User:Bforsey/sandbox

Benefits of Transformative Learning

When learning is contextualized in a community, connected to one's social identities, and when it asks a group of learners to be better as a people, it is not generally forgotten, because it holds tremendous importance for the learner. As a result, transformative learning develops autonomous thinking that is transferable to other learning contexts.

Challenges of Transformative Learning Environments

While supporting engagement of the entire class, often the most self-efficacious students will voice their suggestions, ideas and concerns. Those with lower self-efficacy can become spectators if not given equal encouragement to participate. Transformative learning inherently requires taking risks and a willingness to be vulnerable and have ones attitude and assumptions challenged.

Acknowledging the role of Self-Efficacy in Transformative Learning

Psychologist Albert Bandura has defined self-efficacy as one's belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations. One's sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how one approaches goals, tasks, and challenges. The theory of self-efficacy lies at the centre of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which emphasizes the role of observational learning and social experience in the development of personality. The main concept in social cognitive theory is that an individual’s actions and reactions, including social behaviours and cognitive processes, in almost every situation are influenced by the actions that individual has observed in others. Because self-efficacy is developed from external experiences and self-perception and is influential in determining the outcome of many events, it is an important aspect of social cognitive theory. Self-efficacy represents the personal perception of external social factors. According to Bandura's theory, people with high self-efficacy—that is, those who believe they can perform well—are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered rather than something to be avoided.

In a transformative learning environment, consideration of one's current level of self-efficacy can assist both the Educator and student in preparing for engagement in discourse. As frames of reference play a critical role in shaping one's past and present assumptions or beliefs, so to do they influence the self-efficacy of an individual participating in adult learning activities.

Academic self-efficacy

In a study, the majority of a group of students questioned felt they had a difficulty with listening in class situations. Instructors then helped strengthen their listening skills by making them aware about how the use of different strategies could produce better outcomes. This way, their levels of self-efficacy were improved as they continued to figure out what strategies worked for them. Understanding how to foster the development of self-efficacy is important for educators, and others in leadership positions, and to anyone seeking to build happier, more productive, and highly efficacious students.

Through transformative learning, the Educator plays a similar role in facilitating the development of trust, care and sensitivity, so that students feel empowered to discuss their assumptions and beliefs in a way that works best for them, while incorporating strategies that best accommodate their current level of self-efficacy. The Destiny Idea Further information: Locus of control

Bandura also showed that difference in self-efficacy correlates to fundamentally different world views. People with high self-efficacy generally believe that they are in control of their own lives, that their own actions and decisions shape their lives, while people with low self-efficacy may see their lives as outside their control.

Such evidence speaks directly to the outcomes of transformative learning, in that the assumptions, beliefs and values of individuals (as a result of their level of self-efficacy), can potentially shape the direction of the critical discourse taking place in the classroom, based on their feelings of either being in control or not in control of their destiny.

Social learning theory

Social learning theory describes the acquisition of skills that are developed exclusively or primarily within a social group. Social learning depends on how individuals either succeed or fail at dynamic interactions within groups, and promotes the development of individual emotional and practical skills as well as accurate perception of self and acceptance of others. According to this theory, people learn from one another through observation, imitation, and modeling. Self-efficacy reflects an individual’s understanding of what skills he/she can offer in a group setting.

Transformative learning ideally promotes equal participation among members of a group, as they work toward establishing a consensus in exploring the depths of subject matter. Should an individual feel they can either offer a lot, in comparison with one who feels they can offer little, the equal participation in transformative learning may become more difficult to attain.