Final Project: A Case for Transformative Education

Abstract

In this case for transformative education, Justin Gamache, shows how time allows for an experience of transformational learning from several perspectives. This case includes an analysis of Weltanschauung through his early template, childhood. As transformative education is investigated, special care is also considered in order to address the issues from the soul and the great idea, idea. This study of transformative education, in theory, explores how we understand and the two domains of learning; the two domains of intentional learning being instrumental and communicative. The case for transformative education will examine the experiences that has transformed him over his lifetime as a student, educator, and as an adult learning in society. This final project, meanings will be made through the process of reflection. Finally, there will be an analysis completed through a series of interviews that represent three great thinker’s perspectives in regards to transformational learning, perspective meaning, and perspective transformation that is related to the great idea of time itself.

Introduction

Time flies. Time heals all wounds. Time is of the essence. There not enough time in the world for what we would want to live. We race against time, but time prevails. Take time to breathe the air, smell the roses, get out and live. It’s just a matter of time when we all have to die. We often wish we could go back in time, but can’t so we try to take the time to change our future. Time has its advantages and its disadvantages. Who are we with time, and what can we do with time. Time is a ticking clock, as the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years go by. In order for us to move forward in time, we must leave something behind (Interstellar, 2014). The only place time can feel as if it doesn’t exist is playing music on stage, in front of a large audience, but when the music stops time proceeds on. Time has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. Aristotle noted, “Time, past, present, and future, forms a continuous whole” (Aristotle, 2010).

Analysis of Weltanschauung: Our Early Template

It is difficult to recall a learning experience that was an unconscious happening from childhood memories. But an unconscious event from a childhood memory can contribute to this writer’s Weltanschauung. Weltanschauung is a German word for world view or opinion. Welt means world and anschauung means view, opinion. Weltanschauung is a shared center of controversy on the nature of philosophy in the late 19th century/early century Germany, and is between those thinkers who would understand the philosophy that is primarily as a worldview and who think that it should be best understand as a science (Staiti, 2013, p. 21-36). In order to best describe an unconscious learning experience from a childhood memory, one must first be able to recall or remember, call from memory, a past significant event. This is the leading path to ponder what experience from my childhood contributed to one’s current view of the world that is in life today.

I was born into this world with a dislocated hip and the ability to listen more than I would speak. I have never been one to act out as a kid, growing up I had too many doctors around me trying to solve the issue of my hips and living a normal childhood life like all the other kids around me just didn’t happen. The nurses that cared for me said how well-behaved I was and that there’s going to be a struggle trying to pry information from me because I just wouldn’t speak. Sure, I had family close by and if it wasn’t for family to push me into the world I wouldn’t know where to go and explore. Unconsciously I wasn’t aware of the amount of help I had to get me going as a child, and being in a cast my entire infant life I couldn’t do the things like normal infants could do.

When I turned five I was out of the cast and ready to enter my first years of school, I was held back once in kindergarten because I just would not speak or do anything (the teachers thought I wasn’t ready). I would sit there and look around, but still nothing came out. My teachers tried everything, even invoked that there was a problem and had me placed in therapy classes to see if it would help during school. I just didn’t have anything to say, always quiet, and my teachers had to pry it out of me. I would consider this an unconscious learning point, because while I sat there in class doing nothing I stilled listened. I was unaware of the learning part my brain was taking and processing all the information around me but that point in time contributed to my weltanschauung (worldview).

In reality I was a slow learner, but in my mind I was quick at picking up the ideas that came about to help me succeed but taking in too much information also made me quiet and not wanting to do much because of this process. While my other peers were loud, full of energy and running around. I was happy being calm, and taking my time because I wasn’t in a hurry. Today I have much to be thankful for taking my time and doing things right because it is this process to where I am today. A journey that lead to identifying a general transformative logic (Mezirow, 1991, p. 26), the knowing event in my life in taking the time to observe the natural flow of everything in all of what I do in observing, and listening. The two things I am good at and have always been able to identify, select, prioritize, and reconstruct my worldview on life.

