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=ORLD4827 Transformative Learning Final Project=

Overview

 * I liked this class because it provided a thorough background and lively discussion about individual experiences. I want to collect and extent the individual experiences and create a game that can be used to teach TL.
 * Create a game similar to the Game of Life to teach TL in the workforce.
 * Possible name is "The Unlearning".

Game Rules

 * 1) __Definition of game facilitator:__ I assume that the teacher/workshop leader would be the game facilitator. (Does this person need to be trained?) Among general accountability and checking for understanding, the game facilitator would assume the important role of establishing an environment conducive to TL. These "best practice themes for TL" include a) The greatest opportunity for learning occurs when people are placed in unfamiliar territory with unfamiliar and complex tasks and relationships. b) Hearing alternative and diverse perspectives brought about new awareness and began a transformative experience. c) Repetition of certain program conditions, like reflecting on action, helped participants solidify new behaviors into habits. d) Creating an open, safe and trusting environment. e) Giving and receiving honest feedback. f) Helping participants increase their self-understanding. g) Repeated teamwork opportunities balancing action and reflection. h) Challenging assumptions through reflection and facilitator/coach questioning (adapted from Lamm, 2003).

Game Sections - Foundations of Transformative Learning
This section will be where students learn the background on TL. They answer questions about TL until they successfully answer enough questions to have a solid background. A solid background allows them to move to the next phase of the game. __Foundation/Orientation questions__: __Mezirow's four type of learning__ __ Foundational Information __ __Mezirow's Original Tranformative Learning (1975)__
 * 1) What is TL? Tranformative Learning is a term that stems from Transformative Learning Theory, which describes a learning process of "becoming critically aware of one's own tacit assumptions and expectations and those of others and assessing their relevance for making an interpretation" (Mezirow, 2000, p. 4).
 * 2) Who created TL? Dr. Jack Mezirow
 * 3) What are the shortcomings of TL?
 * 4) Mezirow ignores culture and is mostly Western
 * 5) What are the alternatives to TL?
 * 6) Mezirow is a very rational approach
 * 7) Boyd & Myers have a more emotional approach using symbols, images, and archetypes
 * 8) What is the role of discourse in TL?
 * 9) What are Habits of Mind?
 * 10) Mezirow discusses several ways in which habits of mind become seemingly unquestionable (pg 31):
 * 11) Language-based assumptions are especially insidious, as we need to use language itself to question.
 * 12) We operative with selective perspective. We cannot pay attention to everything.
 * 13) We are sometimes preoccupied with survival needs
 * 14) People have constrained visions of humanity
 * 15) What is the role of reflection in TL?
 * 16)  Mezirow wants adults to become aware of "uncritically assimilated half-truths of conventional wisdom and power relationships"
 * 17) Can TL take place from a book?
 * 18) Can TL take place if a person is not particularly intelligent?
 * 19) What is the role of meta-cognition in TL?
 * 20) TL can be provoked by a disorienting dilemma or it can take place gradually and cumulatively over time
 * 21) Is TL impacted by age? There is a cost/benefit trade-off associated with TL occurring in a persons' 50's, 60's and beyond.
 * 22) Can TL take place in someone younger than an adult?
 * 23) TL can only take place in adults because of their experience and knowledge and meta-cognition
 * 24) Describe what Mezirow considers an adult
 * 25) Mezirow approaches TL from a constructivist perspective
 * 26) Do curriculum standards and high stakes testing help or inhibit TL?
 * 27) Discuss the role of prior belief systems in TL
 * 1) Do curriculum standards and high stakes testing help or inhibit TL?
 * 2) Discuss the role of prior belief systems in TL
 * 1) acquisition of knowledge and skills
 * 2) elaboration on existing knowledge and skills
 * 3) revision of meaning schemes
 * 4) revision of frames of reference or habits of mind
 * 1) Experiencing a disorienting dilemma
 * 2) Undergoing self-examination
 * 3) Conducting a critical assessment of internalized assumptions and feeling a sense of alienation from traditional social expectations.
 * 4) Relating discontent to the similar experiences of others - recognizing that the problem is shared.
 * 5) Exploring options for new ways of acting.
 * 6) Building competence and self-confidence in new roles.
 * 7) Planning a course of action.
 * 8) Acquiring the knowledge and skills for implementing a new course of action.
 * 9) Trying out new roles and assessing them.
 * 10) Reintegrating into society with the new perspective. (Cranton, 2006, p. 20)

