being alone does not mean loneliness, as the experience set a space for
myself to take a deep breath and think through while staring at the beauty of sky. Sunsets were mostly used as a
symbol of sad ending in movies but in reality, it is something that made me realize how bad things have its own
end and a new day would come after. With this experience, I came to develop anticipation for every tomorrows
and live day with optimism and productivity.