94).
Of the three types of adult learning, only emancipatory has been described as unique to adulthood, but even that claim has been challenged (Merriam and Caffarella 1991). Subject-oriented learning is the most common form of learning engaged in by youth. Collaborative and cooperative learning and other types of experiential learning that are more consumer oriented are also found in youth classrooms. However, according to Mezirow (1981), emancipatory learning, with its emphasis upon learner transformation, can take place only in adulthood because, 'it is only in late adolescence and in adulthood that a person can recognize being caught in his/her own
history and reliving it' (p. 11). In adulthood, 'rather than merely adapting to changing circumstances by more diligently applying old ways of knowing . . . [individuals] discover a need to acquire new perspectives in order to gain a more complete understanding of changing events and a higher degree of control over their lives. The formative learning of childhood becomes transformative learning in adulthood' (Mezirow 1991, p. 3). As a result of the research and theory-building efforts of Mezirow-fully described in Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning (1991)-emancipatory adult learning has become more commonly known as transformative learning.
Teaching Approaches for Transformative Learning
If transformative learning is unique to adulthood, does it require the use of teaching approaches that are geared specifically to adults? This is not clear. It is true that transformative learning requires that learners address problems through critical reflection. Some strategies used to facilitate transformative learning, e.g., such as journal writing, critical incidents, and experiential methods, are used in other types of learning as well. (See Cranton 1994 and Mezirow and Associates 1990 for a full discussion of these and other methods that can be used to promote transformative learning.)
What is clear is that fostering transformative learning demands a different approach by the educator. Although learners must decide on their own to engage in transformative learning, educators who wish to promote transformative learning have the responsibility to set the stage and provide opportunities for critical reflection (Cranton 1994). When educators are operating in the domain of transformative learning, they help learners examine their beliefs and how they have acquired them by creating situations in which they can debate how their values, assumptions, ideologies, and beliefs have come to be constructed (Newman 1993). Instead of congratulating themselves for having made their point when a learner says, 'I never looked at it that way before,' educators can help learners engage in transformative learning by responding with, '`How did you see things?' and then, `What made you see things like that?' and then `If we can understand how you came to have a set of ideas and attitudes then, let's look at how you come to have the ideas and attitudes you have now'' (ibid., p. 182).
Of course, not all adult learning is transformative in nature; many adult educators also do not believe that they have a role in helping adults engage in critical reflection and, consequently, never operate in the transformative domain. Those who do, however, perceive that teaching adults is different.
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