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In the second instance, African feminism, whose primacy is on collaboration with men, promotes healthy relations, knowledge sharing, mutual understanding and partnership within families and among communities.
In the third instance it draws heavily on culture, extended family and collective power. It creates an opportunity for women to challenge any practices that perpetuate dominance against women and creates awareness of the way women are socialized, thus advocating for a conducive environment for women to take part in activities aiming at improving the lives of the individuals within the communities.
In the fourth instance is the notion that a woman’s identity is not static. This is a powerful notion that empowers women. The conception of feminism to be that of recognising women as participating fully in socio-cultural issues, of challenging the status quo, of seeing women’s existence not at the periphery but rather at the mainstream of health, culture and development, is the power-base which this study is exploring.
The fifth instance is the element of kinship, sisterhood, motherhood and the extended family, all of which are embedded within the African feminism, and are key factors towards the promotion of relations both in the families and the communities within which this study is focusing.
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identifies elements such as power and influence, ideology, race, class as contributing towards promotion of transformative learning. Mezirow’s conception of learning is that of:
assisting in making meaning and sense of our experiences (Mezirow, 1997, p. 5).
He posits that learning can result in change in one of our beliefs or attitudes, or it can be a change in our entire perspective. Perspective transformation as stated by Cranton, Mezirow and Taylor is key to transformational learning. Their elaboration of transformative learning encompass a learning process by which previously uncritically assimilated frames of reference (assumptions, expectations and habits of mind) are questioned and revised, so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove to be true and are then justified, to guide action for the transformative learning process (Cranton, 1994; 2006) and (Mezirow & Taylor, 2009).
Transformative learning has two possible forms. One of which Mezirow suggests as gradually taking place over a period of time, during which a person’s meaning schemes are revised through critical reflection. Another form involves a swifter and more dramatic transformation of the person’s worldview. Transformative learning therefore involves participation in constructive discourses to use experiences of others, to assess reasons for justifying these assumptions and making an action decision, based on the resulting insight.
Development of the theory
Transformative learning theory was developed by Jack Mezirow in 1978. His conceptions of transformative earning emerged from a comprehensive study of consciousness raising to explain the unprecedented expansion in the number of women returning to higher education in the United States. This study was conducted in twelve diverse community college programmes, and comprehensive analytical descriptions of an additional twenty four programmes, and the subsequent responses by another 314 programmes was looked at. Mezirow’s study revealed a
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10-step process in which transformative learning process happens. These are:
i) experiencing a disorientating dilemma;
ii) undergoing self-examination;
iii) conducting critical assessment of internalized role assumptions and feeling a sense of alienation from traditional social expectations;
iv) relating discontents to the similar experiences of others – recognising that one’s problem is shared and not exclusively a private matter;
v) exploring options for new ways if acting;
vi) building competencies and self confidence in new roles;
vii) planning a course of action;
viii) acquiring the knowledge and skills for implementing a new course of action;
ix) trying out new roles and assessing them; and
x) re-integrating into society with the new perspective (Mezirow as cited and expounded by Merriam, 2004, pp. 61-63).
This theory is about how we make meaning of our experiences through the frames of reference that we develop as we become adults. The moment we experience or encounter something that does not fit into these frames of reference, this triggers processes of critical reflection on previous assumptions, in an attempt to make sense of it. When critical reflection causes an adjustment or changes to our frames of reference, transformative learning is said to have happened (Mezirow as cited in Ntseane, 2011, p. 308).
Transformative learning is concerned with how individuals may be empowered to learn to free themselves from unexamined ways of thinking which impede effective judgement and action (Mezirow, 1978). Learning is also making sense of our experiences. It can result in change in one of our beliefs or attitudes, or it can be a change in our entire perspective.
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Building on this definition, Cranton and Taylor (2013)view transformative learning as learning created by the experience of what happened in one’s past, which then becomes the primary medium of transformation. The revision of the meaning experience then becomes the essence of learning (Taylor & Cranton 2013, p. 35). Briefly put, transformative learning theory emphasises meaning, using meaning structures to filter and provide the context of experiences (Mezirow as cited by Ntseane, 2011). The meaning structures act as culturally defined frames of reference that are inclusive of meaning schemes and meaning perspectives.
Meaning Schemes: These are smaller components that are made up of specific attitudes, knowledge, beliefs, value judgements and feelings involved in making an interpretation. They are the tangible signs of our habits and expectations that influence and shape a particular behavior or view. An example would be how we may act when we are confronted with a certain situation.
Meaning perspectives: These are broader perspectives or world views, or personal paradigms involving collection of meaning schemes. Mezirow puts it thus:
…they provide us with the criteria for judging or evaluating right and wrong, bad and good, beautiful and ugly, true and false appropriate and inappropriate (Mezirow, 1991, pp 34 -35).
