Journal of Transformative Education

This paper explores the intersection of transformative learning and virtue epistemology within the context of education for democratic society. Drawing on historical and contemporary scholarship, it is argued that the cultivation of intellectual virtues such as intellectual humility, curiosity, courage and tenacity are essential for fostering the critical thinking and reflective capacities necessary for robust democratic participation. Through theory building and theory testing, a heuristic of transformative learning as a journey of deconstruction and reconstruction, underpinned by intellectual virtues, is presented and substantiated. The empirical component of this paper examines the transformative experiences of former student delegates at the National Student Leadership Forum (NSLF) in Australia, through a mixed-methods retrospective case study. The findings offer a novel framework for researching and discussing transformative learning, and these have unique implications for education in democratic societies, particularly given the post-truth situation which has emerged in recent times.

Despite growing institutional and policy interest in teacher education, discussions regarding the professional growth of Korean L1 teachers remain limited, often concentrating primarily on student outcomes. This study investigates the professional growth perspectives of 56 Korean L1 teachers using the Q methodology. Participants sorted statements representing six habits of mind—epistemic, sociolinguistic, psychological, moral-ethical, philosophical, and aesthetic—across three reflective categories: content, process, and premise. Findings revealed epistemic and psychological habits as central, while philosophical, sociolinguistic, and aesthetic habits received less focus. Teachers prioritized personal growth over collective or contextual considerations, revealing gaps in addressing sociocultural diversity and comprehensive learner development. The study highlights the need for balanced teacher-training frameworks that integrate universal pedagogical principles with subject-specific needs, promoting holistic professional growth and adaptability.

This article shares the results of a research study designed to track faculty efficacy with integrating equity, inclusion and decolonization into their teaching. In response to student priorities, broad national policy priorities, and the lived experiences of researchers, this seven-person multi-department team followed a set of 16 faculty through a set of interventions and gathered a range of data to discern their shifts in awareness, intention and practice. Four major resources were made available to participants (a 4-hour training, an expansive self-assessment, syllabus revisions and development of an action plan). Five data collection activities were implemented (a pre/post efficacy survey, the self-assessment survey results, action plans for immediate and future practices, syllabus revisions, and focus groups). Promising results signal that targeted training, and relevant resources can manifest instructors’ skills and confidence to teach in ways infused with anti-racism, decolonization, cultural responsiveness and transformative learning.

This study explores the significance of aesthetic experience in management education by analyzing an educational approach that integrates literary art to foster transformative learning in business students. Drawing inspiration from pedagogical practices in medical schools, the research investigates how literary art can expand reflection and create a ‘humanizing impact’ within management education. The qualitative methodology combines document analysis, field observations, graduate reports, and semi-structured interviews with graduates, program creators, and business school directors. The findings highlight both the limitations and the potential of literary art to catalyze transformative learning, emphasizing the importance of engaging participants’ affective, cognitive, and volitional dimensions. This study builds on a transformative learning model by integrating aesthetic experience into the theoretical framework of Transformative Business Education, offering a perspective that enhances the traditional pragmatic-rational focus of management education. The research aims to expand theoretical discussions and practical methodologies by incorporating aesthetic elements into management education.

Waking students up to injustice and systemic bias, which doesn’t necessarily impact them personally, is of concern to many within the higher education sector. Using a Freirean conceptual framework this paper demonstrates that using Wikipedia in a particular way can be effective in doing just that. Students in a first-year seminar module in Ireland learning about the social construction of knowledge were asked to explore topics on Wikipedia that they had a personal interest in and present back to the class on what they found. In reflective learning journals it was evident that the students became more aware of systemic bias, not just in Wikipedia but in other areas of their lives and beyond their lived experience. The authors present this as a potentially useful way to engage with privileged students to transform their understanding of systemic bias, develop empathy for others’ lived experience and develop critical thinking skills.

Educators often refer to international education as a transformative learning experience. But what does transformative learning mean in this context, and how can we document at a large scale when it is occurring? This study explores those questions using quantitative data from international education programs. Key dimensions of transformative learning outcomes are identified using Hogan’s (2016) framework and empirically tested using a validated instrument that is frequently used in international education, the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI). The findings reveal statistically significant relationships across TL outcome dimensions, suggesting that transformative learning represents a network of changes involving multiple aspects of deep self formation. It is the synchronization between changes in those outcome dimensions that makes transformative learning unique and powerful. This study provides an intuitive yet innovative way of understanding and measuring transformative learning in international education.