To make things simple and easy, my worldview consists of waking up early in the morning with a deep breath, watching the sunrise, drinking water to help the following process of my body, and then going out for an early morning walk. The process now in my adult life which was transformed from observing and listening as a young child, has been transformed into my everyday life of loving, learning, knowing, accepting, being one with myself, and my journey as a music educator. But it doesn’t stop there as I am continuously rehearsing my adult beliefs and behaviors that were driven from my childhood life memories growing up, all I could ever do was sit back, listen and observe. I’ve had many people jealous of what happened to me, and what I’ve been through and how I lived my life. Though I did not give up then, and I am not giving up now. There was nothing emotional that lead to who I am and why I prefer observing and listening than acting out, but the fact that I couldn’t do anything because of the physical health complication I had to get through just to proceed on with my life. A journey I will never forget and glad that observing and listening at a young age had brought much joy for life in today’s world.

Observing and listening were the two things that intentionally allowed me to identify, select, prioritize and reconstruct to love, learn, accept, be one with myself and build my journey. Observing and listening comes naturally to a music educator, because music educators are very good at observing what is going on in the world, listening to the changes that come from within, and then producing the feelings through music. Though I have never composed any big music scores yet, I have composed lessons that I thought could help my students learn how to identify, select, prioritize and reconstruct the way to learn in music while also loving and accepting the world around them. Observing and listening is also my rationality in the adult decision-making, and it is good to have this quality in making good decisions that would not only affect my life but the world.

In my childhood memories, the perception that others thought of me is an act being performed constantly with this unique being as the subject. People judged me because of my differences and became jealous of what I went through thinking that I was incapable of learning because of the physical health issues being born with a dislocated hip, and then from this not being able to do anything but to observe and listen. It is because of my observance and listening only did I succeed, and took in what I needed to know so that I could move on to the next step of growing up. The experience of being judged without being known in the world has helped significantly improve my life to become even more sensitive to the people in whom I interact with on a daily basis.

Due to this experience of judgement I made a conscious effort to understand this as an educator today, one must practice patience with each student so that they can grow. My teachers when I was younger had to pry everything out of me to get me involved in class, though I still remained silent, and only wish that those teachers who tried to pry it out could have experienced patience with my growing need just like I was patient with my doctors in finding ways for me to walk again.

Further analysis and reflection upon childhood experiences assists this educator in dealing appropriately with negative situations with other students, and knowing how difficult it was for me growing up with my physical health issues and only knowing how to observe and listen to what was going on around me I will stop and think of how I was patient with my doctors, and how I must remain patient with my students. As unconscious as the experience may seem, my experiences in early childhood were pertinent in framing the adult before you today.

Brief Literature Review

Time flies. Time heals all wounds. Time is of the essence. There not enough time in the world for what we would want to live. We race against time, but time prevails. Take time to breathe the air, smell the roses, get out and live. It’s just a matter of time when we all have to die. We often wish we could go back in time, but can’t so we try to take the time to change our future. Time has its advantages and its disadvantages. Who are we with time, and what can we do with time. Time is a ticking clock, as the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years go by. In order for us to move forward in time, we must leave something behind (Interstellar, 2014). The only place time can feel as if it doesn’t exist is playing music on stage, in front of a large audience, but when the music stops time proceeds on.

William Hamilton (1856) discussion on philosophy and literature regards to “time past, and time future there is no difficulty… But time present, when we attempt to realize it, seems to escape us altogether—to vanish into nonentity” (p. 9). Why is it that the present when it is too late to realize, seems to escape us? I believe in the opportunity to make more time available, because time is the essence we have in life and without we would simply not exist in the world and universe today.

There is the study of time we know, and that since the invention of time mankind has been counting down the days to the end of the world. Yet simply we do not understand time because we do not know of its real existence. Time as Aristotle (n.d.) said, “consists of the past, present, and future. But the past has been and is no longer, while the future is about to be and is not yet. And the now (that is, the present) is evidently not a part of time” (p.220). We live in time, it is all around, but we cannot distinguish its true meaning until we sit and discover what it’s all about.

Speaking about time, Jack Mezirow, who transformed the field of adult learning dies at age ninety-one. Yet, the time came upon too quickly for someone who had focused mastering the basic skills of transformative adult learning (Memoriam, n.d.). Even time itself is transforming our learning in life, and so in our adult years, we must make time for its true power so that we can defeat time itself.

