Journal of Transformative Education

In this article, transformative educators are encouraged to use an arts-based critical inquiry approach within their diversity-sensitive teaching practice. Using a Socratic dialogue, the authors describe how guided imagery, images, narratives, and poetry have been useful in developing transformative insights in relation to spiritual/ecological values, sexual orientation, and culture in the context of nursing and interdisciplinary professional education. Arts-based approaches that incorporate constructivist dimensions can potentially stimulate critical inquiry in educational settings that can spark the thoughtful dialogue and passion needed for practitioners to engage in emancipatory practices for social change. The underlying adult learning theoretical frameworks for this teaching and learning dialogue are transformative learning and unlearning. Innovative arts-based and experiential approaches to diversity-sensitive teaching nurture the dynamic engagement and individual and collective reflection that fosters interpersonal understanding and hope for meaningful community connections and social change.

This article discusses the perceptions of in-service teachers on racial and cultural bias. Teachers were enrolled in a master’s degree program centering on social justice, critical reflection, and the creation of democratic classrooms. The program incorporates arts integration, reflective practice, and work is done on deconstructing White privilege. There is evidence of transformation over the 2-year period—teachers enter the program denying connection to bias, a year later they are willing to consider that they are biased. By the time the program is over, they believe that they have surpassed society and wish to work toward deconstructing privilege.

This qualitative case study focuses on the transition made by three career-changing women moving from science and engineering fields into secondary teaching. The findings indicate that all three women exhibited unexpected levels of fear, anxiety, and shame in response to new learning. Supported by the literature on adult learning and transformative learning, the findings reveal that the participants underwent perspective transformations in their thinking about themselves as professionals and their philosophy of teaching. The study concludes with recommendations for support in order to increase the likelihood that this valuable professional cohort reaches their goal of becoming teachers.