Abstract
Transformative learning, introduced by Jack Mezirow in 1978, has taken on a life of its own over the last 30+ years for the field of adult education and related areas of learning and human development. The ideas of transformative learning are embraced, researched, theorized, practiced, and published by scholars and practitioners across the globe. There are journals and conferences dedicated to these ideas and how they are utilized in practice to better understand the realities of learning in the ever-changing world.
This book, Expanding Transformation Theory: Affinities between Jack Mezirow and Emancipatory Educationalists, edited by Alexis Kokkos, brings together the trajectory of transformative learning theory. The introduction suggests the “fundamental purpose of learning is to support us in order to critically process and transform the problematic assumptions on which our values, ideas, and beliefs are based and do not allow us to perceive reality in a functional way” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 2). Throughout the rest of the text, this purpose for learning is demonstrated, constructed, and highlighted through the juxtaposition of Mezirow and 10 of his influencers or contemporaries.
The authors within this edited book are mostly associated with the Hellenic Open University and the Hellenic Adult Education Association in Greece. Their depth of understanding and theoretical knowledge of transformative learning across all of Mezirow’s writing and his influences and his contemporaries is impressive. Mezirow embraced a core philosophy of Pragmatism, Symbolic Interactionism, and Grounded Theory as he developed and theorized about Transformative Learning. In Part 1 of the text, the assembled authors examine the philosophical underpinnings and theoretical influences. The chapters describe connections and influences from other emancipatory educators, including Dewey, Freire, and Habermas.
Chapter 1 explores the nuances and subtle connections between Dewey and Mezirow, as well as the more direct shared ideas. John Dewey set the stage for Mezirow’s coming of age and the foundation to his understanding of meaning perspective. However, the authors recognize that “Dewey’s influence on Mezirow’s perspective turns out to be extremely complex, as this effect is diffused, extensive, and certainly difficult to detect in several cases” (Kokkos, 2020, pp. 27-28).
Chapter 2 provides a grounding of the parallel lives of Paulo Freire and Jack Mezirow. It shares the historical contexts and influences of Freire’s ideas on Mezirow’s understanding of conscientization, perspective transformation, and social action. It addresses how Mezirow adapted and responded to criticism that his theory did not go far enough toward emancipatory education.
Chapters 3 and 4 examine Mezirow’s relationship with contemporaries and collaborators, Gould and Marsick. Chapter 3 links the developmental psychological work of Gould as a “significant influence” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 61) on Mezirow. This chapter deeply explores the “interplay between the two scholars’ perspectives” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 62). A table (Table 3.2) explicitly compares the 10 stages from each theory and shows the parallels. Chapter 4 describes the connections between Jack Mezirow and Victoria Marsick, his former student, colleague, and friend. Marsick grew the theory to be applied to workplace settings through the concept of action learning, and then she brought these ideas into the model of learning organizations.
The second part of the book, Chapters 5 to 8, shares conceptual and epistemological influences and relationships on Mezirow as he shaped the Transformative Learning theory. Throughout Mezirow’s life other disciplines were also growing and introducing “a number of diverse and often overlapping theories…in various disciplines and fields of study, broadening and deepening our understanding of this concept” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 106). These chapters introduce Socrates, Kegan, Greene, and Argyris as significant philosophers and theorists whose work was in dialogue with Mezirow to expand the scholarship about adult development, reflective practice, and transformations in one’s life.
Chapter 5 – Tracing the Transformational Dimensions within the Teaching of Socrates – explores how Socratic thinking is a “primary foundation of his theory, that is, the need to re-evaluate assumptions critically” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 89). The chapter goes on to make connections to citizenship, social change, and democracy that underpinned the early philosophy of Socrates and Plato. Chapter 6 highlights the “cross-disciplinary dialogue between Mezirow and Kegan” (Kokkos, 2020, p. 107) as they shared much related to theories of adult development. Chapter 7 describes Mezirow’s relationship with Maxine Greene and her use of imagination and art in changing perspectives for an unknown future. Chapter 8 reveals the relationship between Argyris and Mezirow as contemporaries who have similar theoretical models that are set in different contexts – business and organizations for Argyris and education for Mezirow. A table (8.1) presents the connections between both theories well.
The third part of this book shares how the theory intersects with European “interlocutors” who address more issues of emancipatory learning, social action, and social change, specifically Illeris and Jarvis. In his Concluding Reflections, Alexis Kokkos brings together key ideas presented throughout the book, such as the importance of critical reflection, discourse, emancipatory learning, social action, and social change, democracy, other topics using transformative theory, and the role of emotion. Kokkos shares how this text sought to enhance “underdeveloped aspects” (p. 200) of transformative learning, such as the prerequisites for participating; learning in organizations, arts-based learning, and learning outside of awareness; and the role of emotions. The authors of this text sought to provide a critique of these issues and to explore the gaps in the research and where the theory can be expanded into the future.
A significant strength of this text is the depth and richness of direct quotations from Mezirow’s body of work as well as very compelling connections to the other theories presented alongside and in conversation with Transformative Theory. This is a scholarly book that provides a substantial understanding of each of the theories being shared. The use of comparative tables throughout the chapters highlights the parallels or contrasts of each theory.
As the reviewer of this text, I found that it was challenging as the text can feel dense and very philosophical without having a clear connection to practice. The chapters about Argyris and Greene have a bit more practical application component, but much of the book is at a higher scholarly level. I had to be in an open minded space to be able to read and grasp the history, make the theoretical connections, and draw on other philosophical and theoretical frameworks that intersect and engage with transformative learning. Another weakness to this text is that it does not explore more current aspects to how transformative learning has become a force and trend in adult education. It focuses on the life and work of Jack Mezirow and ends with his connections and affinities with his contemporaries.
This is an excellent text for researchers, scholars, historians, and philosophers who want to better understand the connections between Mezirow and the other theorists presented in this work. However, it is not a primer or an introductory text for new scholars or adult education practitioners.