How we Understand Experience

How can absolute music move us in the way that is done, and to the extent that it does? In seeking an answer to this question, we do not simply go forth and seek any sort of answer. But most importantly we would not be able to satisfy with a brute of physiological explanation. In listening to music, we try to expose ourselves to sounds. Sounds in which are vibration in the air. These vibrations cause our ear to vibrate, which in turns causes the nerves to impulse and travel up the auditory nerve to the human brain. Our brain is the final stop of the sound after it travels up the auditory nerve, from here those impulses cause neurons to fire and leads to a perception of sound. Understanding the meaning of music or the meaning of sound, which can make the human body move in positive and negative ways. The firing of these neurons constitutes the perception of sound that triggers, in my personal experience, specific emotions.

We are now experiencing what we hear, from words to music and through these experiences we interpret the world in which we live today. Stephen Covey (n.d.) wrote in Six Conditions of Organizational Effectiveness, “We make assumptions regarding the ultimate nature of reality. If the fundamental assumptions or premises are wrong, the conclusions will also be wrong, even when the reasoning process from those premises is right” because the beliefs that lie behind the assumptions have not been examined (para. 1). Making the assumptions that music or sound gives us, is a self-evident truth, and through the truth music or sounds provides us with real experiences that can happen both physically and mentally in our world. I think the point of understanding this experience is the explanation of rationally of our emotional response. Music could induce an emotional state in such a way that a drug would, like certain chemicals that mix together in the brain to cause feelings and physical emotions just as sounds and music would. End of story.

According to Mezirow (1991) this unique being’s meaning perspective included a “structure of assumptions within which ones past experience assimilated and transformed new experiences” (p. 42). Mezirow called them a “habitual set of expectations” that serve as a “frame of reference” through which phenomena are interpreted and meanings are made. Sound conclusions can only come from consistent reasoning based on a correct premise or assumption that we merely understand this experience because of how music or sound makes us feel when are happy, sad or angry.

These emotions that we feel are our prerational of experience that music and sounds gives us and are as much the real thing to me or anyone who experiences them. When we experience them, it takes time for them to wear off, and can have an everlasting effect on our lives and the memories we make of them. Like everyone else, I am drawn to the philosophy of music by a need to understand how such emotional experiences occur. I can tell you on the rational level, that certain sounds and music when heard can help bring eureka moments insights to help understand our experiences and why they are happening, and the memories that come along with the experiences of hearing music or sound.

The presupposition of these feelings in which music and sounds gives to our experiences can be inadequate, because not all assumptions are led by a good example. Music and sounds can be used to make you buy more and are used in malls, box stores, supermarkets, and are put in place to make you assume you have to buy the one thing. Manipulating the human brain to follow the experiences that it will make you feel better if you just buy it. Because this use of music and sounds, those who are undergoing this experience will not fully understand it unless they wake up realizing what just happened and question why they just bought what they bought. Music and sound has been used in mind control for years or at least what the government has been trying to pursue for the corporations that want control. The only way we can overcome this experience being used is by a consistent meditation, and flow of positive energy. We cannot tell anyone not to enter a store or not to fill up on unwanted items, but we can hopefully help someone who is shopping to be mindful of what they are buying. Music and sound can increase your experience while shopping; the thing is not to go overboard.

We understand the experience by the responses it entails us to do. If you hear something in the woods, you can become afraid and run. If you hear music and it’s something you like, then you dance to the music or experience certain emotions that brings back a happy or sad memory you experienced in the past which could ultimately bring your future. On this view, it is pointless to ask whether it makes sense for us to respond to those sounds in the way that we do. And yet we think that it does make sense for us to be moved by music or react to certain sounds in a way that will get us to safety or be manipulated by the experience music entails us in a supermarket or box store because it is more than just a chemical response that happens in the brain.

We only believe and think it’s rational to be moved in this way, yet we admire those who are capable of the right emotional response from music, and the critical of those who aren’t. We take that the presence of the right emotions to be indicative of understanding, and we recommend that others take a music appreciation course to those who do not understand the experiences that people go through and why they go through them in the first place. Back to Mezirow (1991), he defines meaning perspectives as a “structure of assumptions within which one’s past experience assimilates and transforms new experience” (p. 42). That is what music or sounds can bring, a structure of assumptions within a past life experience which can purposely transform into a whole new experience that interpret a set of beliefs, value, knowledge, judgments and feelings that become articulated into the experience (p.44).

