Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

Transformative Learning 363
illustrates the importance of recognizing the unique nature of learning across the lifespan, that of
learning as an adult.
TERMS FOR READERS
Cosomology—Stephen Toulin, a philosopher, in his book The Return of Cosmology (1985) refers
to it as an ambition by humans to speak and reflect upon the natural world as a whole.
Transformative Learning—Explains how adults’ expectations, framed within cultural assumptions
and presuppositions, directly influence the meaning individuals derive from their experience.
It is a learning process where adults transform their worldview (paradigmatic shifts) as a result
of developing more reliable beliefs about the world, exploring and validating their dependability,
and making decisions based on an informed basis.
FURTHER READING
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.
Kegan, R. (2000). What “form” transforms? A constructive developmental approach to transformative
learning. In J. Mezirow and Associates (Eds.), Learning as Transformation, pp. 35–70. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Mezirow, J. (1995). Transformation theory of adult learning. In M. R. Welton (Ed.), In Defense of the
Lifeworld (pp. 39–70). New York: SUNY Press.
Mezirow, J., and Associates (Ed.). (2000). Learning as Transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
O’Sullivan, E. (2002). The project and vision of transformative education. In E. O’Sullivan, A. Morrel,
and M. A. O’Connor (Eds.), Expanding the Boundaries of Transformative Learning, pp. 1–13. New
York: Palgrave.
Woolfolk, A. E. (2001). Educational Psychology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.