__Tasks:__
 * 1) Each player will introduce themselves to the rest of the group. Tell something about what you do, your interests, whatever you would like us to know.
 * 2) Have you had an experience that you would describe as transformative? Tell us about it.
 * 3) What questions do you have about TL?
 * 4) What criticisms can you share concerning TL?
 * 5) What are socio-economic factors that lead to TL? lonely, scared, confused, financial woes, etc.
 * 6) Describe the characteristics of an adult?
 * 7) Discuss the role of discomfort in TL?
 * 8) Discuss bias and societal generalizations in TL
 * 9) Do you think that TL is more likely to take place in academia or the business world?
 * 10) Discuss the role of narrow-minded thinking and provide an example
 * 11) Discuss if having an amazing hotdog in New York City is a TL experience?
 * 12) Describe a scenario where a company improved its customer service to the point of achieving TL

Students understand how TL in the workplace is different than individual TL
__ Tranformative Learning in the Workplace __ __Six dimensions along which groups can transform__ __Creating an environment that is conducive to TL (pg 44)__ __ Tasks /Questions/Ideas__
 * 1) put participants in unfamiliar and new situations
 * 2) maximize diversity of participants
 * 3) provide enough intensity, duration, and frequency for the program
 * 4) create an open, safe, and trusting environment
 * 5) giving and receiving honest feedback
 * 6) incorporate an intense personal development focus
 * 7) repeatedly teamwork opportunities balancing action and reflection
 * 8) challenging underlying assumptions through reflection and facilitator/coach
 * 1) the nature of the environment
 * 2) the vision or mission of the organization
 * 3) their products or services
 * 4) the organizational structure
 * 5) management of the organization
 * 6) how the members see their roles
 * 1) Provide a safe place to encourage discourse and reflection in which people can try on new perspectives. Some people do not like to discuss personal issues.
 * 2) Help people discover that they are not alone
 * 3) Help people develop voice and confident to act
 * 4) Promote the idea that everyone is an important member of the community
 * 1) do people have different levels of TL receptiveness based on being alone and in a group? (work, friends, family, strangers, etc.)
 * 2) social structures are oppressive to the least advantaged people
 * 3) disadvantaged people may be least equipped to reform the system and better equipped people may lack the personal and emotional experiences for sustained outrage
 * 4) what is the role of religion in group TL?
 * 5) How does a Knowledge Manager facilitate TL?
 * 6) How does the advent of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) affect the likelihood of TL?
 * 7) How do individuals balance their own needs and the needs of the institution?
 * 8) TL includes structural changes in the pysches of people and the structures of society (Prof Cranton)
 * 9) What happens if a person undergoes work-related TL, but not on a personal or individual level?
 * 10) Do you think working with different departments or different divisions increases the likelihood of TL?
 * 11) Describe a scenario where a corporate trainer promotes TL
 * 12) Compare and contrast two cultures where TL is likely and unlikely to take place

Game Sections - Transformative Learning Scenarios
In this last part of the game, students put their knowledge to work. This could be as simple as creating “scenario cards” and player get to move if they correctly identify successful TL.