The fact that we can rationally respond to music with real emotions, I have been saying, is indirect evidence that there must be musical meaning. Most importantly, how we understand experience through music and sound can prepare us to allow a limited role towards what it we are doing at the time of the experience and with expressive meaning be able to express our emotions of sound and music.

There is the lesson learned through the experience of music and sound, we must examine our beliefs and transform our thinking as we evolve into better humans responsible to better the music by our own experiences. Understanding the experience in music and sound is not by going out and seeking the answer with research, but by going out of the way to make music or sound a part of your life that it allows you to transform the understanding that lies beyond the emotions as a rational and reflective means of our expanding our beliefs so that you can make memories. Once you hear a sound or music again you can remember what you experienced and interpret that feeling into an emotion that will allow you to understand the meaning of that experience.

Two Domains of Learning

The greatest learning experience I have ever had to incorporate both instrumental and communicative learning was the day I first became a music teacher. What a rewarding job and something I have been long overdue to take on in my life, the students were so well-informed in knowing what was going on allowed me to incorporate knowledge and human interests into my work. Instrument learning in the experience “generated knowledge: the technical, the practical, and the emancipatory” (Mezirow, 1991, p.72). I would say being technical and practical gave a great understanding of how to become free from the restrictions I was yet afraid to embark on and being a new music teacher I did not know what to do. But from that first day, my students welcomed me into their class as their teacher. When learning how to be a teacher we have to embrace the instrumental and communicative learning, understanding that your students are ready to learn and communicating what they want to know brings on a positive feeling. Mezirow said (1991) that there is a fundamental distinction that lies between “the dynamics of learning to control and manipulate the environment and the dynamics of learning to understand others (my students in this case) (p.73). You have to have an instrumental and communicative learning pattern as a music teacher because it involves creating rules, making lesson plans, and making sure those rules and lesson plans are followed. Communicating with your students is key because you want to make sure they understand what it is you are teaching them, and manipulate an environment that your students can feel safe in so that they can learn.

In addition, being a music teacher is more than just using instrumental and communicative learning it is embracing students to be open to the technical process of learning new things, dwelling in the instrumental domain. When one learns to play an instrument, they learn all the fingerings and the keys to play while obtaining how to read music. In the case of playing an instrument, there comes the time for predictions and observance in learning and knowing what should be done next. The most important part of this learning process is that it comes with great mastery of becoming a professional musician, and so this process dives into the communicative domain. The professional player and instructor would knowingly understand how and why different techniques are used in music. The complete vision of this domain, provides to the instructors’ role of communicating to students on when too crescendo or decrescendo, when to play faster or slower, how many beats are in measure, and what type of language is being displayed on page and how each player should portray that language through their horns. A great conductor will communicate with his or her eyes, motions of hands, physical movement of body, and then teach the players how to read the signs of their conductor so that they can follow and reflect through all that they have learned from in the developing of their technique.

Music is the best form of both communicative and instrumental learning, while students are engaging with their director and obtaining their technique each student that wants to is allowed to reflect of what they have learned. Of course, classical music is stricter because there are certain music theory rules that need to be followed. But in jazz music, per example in the video below, a jazz musician can experience the art of improvisation. A jazz musician can interpret on their own, adding in different notes or silence in between sections or reflect what was written on the page as a solo. Jazz music allows the musician to experience freedom (Improvisation) in what it is they are playing without the worry of hitting wrong notes, while classical music must follow the rules and cannot have wrong notes. But without knowing the rules of music, there would simply be no music just noise.

The classroom environment and the experience of art is a great discipline to have under your belt to obtain both learning domains of communicative and instrumental. When a student plays a sound and moves to make music they make their own interpretations of the technique they learned on their instruments through their fingerings, keys, sight reading ability, and time signatures that must be followed and is the most enhancing part of communicative learning because it is the language in which the students develops through their own technique. Once a student becomes adaptive to this language it is universal and can be understood by the other students who are playing as well. The universal language of music is a story made by the composer detailed with history from which era the composer was born and grew up in and puts theory into practice.

