61 defined as ‘sympathy’. The object of another's sympathy has social capital since in times of need, friends, relatives and the significant others tend to offer sympathy as priority. Those who have sympathy for others are considered to provide social capital. Nevertheless, the concept of social capital as reflecting networks of resources and relationships of reciprocity and trust, was deemed relevant for elaborating on the ways in which the support groups operated as a community of practice.
The support groups in this study were analysed in relation to the extent to which they underwent transformative learning.
62 meetings. My interest was to analyse whether members were able to make meaning out of the different discourses associated with HIV and AIDS, its prevention and care. The use of transformative learning theory was a tool to assess whether Basotho learned and followed the same pattern as Mezirow’s identified ten phases. The theory provided a lens though which to analyse how meaning making impacted on new learning which people came across in their support group meetings. The ten phases are briefly summarised here, as cited by Taylor (n.d.):
1. A disorienting dilemma
2. Self-examination with feelings of guilt or shame 3. A critical assessment of assumptions
4. Recognition that one’s discontent and process of transformation are shared and that others have negotiated a similar change
5. Exploration of options for new roles, relationships and actions 6. Planning a course of action
7. Acquisition of knowledge and skills for implementing one’s plans 8. Provisionally trying out new roles
9. Building of competence and self-confidence in new roles and relationships
10. A reintegration into one’s life on the basis of conditions dictated by one’s new perspective (Taylor, n.d., p.8).
It is interesting to note that six of the ten phases have to do with individual preparation for learning. Therefore, these phases can be compared with the experiences of the three support groups in Botha-Bothe Government Hospital (BBGH) to assess whether they went through the same steps while learning and whether their learning as Basotho did or did not follow Mezirow’s ten steps sequentially. It is important to recognise that Mezirow’s transformation theory forms a framework for how adults interpret their life experiences, and how they make meaning in life. In fact, he defines learning as a meaning making activity: ‘Learning is understood as the process of using a prior interpretation to understand a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of one’s experience in order to guide future action’ (Mezirow, 1996, p.162). In relation to adult learning, this point is supported by Gee and Hayes (2011) who emphasises that adults learn best if their learning moves from the known to unknown, from simple to complex.
Mezirow’s theory is highly relevant for this study since it can help to show how support group members may negotiate and act on their own purposes, values, feeling and new meaning making rather than those they have uncritically assimilated from others in the past. This theory is
63 associated with key concepts such as meaning making, self-directedness, assertiveness, self- confidence, self-esteem and habits of minds. Reviewing these key features that are used to characterise transformative learning creates a basis for one to understand the role of experiences in learning and how each concept contributes to transformative learning. Meaning making results in learning and must crystalise in individuals involved in learning.
3.4.1 Critiques of transformative learning theory
Not all authors have accepted Mezirow’s work uncritically. For instance, Cranton (2006), Taylor and Cranton (2013) and Ntseane (2011) reflect on learning modes and cultural issues of omission in Mezirow’s thinking.
Cranton (2006) suggests that the process as described by Mezirow is too prescriptive and does not take account of different learning contexts. Ntseane (2011) argues, from an African perspective, that the process does not recognise the role of culture and its influence on how people learn. In other words, she suggests that Mezirow focuses too much on the individual’s learning journey through critical reflection without taking enough cognisance of the influence of collective dialogue on meaning making.
This observation is relevant to the study since the myths and medical challenges that the support groups encounter had been highlighted in the literature as being culturally misinterpreted, resulting in the need for health care providers to provide information education and communication which can help the support group members to transform and prepare for their new, revised perspective. However, it is also wise to look into the meaning making process in order to fully understand how and what can best assist the support groups not just to learn but also to understand what is needed of them to have new perceptions about living with HIV/ AIDS.
John (2016), for instance, indicates that there is a collective perspective which is not well reflected in Mezirow’s more individualistic depiction of transformative learning. John (2016) argues that young adults in his study, in a context of harsh circumstances and difficult early lives, came to a place of emotional healing and wholeness through listening collectively to each other’s stories. They all showed evidence of what Mezirow called perspective transformation, but
64 through a collective process of discovery. When perspectives are transformed in a collective space, emancipatory learning takes place, allowing for personal transformation to occur.
John (2016, p. 283) while engaging the critique of transformative learning theory in his study, indicates that:
Some of the studies reviewed signaled the need for considerations of the role of intense emotions and prior stressful life events, of readiness factors for change, of non-rational ways of knowing such as intuition, empathy and spirituality, and of the centrality of positive relationships in transformative learning.
It will be seen in this study that the sharing of emotions is an important collective learning process. There are many Sesotho proverbs which emphasise the role of the collective in contributing to emotional healing and learning. For instance “Harele bakana likelello letsona lingata hare hloloe” roughly translated means “if we think together with many heads we cannot be defeated”.