Since its development, transformative learning has become a pivot of discussion in adult education and has inspired a broad range of scholars and adult educators. Mezirow (1991) maintains a view that transformative leaning is dependent on adult life experiences and a more mature level of cognitive functioning, than what is found in childhood. Its essence is that through sudden or dramatic experience, people are changed in way that they recognize themselves and others.
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The theory stands on solid ground in terms of articulation of adult learning, whereby it views learning as the process of using prior interpretation to construe a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of one’s experience, in order to guide future action (Mezirow, 2009). Taylor (2007) sees it as a theory that is partly developmental but even more so, it denotes where learning is understood to be a process of using prior interpretation, to construe a new or revised interpretation, of the meaning of one’s experience.
Critique of the Transformative Learning Theory
Transformative learning theory has drawn considerable critiques from wide range of scholarship.
For instance, Taylor, (2007) in his review noted that the theory lacks attention to context and culture, and it over-emphasises cognitive process, rather than focusing on a more holistic conception of learning. Taylor further proposes transformative learning to be explored in-depth, to provide a greater understanding of the varying nature of the catalyst process of learning. He puts emphasis on the disorienting dilemma, the significant influence of context and the minimization of the role of critical reflection, while also increasing the role of other ways of knowing (Taylor as cited in Dirkx 1998).
Newman, (1994) claims that the theory is based on the prioritization of individual transformation over social change. Mezirow’s response to this critique, however, touches on that fact that dichotomizing the individual and society seems to be counter-productive in trying to understand the learning process. His argument is that
…while learning is a social phenomenon, it takes place in the individual (Mezirow, 1997, p. 62).
The theory’s development and employment within the western context with a largely middle- class sample, raises another critique among scholars such as Taylor, (1997); and Ntseane, (2011;
2012). They claim that there has emerged a body of studies in other contexts e.g. the African
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context that acknowledges the role of culture in shaping meaning-making in the transformative learning of individuals. The element of interdependence (the key principle) within African philosophy seems to be ignored in the theory; instead emphasis is placed on autonomy and independence (Merriam & Ntseane, 2008). Ntseane, (2011) further argues that Mezirow’s version of transformative learning could be useful if applied in a way that is culturally sensitive.
Its common rhetoric that implies a necessity of extraordinary events or “aha” moments are what prompts authors such as Dirkx to bring forth their critique, claiming that those moments are not necessary; instead transformative learning can be the product of ordinary and everyday experience (Dirkx, 1998). Supported in this view are claims from other scholars that learning is an inherently emotional and imaginative process grounded on the premise and assumptions of Jungian psychoanalytical framework of individuation3. They claim that transformative learning should be based on a dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious, among the anima- animus, shadow, and archetypes, using images and symbols (Cranton and Roy cited in Kaccikaydin and Cranton, 2012).
Michael Newman critiques this theory by indicating that its applicability in the every-day life may not be feasible as it places a lot of emphasis on theoretical issues. Strengthening his case Newman argues that there is not exceptional feature of the theory:
…all acts of learning share basic characteristics and that what many scholars are calling transformative learning, should in essence be called “good learning (Newman, 2012, p.
66).
Newman’s critique has received a counter critique from Dirkx, (2012) who argues that Newman’s analysis is based on a sociological understanding of self-formation which minimizes
3An ongoing life-long process in which adults differentiate their sense of self from the collective of humanity and simulteneously integrate their sense of self with the collective, in such a way that their postion in the collective is more counsciously articulated
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psychological dynamics associated with conscious developments. He actually supports this statement by making emphasis on the direct linkages between a conscious relationship with one’s unconscious, which he says:
…represent a central hallmark of a critical theory of self and of transformative learning (Dirkx, 2012, p. 399).
The impact of relationships is another missing element when it comes to transformative learning theory. Baumgartner’s contribution to the theory noted that learning through relationships and the importance of such factors as support and friendship in the transformational learning process, have not been directly addressed by the theory (Baumgartner, 2002, p.57).
Relevance of the theory to the study
This theory attracted a lot of scholarship within the formal, non-formal and informal contexts.
Applied within this study context, transformative learning is being used within the informal setting to examine the learning that takes place as a result of women who have been diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and how the learning they are undergoing helps to transform their habits of mind. The written material on this topic draws on views expressed by Baumgartner, (2000;
2002); Taylor, (2009); and Nohl, (2015) when they assert that adults develop, during the course of their lives, their sense of seeing and being in the world, over time.
Transformative learning helps adults to develop deeper understandings of the ways they think about themselves and the world. The theory is more emancipatory as it helps adults to analyse, pose questions and take action on the social, political, cultural and economic contexts that shape their lives. This will be explored in more detail in the next chapters, in the context of women who are diagnosed with HIV and AIDS, and how their coping strategies.\
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