In transformative learning: theory to practice, Mezirow (1997) wrote, “thinking as an autonomous and responsible agent is essential for full citizenship in democracy and for moral decision making in situations of rapid change” (p. 7). The music allows for moral decisions making and prepares the students to accept change. Yet, each student must be empowered to think on their own in a collaborative manner that will prepare them for the final performance. In this process learning becomes automatic to achieve the final product and is referred to as freedom and self-governing or self-regulation. Transformative learning in music education gives the student the ability to think autonomously because it allows the learner to develop their own sense of the meaning in the world free from purpose, beliefs, judgements, values and feelings that are to come from different cultures, religions, family beliefs, personalities and the existence of life experiences.

In music, we are a family, and must develop a plan of actions to build self-confidence as a group. Communicating and battling our struggles in music is allowed, but when one person is off it can bring the whole group down. Working together is the mission and forming goal as one band, one sound and developing a plan of action to get our free thoughts working fluently together should be step one. Step two is the process of communicating effectively between conductor and student so that everyone knows what do in the music, and where the piece leads. The final step is that music allows for moral decision making and prepares the students to accept change. The three steps of communicative and instrumental learning in music education are: building confidence in your students as a group, communicating and teaching the signals so that the students knows what they are doing, and allow students express their free thoughts on the situation to build their repertoire and technique.

Meaning structures are a major component of transformational learning. These structures are understood and developed through reflection. Assumptions and habits can distort thinking in adults. Reflecting provides a way to reflect on and understand these assumptions that shape our lives and our experience. Mezirow (1991) said, “reflection is the central dynamic in intentional learning, problem solving, and validity testing through rational discourse” (p. 99). Through reflection we are able to understand ourselves better. Through reflection we are also able to understand our learning better.

The definition of reflections means the serious thought or consideration. Spending time in thought, thinking about how issues can be solved, taking time, to consider options and how they would be if done differently, and contemplating those options, pondering, and taking the time to sit in meditation. Mezirow (1991) says that reflection is “the process of becoming critically aware of how and why our assumptions have come to constrain the way we perceive, understand, and feel about our world changing these structures of habitual expectations to make possible a more inclusive, discriminating, and integrative perspective; and finally making choices or otherwise acting on these new understanding” (p.167). In music education, there is a lot of time to reflect after each concert is performed.

Today, I practice the daily art of reflection by sitting in deep thought and taking time, to meditate on those thoughts while clearing my mind so that I can be ready to perform in my daily life the next day after. Sometimes this reflection process can take all day and is consider of getting out in nature, either by taking a walk or hike and a simple bike ride out on the backroads into the wild of Vermont. This process cools my mind and sets thoughts free and it’s everything I need to get my mind on the right track. I can tell you in the next few weeks I will have lots of time to reflect as I am going to Montreal, Canada. I have never been outside of the States before and this will be a new journey for me in my life. The reflection process will be steady and easy; I may get lost being to a place I’ve never been. But I know for sure, I will be found and when I return my outlook on life will be expanded through this adventure.

The risks and challenges associated with the practice of reflection aren’t many, but I can tell you that one risk would be not watching your words. Practicing reflection can be hurtful to others and that is why we must be mindful of what it is we are saying only to help benefit others and ourselves not to hurt anyone. You have a better understanding in order to consider others in your life and you will be able to experience emotional intelligence. Reflective practice is a skill we all need in our life. Some of the best ways we can use to reflect are keeping journals, organizing and creating strategic thinking; these skills will be developed over time and become stronger the longer you practice them. Time is something we all have to be able to invest in so that we can be better human beings in a fast growing world of people and knowledge.

The differences of autonomous and critical thinking are; Autonomous thinking shows a clear preference for moral values. Autonomous thinking views people as an end and not as a means to an end. Critical thinking reflection provides the opportunity to remove self and look at the issue from a different view other than that of our own.

According to Mezirow (1991), reflection is an intentional action leading to problem solving (p.99). I can tell you many times I have had time for intentional reflection and through the deep transition into the thought of my own life, I have made peace with many problems and have overcome them all. In music, there is a lot of time for intentional reflection, musicians do this to better themselves as a whole to understand and develop moral values. Musicians also have a strong dedication to critical thinking and have the opportunity to think as a group, and not just thinking about themselves and how well they played but how well the entire group plays.

