Transformative learning

Transformative learning (TL) is a concept that has been popular in adult learning contexts for many decades and lately also in sustainable development and sustainability education contexts (see ▶ Sustainable Development; ▶ Sustainability in Curricula (Sustainability Education); ▶ Education for Sustainable Development). By the end of the 1970s, the American sociologist Jack
Mezirow (1923–2014) started to develop what he called the “transformative learning theory” especially with adults as the target. According to Mezirow (2009) learning is a process in which the learners transform problematic frames of reference, such as democracy, justice (see ▶ Social Justice), and even love (see ▶ Love). The aim of TL is to make these frames reflective, and open for change. As a communicative learning theory, TL sees the adult learners as active participants in discourses (Mezirow 1991; see ▶ Participation). Mezirow continued to alter and develop his theory throughout his life. He has collaborated with many other educational researchers with different views on TL, and his ideas have been widely modified and developed to suit various new contexts (see, e.g., Mezirow et al. 2009). As a reconstructive theory, TL strives to shape an idealized
model of the adult learning process (Mezirow 2009). Especially when implemented in sustainability education, TL is similar to reconstructive
social theory, which is aimed at encouraging practical social change (cf. Vandenberghe 2018).