John M. Dirkx

Musings and Reflections on the Meaning, Context, and Process of Transformative Learning A Dialogue Between John M. Dirkx and Jack Mezirow

Jack Mezirow and John Dirkx engage in a dialogue in which they explore the similarities and differences between their views of transformative learning. Mezirow describes a rational process of learning that transforms an acquired frame of reference. Dirkx focuses on the nature of the self—a sense of identify and subjectivity—which he sees as soul work or inner work.

BEING CALLED AWAKE: THE ROLE OF TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING IN THE LIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS

Environmental and other nonprofit activists often confront what Parker Palmer referred to as a loss of heart, particularly where working conditions challenge the capacity of practitioners to sustain their commitment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the process of learning and self-renewal in the lives of experienced and committed environmental activists. Findings suggest that their lives are characterized by struggles that represent a profound form of learning, involving recognition and understanding of one’s work as a calling or vocation as well as exemplifying the kind of transformative learning reflected in Jung’s concept of individuation.

Studying the Complicated Matter of What Works: Evidence-Based Research and the Problem of Practice.

The demand for evidence-based research (EBR) in education has evoked considerable debate regarding the nature of knowledge practitioners hold, how they come to know, and the sociopolitical contexts in which that knowledge is generated. Proponents of EBR such as Michael Feuer stress the need for research that validly identifies solutions to important problems of educational practice. Critics such as Elizabeth St.Pierre decry such approaches to research on practice as epistemologically inappropriate and oblivious to their political and moral implications. Both positions illuminate important dimensions of improving practice, but what works seems to get lost in the rhetoric. In this article, the author suggests that we in adult education take seriously the question of what works in practice by developing a knowledge base grounded in research methods and strategies that give voice to the particularities of practice contexts, what he refers to as the “insider perspective.”

Change Theory in CPE and HRD: Toward a Holistic View of Learning and Change in Work

The problem and the solution. Whereas human resource development, for the most part, addresses organizational levels of learning and change, continuing professional education focuses on these processes largely through the lens of individual practitioner learning and development. Each of these perspectives provides a helpful but incomplete notion of work-related learning and change.To increase their effectiveness, these fields need to be grounded in a more holistic understanding of workrelated learning and change and how it can be facilitated.

Completion and Attrition in Adult Basic Education: A Test of Two Pragmatic Prediction Models:

Previous research within the comparative tradition suggests that age and academic ability of ABE participants are related to attrition. Information on these variables is easily obtained by ABE practitioners and could be used to identify those at risk of leaving the program before completing their goals. No single measure of these variables alone, however, has been able to adequately identify those at risk. This study tested, through discriminant analyses, two prediction models which used the combined ability of age and entry-level reading and math scores to differentiate between completing and noncompleting students.

Self-Formation and Transformative Learning: A Response to “Calling Transformative Learning Into Question: Some Mutinous Thoughts,” by Michael Newman

Transformative learning has arguably become one of the most generative and provocative ideas in adult learning. More than 30 years ago, Mezirow (1978) introduced this idea to the field of adult education. During this time, he has demonstrated remarkable theoretical consistency. The idea, however, has stimulated a diverse body of theoretical, empirical, and practical work. In his article, however, Michael Newman (2012) challenges the very essence of the phenomenon and argues that “transformative learning only exists in the realm of theory” (p. 40), with “little or no basis in everyday practice” (p. 40). He asserts that “all acts of learning share basic characteristics” (p. 41) and what many are calling “transformative learning” is essentially “good learning.” In this response, I argue that Newman’s analysis rests on a largely sociological understanding of self-formation that minimizes important psychological dynamics associated with consciousness development. Developing a conscious relationship with one’s unconscious represents a central hallmark of a critical theory of self and of transformative learning.

Developing written nutrition information for adults with low literacy skills

Abstract The purpose of this project was to develop nutrition materials based on bulletins HG 232(1–11), “The Dietary Guidelines and Your Diet”, for use by adults with low literacy skills. A booklet testing at the fifth grade level was designed and tested using qualitative research methods. Participants included 131 women and 21 men, 16 to 60 years of age (mean age 30 years). Sixteen percent were African American, 3% were Native American, 1% were Hispanic, and the remaining 80% were Caucasians. All possessed reading skills from the third to eighth grade levels, and years of education completed ranged from sixth grade to high school graduate (mean of tenth grade). Two sets of interviews were conducted. The booklet was revised based upon results from the first set of interviews. Participants were especially interested in “how to” and “did you know” information, and calorie and nutrient contents of food. Topics of interest included, “Tips on Feeding Young Children”, “Eat Less Fat”, and “Watch Your Weight”. Findings from the interviews provide evidence of the need for nutrition information among these low Uterate adults. Further research with low literate adults is needed to define typical dietary practices, beliefs and perceptions, and barriers to change.

Leaning in and Leaning Back at the Same Time: Toward a Spirituality of Work-Related Learning

The Problem The spirituality of work movement placed emphasis on the importance of meaning and purpose in work and the workplace. However, the spiritual dimensions of work-related learning remained largely undeveloped. Given recent economic developments that threaten to undo any gains achieved by this movement, it is important that human resource development (HRD) help individuals and organizations learn to engage in the inner learning that creates deep meaning and purpose in our work. The Solution This article locates work-related learning within the spirituality of work context. Using Jungian and post-Jungian psychology, the article provides a theoretical perspective for thinking about meaning and purpose in work-related learning and the key features of educational and organizational environments that foster such learning and development. The Stakeholders The perspective developed in this article will be helpful to teachers, trainers, and HRD practitioners involved in formal work-related learning programs, as well as coaches and developmental managers who seek to foster learning and development among their workers.

Epistemic Beliefs of Teachers in Technology-Rich Community College Technical Education Programs

Dramatic changes in the nature of work and its organization emphasize the need for workers to address complex and ill-structured problems and to produce knowledge useful in the workplace. Integrated use of computer-based technologies in education-for-work and workplace learning programs can address this need. Such potential, however, depends on the epistemic beliefs of teachers and trainers, as well as institutional and socio-cultural factors. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the epistemic beliefs of teachers in such programs. Our findings indicate that the teachers observed use technology largely to transmit content to their students and to control the overall delivery and pace of that transmission process. The constructivist promise inherent in computer technology was largely unrealized in the pedagogical and curricular practices observed.

Care of the Self: Mythopoetic Dimensions of Professional Preparation and Development

Graduate study in higher and adult education prepares adults for professional practice in educational leadership and pedagogy. Central to practice is the self-other relationship, in which the practitioner enters into a relationship with an “other” for purposes of providing a service or bringing about change. Depth psychology suggests that this self-other relationship is imaginatively constructed and characterized by powerful emotional dynamics that often challenge the integrity of the practitioner’s work. To be effective, practitioners must be able to empathically enter into these relationships without denying the other or losing the self. This process requires a deep sense of self-awareness, authenticity, and integrity, a set of personal attributes reflected in the development of self-knowledge. I refer to this process of developing self-knowledge as self-formation. Using a mythopoetic perspective grounded in Jungian and post-Jungian psychology, this chapter explores the process of self-formation in professional preparation within higher and adult education.