Autonomous and Critical thinking are very important. In music, there is always a dire need on the team to think critically about the issue, reflect on the issue and then find ways to address the issue in hopes that addressing the underlying issue would prevent future mishaps and cause a positive impact on the way the ensemble performs as a group, The most important issue of the day can result in reflection, how well you will become better yourself and how well everyone will become better by working together while transforming those issue into a plan of action for success in performance.

How will my reflective practices be transformed based on this new knowledge? Well, for starters, I have always been one to think critically and maybe that is because of the way I was taught in music education growing up through schooling. But I can tell you I have never gone this far into understanding the different parts of thinking like Autonomous, and it sure has allowed me to understand more about myself and to reflect more so I can become better at understanding and knowing how I can perform differently as a human being so I can help out others in life and improve what I already know in critical thinking so my way of thinking can help build a strong team. It is my goal to make a steady team, to help my students succeed and work together, to understand not just our individual difference but by giving my students a chance to understand problems as a group. Mezirow (1991) said, “intentional learning centrally involves either the explication of the meaning of an experience, reinterpretation of that meaning, or application of it in thoughtful action” (p. 99) realizing that our way is not the only way thinking. We must be willing to learn from the thinking of others and use that realization to transform the way we think so that we can positively impact society. One’s own view isn’t always deemed to be the right view. But we must take action and willing to think, step back, evaluate, and accept the needed change.

This week’s assignment has helped me understand the process of making meaning through reflection and as I look around Montreal, Canada I see a vast world full of different meanings, languages, expression and freedom. Yet, the people of Montreal have an improved way in life to better themselves as a whole and not just bettering themselves individually. This is what I like and I am glad I get to see a new reflection from this point of view and experience. I also see that because of everyone’s difference they work together, a truth strong and free. As much as I see this different world only a few hours from where I live in Vermont, I will definitely transcribe this experience and use it in my teachings so that my students can strive to improve themselves as a group to better their individual experiences.

Three Interviews, Three Perspectives

Having had the greatest opportunity to be able to interview these three great inspirational thinkers; Dr. Albert Borgmann, Socrates, Albert Einstein on Transformative Education, it has been a great honor to be able to have the opportunity to form a more thorough understanding from the three different perspectives. As this reflection begins to cover the interviews conducted over the past three weeks, wisdom has been earned and learned. The purpose of these interviews was to gather the enhanced view of time through the lens of transformative education.

Dr. Albert Borgmann is one we were introduced to during a course titled The Ethical Educator. He is featured in a Celebration of Being Human in a Technological Age. From Dr. Albert Borgmann, German-born American philosopher and author, we have learned two important points. One, don’t let the information age consume you. Two, appreciate the learning experiences and take the time to reflect upon them without the interference of distractions. Upon completion of the mock interview, one had the pleasure of asking Dr. Borgmann’s perspective on transformative education and the impact technology has upon transformative learning. Dr. Borgmann feels technology distracts the student and takes away the essence of teaching. He feels technology has a place in learning but that a healthy balance must be found (Borgmann, 2016). Albert Borgmann’s view on the Great Idea of Time as it relates to Transformational Learning: “Those of us who went through the traditional elementary and high school education and especially through college, remember all this as a beloved transformative experience, at least for the most part. It was a positive transformative experience because of the way that the transmission of information was embedded in communities of fellow students, in the personalities of charismatic teachers, in the buildings, the campus, the sequence of semesters and the seasons, and more. Thus transformative learning is in peril because of today’s technology” (Borgmann, 2016).

Socrates was a great philosopher in Greek times. Socrates was to be best “recognized for inventing the teachings of pedagogy, wherein a teacher questions a student in a manner that draws out the correct response” (University Press, Inc., 2012). Curious to learn his views on transformational learning, Socrates methods affect the lives of both young and adult people. He applauds educators who encourage learners to share their thoughts on what they are learning. An educator who is able to build a community where students feel safe to share has granted the power to foster a community where relationships and respect are essential elements in learning. Today’s technology provides ease for students to “pause and consider the difference from their own way of thinking” (Henderson, 2012).