3.4.2 Learning through collective interaction
John (2016) and Gonzalez (2013) therefore maintain that discussion needs supportive functioning to enhance performance by all. According to John and Gonzalez supportive functioning maximises participation. Both authors articulate various methods that can be used as supportive functioning. They argue that learning through collective interaction is easier for some individuals because they can explore ideas through pictures or imagery which can be discussed as a shared activity. This study sought to examine whether a similar collective process of meaning making would take place in the support groups.
In addition to the above considerations there are some key concepts associated with transformative learning which would benefit from a more elaborate explanation.
3.4.3 Meaning making
This concept refers to making a sense of an experience, making an interpretation and subsequent application of new understanding. Interpretation is used to guide decision making or action, and consequently meaning making becomes learning (Cranton, 2006). Understanding meaning
65 making has been a problematic issue for many decades. Kitchenham (2008) argues that making meaning is a collective process of internalising arts, activities, ideas, phrases and then interpreting them to reach a common comprehension and form a collective context. Gauntlett (2011) however, understands meaning making as related to perception and cognition in which even visual perceptions are formed according to the significance for the individual that contributes to the social meaning of creativity.
Bates (2014) believes that meaning making is the process of understanding and valuing one’s own life regardless of past painful experiences and the social history of learning. My study sought to find if this also applies to these three support groups. Schuller (2001) indicates that individuals can collectively negotiate meaning making based on their experiences and connections on the basis that meaning making results from the accumulation of relevant data and information within a context which helps to establish a sense of ‘knowing’ or adds to a body of knowledge and positively impacts on lifelong learning. For the purposes of this study, meaning making in the support group context can be understood to be a collective process of internalizing ideas, perceptions, and activities interpreted to reach a common comprehension based on a collective experience. This means that an idea can only make sense to a certain group of people if their perception is common due to their common experience on such an idea and therefore they can collectively come to comprehend that experience and make sense of it. However, it is worth recognising that not all people in that collective context may reach the same level of understanding, bearing in mind the uniqueness of individuals. Bates (2014) indicates that the uniqueness of an individual is not only observed through the historical learning processes, but also the illness experiences, needs to be looked at in three ways – through social, cultural and medical lenses. Through these different lenses it can be seen how an illness becomes complex to understand, and preventive strategies difficult to implement which can result in delays in use of treatment as prevention and cure.
Kitchenham (2008) also indicates that meaning making is a collective action, for instance through the ability to think, communicate and work together. Meaning making in this respect is thought to have evolved to be an inherently collaborative effort and a social process. This
66 process enables the human mind to construct meaning which is socially acceptable across generations.
However, merely ‘knowing’ (for example in relation to medical treatment discourses) is not the same as ‘understanding’. Meaning making is highly crucial in this study as it can help the researcher find out how and what the support groups learn from each other in terms of understanding rather than simply knowing.
3.4.4 Self-directedness
The use of this concept in transformative learning is usually associated with adult education due to the perception that the learner is expected to set their own educational goals and means to acquire knowledge. Johnston (2013) sees the concept as bearing the same connotation as autonomously building new frame of reference in learning. This means that learning is pursued intentionally but also independently with little guidance from the expert. Transformative learning in this aspect includes a similar process whereby an individual can voluntarily take steps to develop a critical questioning of beliefs, assumptions and perspectives that allows them to transform their understanding. Merriam (2008) argues that self–directedness is inseparable from transformative learning in the sense that when one has undertaken a process of critical reflection, as suggested by Johnston (2013), one’s cognitive analysis skills are broadened and a certain level of transformation occurs as a result.
3.4.5 Self–concept
This is defined by Merriam (2008) as a process of self-construction where an individual goes through self-knowledge to effect change in life. The process comprises critical self-awareness to realise one’s potential strengths to draw from, and the potential weaknesses to improve on, to enable meaningful participation in life. Developing one’s self-concept allows for critical introspection that permits new meaning making which leads to transformative learning.
3.4.6 Self-confidence
According to Mezirow (1997) and Ntseane (2011), self-confidence surfaces in individuals who have acquired some knowledge and are able to move on after a disorienting dilemma. Self-
67 confidence crystallises when individuals make efforts to explore options for new roles, relationships and actions.
3.4.7 Habits of mind
This concept refers to individuals’ perceptions of certain issues, influenced by previous background, experiences, culture and personality (Mezirow, 2000). Habits of mind are said to cripple one’s thinking capability to allow new perspectives. For instance, growing up in a small rural village where everyone was trusted and known to each other may have influenced one not to trust strangers. Therefore, individuals need to identify and work on their habits of mind to accommodate transformative learning.
Although transformative learning theory is a useful tool to explore how the support group members, both individually and collectively, arrived at new meaning perspectives, the process of acquiring information in the support groups was often through networks and interactions with people outside their support groups such as friends and neighbours. Their networking with close relationships outside the community contributed to how they developed new meaning perspectives.
However, since the support groups in this study were struggling with a variety of discourses, for instance, medical, cultural and other myths, it was appropriate to take a discourse analysis approach to exploring the data. This process is briefly described here.