1177-threshold-concepts-and-transformational-learning

EDITORS’ PREFACEprocesses. They stress, for example that learners must (affectively) be open to thepossibility of transformation in the first place and willing to accommodate‘alternative expressions of meaning’ (1988, p. 277). Key phases in the process oftransformation as they see it are receptivity, recognition and a final stage of‘grieving’ in which there is a recognition that an established pattern of meaning isno longer tenable or valid for future practice. This brings about a point or state ofdiscernment. The prevailing perception has to be let go of and eventually discardedso that a process of integration might begin. In their framework this is both a psychologicalas much a social process and ties with our own view that in the liminalphase an ontological shift or change in subjectivity accompanies change in cognitiveunderstanding, often as part of a recognition that such shifts are necessary andappropriate for membership of a given community of practice. In our frameworkthe process is also recognised as troublesome and can incur resistance (seeparticularly Schwartzman, Chapter 2). The shift is also irreversible, a point notedby O’Sullivan and colleagues:Transformative learning involves experiencing a deep, structural shift in thebasic premises of thought, feelings, and actions. It is a shift of consciousnessthat dramatically and irreversibly alters our way of being in the world.(O’Sullivan et al, 2002, p. 11)METAMORPHOSISKegan (1982) has drawn attention to the ways in which individuals experiencesuch ‘shifts of consciousness’ through recurring patterns or phases of stability andchange during their lives. Julie Timmermans in the opening chapter of this volumepoints to the elusiveness and inherent difficulty of examining these transitionalphases.It is these periods of change, these transitions that characterise the learningprocess, which I find most intriguing. These transitions remain nebulous;however, understanding them is crucial. Cross (1999) notes that ‘in developmentaltheory, the periods of greatest personal growth are thought to lie in theunnamed and poorly-defined periods between stages’ (p. 262; emphasis inoriginal). We might therefore imagine that the most significant aspect oflearning lies not in the outcomes of learning, but in the process of learning.Understanding this process and how best to facilitate it is thus essential to ourwork as educators. (Timmermans, Chapter 1)In her novel Regeneration, concerning the trauma and rehabilitation of shellshockedFirst World War soldiers, Pat Barker offers a striking, if somewhatunsettling image of transformation. Her character Rivers, a military psychiatrist‘knew only too well how often the early stages of change or cure may mimicdeterioration. Cut a chrysalis open, and you will find a rotting caterpillar. Whatyou will never find is that mythical creature, half caterpillar, half butterfly, a fitemblem of the human soul, for those whose cast of mind leads them to seek suchemblems. No, the process of transformation consists almost entirely of decay’xiii