Socrates has determined that learning has a triangular feature and its ability to shine own self be true. This shall encourage students to think critically and engage analytics. Lastly, one of Socrates most well-known quotes that have stuck with this writer, I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think. It is by thinking that knowledge is acquired. Only then can one’s thinking and learning be possibly transformed. His view on transformative education has given strength to encourage learners to question their abilities, not only to consider the thinking of others but by also giving the considerate thought of thinking to oneself. The depth of this process is self-questioning but it encourages time for self-reflection. Socrates believes that transformative learning can be applied to anyone who carries a soul. The transforming of learning is not limited to adult learners. Haven’t you heard the grumbling of children today? These children question everything and they demand answers. Children today even challenge the answers the receive. Questioning and challenging what you believe is a huge component in the steps of transformative learning. His view on the Great Idea of Time relates to transformational learning: The technological age of today allows students time to think, reflect, and then response.

Albert Einstein who was a great physicist, born in Germany, who was the greatest scientist of the twentieth century. “Einstein was famous for his theory of relativity that led to the equation that gave the relationship between mass and energy, E=mc2, and became the base for atomic energy” (Redd, 2016). Feeling eager to understand the view from someone else’s eyes, my unique mind took the liberty of interviewing Albert Einstein. Analyzing his view on Transformative Learning in today’s technological age. Einstein believes that the “value of a college or any school of education is not the learning of many facts but the train of the mind to think. Today’s transformative learning would be applauded to those teachers who encourage safety in their classroom and allow students to become a community” (Einstein, 2016). Albert Einstein’s teachers called him too dumb to learn and succeed in their class and said to his parents that he should instead have a steady job that would allow him to communicate efficiently with the world. Albert’s Mother did not take to kind to these teachers demeaning her son, so instead, she bought a violin for Albert to practice and play. Albert grew into his playing, became very good at it and even enjoyed playing many Mozart and Bach pieces. The safety net and belief from his mother, allowed him to use music which later allowed him to become a physicist and scientist.

Albert has always believed that transformative learning doesn’t just apply to adults, that it applies to all human beings of every age. Albert said during the interview that “Human beings have the extension of life after they are born and see their surroundings for the first time and as they get older they still continue to view their surroundings. They are curious about their surroundings always trying to push new boundaries. Humans are powerful when they use their imagination. Yet, we make mistakes so that we can learn never to do them again or at least evolve our intelligence to be better” (Einstein, 2016). Transformative learning is determined by the will in which direction you are going to follow. As we learn to transform from our mistakes, we develop good reasons with intelligence to not do them again. It takes a time to make a new path, but the relativity of learning continues on so that we can grow and become better human beings. It is imminent that once we stop learning, that is the time in which we truly begin dying. Einstein believes that his fear that technology surpassing human interactions has come true and that there should remain a balance between humans and technology. It is decent to have the need for technology, to help humans evolve, but people should stop interacting with each other as that is when we become truly lost in the technological transcending world.

Albert’s Einstein view on the Great Idea of Time relates to transformational learning: by allowing the imagination to grow more than knowledge and that because of time itself it is very important that we realize who we are in this world, and that time only exists when there are too many distractions put in front of us to hide the true purpose of our existence. It is important that we do not forget who we are, but continue to build the human imagination to transforming our learning for the future.

Conclusion

Transformative education is an experience which occurs as time moves us through life on a continuous cycle. Transformative education forces one to examine their perspectives, meaning of that perspective and the assumptions that follows. Shifts in thinking and the perspective are presented in transformative learning when a learner understands the reality of how to fix the problems that have carried through from a person’s Weltanschauung. From this class, I now believe that “adult educators should have sufficient psychological knowledge and sensitivity to be able to help health learners deal with common psychic distortions in meaning perspective that impede negotiation of difficult life transitions” (Mezirow, 1991, p. 225). I also now believe that all “transformative learning involves taking actions to implement insights derived from critical reflection” (Mezirow, 1991, p. 225).

In a case for transformative education, we have shown how times allows for an experience of transformational learning from several perspectives. The process of transformative learning will provide a chance to examine our own perspectives and assumptions. We have experiences a giant shift in thinking and we have grown to greater understanding of the process that allows transforms adults in learning. Transformation is essential to our success as leaders in the educational field because it changes our frame of thinking and allows the opportunity of critical reflection upon our different beliefs so that new perspectives can be brought into our lives. With the assertion, one can be certain that social transformation and individual change has occurred. The process of transforming is unique to all human beings, as this unique being has grown from transformative education a theory and practice of transformative learning for the professional growth and personal change is being developed as we speak.

References

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