Transformative Learning

 

From Struggle to Triumph: A Transformative Approach to Eradicate Poverty

by Caroline Everidge

Commented On: Carly Pease

Goals & Objectives

1.       Participants will have an increased awareness of the challenges faced by individuals experiencing poverty.

2.       Participants will engage in critical reflection, identifying the influence of their personal biases and values when working with individuals experiencing poverty.

3.       Participants will transform these new insights about poverty into action by developing concrete action plans (e.g. changing policies).

Rationales

Transformative Learning is about “dramatic, fundamental change in the way we see ourselves and the world in which we live” (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020, p. 166). This change is achieved through four main components: experience, critical reflection, reflective discourse, and action.

·         Experience: Every learner presents with prior experiences, values, and biases. Mezirow’s transformative learning theory emphasizes the importance of the learners’ experience. Participants in this workshop are professionals who work with individuals experiencing poverty. Some may have experienced poverty themselves; others may have many years of professional experience. Volunteers assisting in delivering the Poverty Simulation all have lived experiences of poverty.

·         Critical Reflection: However, it is noted that just having experience is not enough, self-reflection is a critical component in Transformative Learning. Reflection allows for the learner to alter previously held assumptions. Mezirow identifies premise reflection as the type of reflection that leads to transformation. This reflection “involves examining long-held, socially constructed assumptions, beliefs, and values about the experience or problem” (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020, p. 183). Historically in these workshops, participants share biases and viewpoints of common stereotypes of people experiencing poverty (e.g. Why don’t they just get a job? People who do illegal things are criminals.) During the reflection time, participants are asked if they needed a job (and if they were able to get one) and if they engaged in any illegal activities during the simulation.

·         Reflective Discourse: Now that participants have experienced a disorienting dilemma (the poverty simulation), they are tasked with evaluating their current policies and procedures. They are asked to look at these policies with the perspective of an individual experiencing poverty. Are there unintentional barriers that can be removed? These organizations then come together one month later, to complete the Bridges Out of Poverty training and share/learn with others.

·         Action: This final component of transformative learning theory is when the learner acts on their new perspective. In alignment with Mezirow’s belief that individual transformation precedes social transformation, these workshops initially target personal beliefs and biases before moving to social action.

Design

Phase 1: Experience   Participants will experience a disorienting dilemma by participating in a Poverty Simulation. This two-hour workshop is an interactive experience designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month.   Participants assume the roles of different families facing poverty. In these scenarios, some are newly unemployed, some are recently deserted by the “breadwinner,” and others are recipients of TANF. Some families are made up of older adults receiving Social Security benefits or grandparents raising their grandchildren. The participants are tasked with surviving (meeting basic needs) the four 15-minute “weeks.” Participants will need to go to work, feed their families, pay outstanding debts, and ensure their children’s needs are met.

Phase 2: Critical Reflection   After completing the Poverty Simulation, there are three stages of reflection. First, the family will discuss their experience with other families who had similar situations. Second, the entire group will be divided in half and a group reflection will take place. The facilitators of the Poverty Simulation will guide this discussion using prompts. Last, the entire group will participate in a discussion – highlighting any new, or changed, assumptions they may have gained about people experiencing poverty.

Phase 3: Reflective Discourse   One month after completing the Poverty Simulation, these participants will attend an eight-hour Bridges Out of Poverty training. Participants will share with the group what policies/practices they became more aware of since participating in the Poverty Simulation.

Phase 4: Action   After completing the Bridges Out of Poverty training, participants will identify what action steps they will take to make their organization a “Bridges Organization” (one that utilizes the strategies and tools to empower individuals experiencing poverty). Additionally, since all participants’ organizations are members of a health coalition, action items will be identified to address poverty from a community perspective.

 

 

Merriam, S. B., & Baumgartner, L. (2020). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive
guide (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.