Abstract
Considering that we live in the age of “wicked problems” (Sork, 2019), Formenti and West’s book is timely and provides interesting insights about the role of adult education in today’s changing environment. The authors elucidate the prerequisites for self-knowledge and link them to transformative adult education. The authors clearly point out that the term transformation, while widely overused, is often limited to address the appearance and consumeristic desire rather than deep, existential, and ecological questions. They deeply examine transforming perspectives through varying lenses of aesthetic, embodied, psychotherapeutic, and spiritual sensibility as well as critical thinking.
What distinguishes this book from similar books on this topic and makes it enjoyable to read is the format. Interspersed between the conventionally styled chapters is the dialogue between the two authors: three chapters are in the form of a metaphoric dialogue on Michelangelo’s Pieta, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, and two cathedrals, expanding the notions discussed in the 10 chapters of a traditional format. The metaphors and art that are scattered throughout the book captivate readers. While reading it, we feel as if the two European authors are showing us around a historic city. Led by the authors, we picture ourselves visiting a museum where we learn the origin of the various perspectives. For example, the authors show us the major attractions—well-known theories such as Mezirow’s and Jung’s—but they also take us to the back allies where the artistic imagination was sparked. The aesthetic experience is closely linked to transformation as it stimulates deep thoughts and helps us interrogate our assumptions. The authors enrich the journey with metaphoric dialogues. During the journey, the authors invite the readers to dance and play. This playfulness is one of the key concepts that the authors strive to promote in adult education.
The interaction and contrast between the two authors are also intriguing. Through the conversations between the female, atheist author, who is an advocate of systemic theory, and the male, Christian author, whose approach is psychoanalytic, the familiar is made unfamiliar, and the unnoticed becomes noticeable. This allows us to revisit our own assumptions and to understand where learning/transformation occurs—in good (enough) relationships. The concept of connections and interrelatedness lies at the center of the book. At the same time, by contending that learning is intersubjective and emotional, they display courage: one of the authors notes that writing the book was like coming out. Their autobiographical stories abound, which makes the book more colorful and engaging.
In the chapter “Soul Work,” the authors turn our attention to multiple forms of knowledge that go beyond rational and logical knowledge. Their focus on the soul and spirituality is a strength of the book as it takes us to a more contentious and challenging realm. However, although the topic itself greatly interests us, we found this chapter too abstract and somewhat fragmented. This is regretful given that the authors stress the importance of allowing knowledge to work. In their words, “It is insufficient . . . to engage with a perspective and an author in overly detached and abstract ways” (p. 279). The term soul work is also used too broadly and sometimes interchangeably with transformative learning. Furthermore, although the authors present different scholars’ theories, it was not clear in the end what soul and spirituality mean to the authors.
A caveat about the chapter “Body Matters” is that it is mainly a reaffirmation of the earlier chapters on connectedness. A considerable amount of the content is not related to body or embodied learning. Although it might be appropriate to incorporate extended information that goes beyond bodily learning, a clarification on the definition of body and the scope of the chapter in the beginning would have been useful. In addition, the themes of this chapter overlap considerably with those in the three other chapters of “Imagine,” “Soul Work,” and “The Spirit of Transformation.” A more systemic arrangement of the content within and across these later chapters would have made the book even better.
In sum, the authors present a more thorough understanding of transformation than other books. Rather than rendering a definitive perspective on transformation or transformative learning, they show how a wide range of frameworks have worked for them and others, and accordingly, they have inspired the readers to imagine how they might work for them as well. Hence, we highly recommend this book for readers who are hoping to learn more inclusive aspects of transformative learning theories and scrutinize transformation through different lenses. Since transformation is foundational to adult education, the book encourages us to ponder on what it means to think and act like adults and what constitutes the capability and responsibility of adult education. This book will be a good read for those who seek to understand what adult education should look like in this troubled era.