__ Scenarios __ __Discussion Topics__
 * 1) "Imagine that you are a professional development consultant who has been asked to observe and provide feedback on a colleague's practice. What features would you be looking for as evidence that this educator is effective?" (Cranton, 2006, p. 187).
 * 2) "Imagine that one of your collegues has recently been accused of poor teaching and professional negligence. You have been given the task of serving on a committee to establish a code of conduct for educators in your institution. What indicators would you choose as evidence that someone was behaving in a professional manner?" (Cranton, 2006, p. 187).
 * 3) A graduate students who participates in collaborative inquiry and knowledge sharing.
 * 4) Is Steve's acquisition of Powerpoint skills TL? (pg 15)
 * 5) "Imagine that you are on a committee required to make a decision about which courses in your program will be cut due to severe budget restraints. You have to eliminate two of the following: a workshop series on the new spreadsheet system for support staff; an advanced seminar in Web construction for computer technicians in the organization; or an online course on action learning for the senior managers" (p. 188).
 * 6) Interview a classmate who had a TL experience in conjunction with 9/11
 * 7) Interview a classmate who had a TL experience in conjunction with a professional disappointment
 * 8) You are working at a company that is implementing a new software system. Describe a scenario where TL could take place.
 * 9) You are working at a company that is acquiring a despised rival. Describe a scenario where TL could take place.
 * 10) You are a born again Christian. Describe a scenario where TL could take place.
 * 11) Interview a classmate that attended a conference or workshop and had a TL experience
 * 12) You are working for a large bureaucratic organization. Describe a scenario where TL could take place.
 * 13) Interview a classmate and find a cultures where TL is likely to take place
 * 14) Interview a classmate and find a cultures where TL is unlikely to take place
 * 1) NASA space shuttle disasters. The organization found that they had cultural issues where engineers were overly focused on meeting deadlines and not delaying launches to properly fix problems.
 * 2) Can religious TL occur without a person converting religions?
 * 3) What skills and capabilities would children need to participate in TL?
 * 4) How might over-bearing parents impact TL?
 * 5) How does culture influence your definition of an adult?
 * 6)  Is TL equally likely in different countries ? different states? (military service, driving, car rental, marriage, drinking, etc.)
 * 7) How does the plethora of information available to people affect TL?

__Activities__
 * 1) Research programs that help people handle grief and decide if it is suitable for TL? Examples include Grief Share and KinderMourn.
 * 2) Research why W. E. Deming's Total Quality Management was transformational for the Japanese after World War II, but it took hold decades later in the United States?
 * 3) Create a scenario about "abused women" who were ignorant of their husband's other lives.
 * 4) Name a historical example of a disenfranchised person having TL? (Rose Parks, Paulo Freire)
 * 5) Read a book from a point of view that is different from our own. / Read novels about teaching and learning. p. 190
 * 6) Observe a colleague who has a different style from our own/Participate in a critical friends group with teachers of different teaching styles. p. 190
 * 7) Each player will complete a Critical Incident Questionaire (CIQ) (Brookfield, 1995; Brookfield and Preskill, 1999).

= Random Thoughts =
 * 1) How do players "graduate" from loop #1? Players can move on when they have a firm understanding of the major pillars of TL.
 * 2) What should the tasks be for loop #1?
 * 3) What should the tasks be for loop #2?
 * 4) Need to write scenarios for loop #3?
 * 5) Should players each take the personality test and analyze each others' results?
 * 6) Should players take Harvard's Implicit Thinking Test (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/)
 * 7) Should players move 1-4 spaces based on the completeness of the answers (would require a rubric)? (Alternatively, we could just keep it simple and leave it up to chance. Each player will roll a die to determine their movement from space to space.)
 * 8) How do players "graduate" from each loop? A good game design depends on presenting the players with a solid collection of compelling choices. As long as the choices remain compelling, the game has a chance of being fun. If the choices are boring, confusing, pointless, or broken, it is unlikely a fun game will emerge. I like your suggestions to include tasks and scenarios for each of the loops.
 * 9) Question - Many games have resources, a currency you can spend. Can the resource in this game be the product or outcome or impact on the organization? Players will earn points based on the perceived benefit to the organization. Each player's individual point total will determine how players "graduate" from each loop.

Cranton, P. (2006). Understanding and promoting tranformative learning. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Lamm, S. (2003). Best practices on fostering transformative learning in the workplace. Tranformative Learning Conference, October 23-25, 2003. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation: critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Fransisco: Jossey Bass.