Transformative Pedagogy Research Articles

Prophet Ibrahim (as), the Search for God and a Transformative Pedagogy Perspective

Transformative pedagogy is the latest trend in educational studies. This is inseparable from several concepts, one of which is the study of human nature. So far, pedagogic understanding emphasizes the ability to manage student learning rather than understanding human nature. On the other hand, studies on Prophet Ibrahim’s (as) search for God in the Quran is an important subject to investigate from the perspective of transformative pedagogy since it is related to human nature. This study is included in the literature research. The method used was tafsir maudlu’iy namely by gathering verses of the Quran that have the same theme and analyzing them with the rules of interpretation. The results of this study show that Prophet Ibrahim (as) is not passive, but has energy or magmatic. This energy shows Prophet Ibrahim (as) as autonomous “I” that is in the process of becoming. This process is a search for God. This process subsequently develops from ‘ilm al-yaqin to ‘ayn al-yaqin. This study has a contribution in developing the theory proposed by H.A.R Tilaar into Transcendental Transformative Pedagogy.
 Keywords: Transformative Pedagogy, Educational Studies, Millenial Generation

Pedagogy of transformation of a random variable, censoring, and truncation of data

AbstractThe author has been incorporating data analytics into the probability course for students pursuing baccalaureate programs in engineering through weekly assignments and end‐of‐the‐term projects. Data analytics makes the probability course much more relevant to the current trends in business, industry, and medicine that rely on data. The discussion related to the coronavirus pandemic about missing and incomplete data, the inability to pinpoint the exact start of the disease, and so forth offered an opportunity to expand activities in data analytics by examining “truncation” and “censoring” of data. In simple terms, truncation implies the exclusion of data (either not collected or ignored) in a certain range. Censoring implies redefining the data in a certain range while keeping the rest of the original data. A demo was created to explore the association of the transformation of random variables (mixed and conditional) to censoring and truncation. The demo utilized the theory of random variables, simulation, and computational techniques to examine and establish the link between the mixed transformation of variables and censoring. A similar link of conditional transformation of variables to truncation was also seen. The demo was used as the basis for a weekly assignment to the students. The analysis and results suggest that it is possible to expand the scope of the course in engineering probability to provide training in contemporary topics in data analytics.

Perspectives: a round-table discussion on decolonial pedagogies

Three practitioners – a film-maker, a photographer and a film curator, all working in higher education, teaching film production, photography and film studies – discuss their reflections on co-convening a decolonising pedagogy workshop–conference hosted in May 2019 at HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. They draw from their unique geographical positions – South Africa, Sweden and the UK respectively – to reflect on the nuances and differences of how race and subjectivity shape classroom interactions with the curriculum, and the institutional challenges in developing transformational pedagogy practices. The conversation uses as its impetus this shared experience of co-convening and facilitating the ‘Decolonising pedagogy: Exploring processes in image-making’ workshop–conference, and leads to discussion of broader issues of historical conditions and the geopolitical contexts that have determined the subsequent impact and outcomes in their different universities.

Gender roles and equality through popular Asian drama series: critical interpretations and pedagogical implications

Abstract The paper draws on two drama series in Asia and demonstrates that studying issues related to gender roles and equality through popular historical Asian drama series is both challenging and fruitful. The present study not only illustrates the complexity involved in studying gender roles and gender equality, but also suggests several teaching pedagogies. Looking at gender roles and equality from a historical perspective and employing a comparative analysis of the past and present can help students assess whether gender roles and equality have remained the same or evolved in the Asian context. Critical literacy enables the broadening of perspectives when taking into consideration the gender roles adopted by the various characters to survive in the complex world. Critical literacy, pedagogies of affect as well as pedagogies of invitation and transformation can be utilized to examine how performing assigned gender roles can result in favouritism, which may in turn lead to atrocities. The implications of the study may be applicable to contexts outside Asia.

Learning about occupation together: An interdisciplinary graduate course

ABSTRACT This paper outlines the approach to learning and knowing occupation adopted in a graduate level seminar focussed on the relationship between human occupation and society. Drawing on elements of transformational learning theory and critical pedagogy for the course design, instructors and students in the seminar engaged in a collective process of learning about occupation. Rather than focusing on the topical content of the course, this article outlines the ‘work in progress’ approach taken to support students in completing their course assignments. We outline the pedagogical theory informing the course design, share students’ descriptions of and reflections on completing their assignments, and discuss how the process of learning together enhanced our knowledge about occupation.

Constructing a Transformative Sustainability Pedagogy: Teacher Empowerment for a Sustainable Future

Abstract The article demonstrates an action research approach for constructing Transformative Sustainability Pedagogy (TSP) to empower teachers for a sustainable future. The starting point for the TSP was a Transformative Education for Gross National Happiness (GNH) teacher action research project in Bhutan (2010–2013) – a collaboration between the author, co-researcher and the Royal Education Council. Two Leadership Training Courses (LTC) were developed for teachers from seven schools based on critical/transformative pedagogy. The aim of the courses was to empower the teachers to carry out action research to infuse their schools with GNH principles and practices. The project concluded in 2013, and the results showed that the LTC transformative pedagogy and action research approach had successfully empowered teachers to act and promote GNH in their schools. Nine years on, the author re-analyzed the project data to identify the empowering pedagogical principles and construct TSP grounded in ecological principles and values.

Teaching for Comfort or Diversity in Comprehensive Sexuality Education Classrooms? Third-Year Student Teachers' Perspectives

Discussion of sexual rights in the context of disability is an often neglected and underdeveloped terrain within the human rights discourse, worldwide. More so, it becomes taboo to discuss the sexual health and reproductive rights of adolescents living with disabilities. This group of adolescents are often constructed as being sexually innocent, asexual, or lacking sexual agency thus denying their sexual autonomy. In other contexts, adolescents living with disabilities are constructed as hypersexual, thus putting them at risk of sexual exploitation and harm. While the human rights terrain has begun to acknowledge adolescents living with disabilities as ordinary citizens with rights equal to those of other citizens, they have not fully been recognised as sexual beings in their own right as human beings, especially in the Global South. Thus, in this article I aim at rethinking an inclusive sexuality education in South African schools that caters for the special needs of adolescents living with visual impairment. I employ theatre-in-education processes to explore student teachers' understandings and perceptions of teaching sexuality education to learners with visual impairment. Thirty-five student teachers participated in the study and engaged in theatre-in-education presentations and discussions. Data for this paper consist of students' discussions of their experiences of the theatre-in-education processes, which were thematically analysed. The findings indicate that the student teachers resorted to their comfort zones when designing their lesson portrayals-in line with their socialisation. However, their understandings and perceptions of using assistive devices to teach sexuality education were challenged and deconstructed through their engagement in theatre-in-education processes, thus highlighting the importance of engaged scholarship in deconstructing harmful norms towards transformative pedagogies.

Catalysts of Conscientization Among the Professorate: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

ABSTRACT Conscientization is the process of learning to perceive sociocultural, economic, and political oppression to such extent one is moved to act against it. This transformative and liberatory pedagogy has momentous implications for social work education; as its outcome is an increased critical consciousness for both students and faculty. However, the process of conscientization and its foundational mechanisms are understudied. We therefore conducted a descriptive phenomenological study on professors whose teaching or research combat systems of oppression. We provide a composite structural definition of conscientization, and a composite textural–structural description of its catalysts. We discuss how our study builds on the current liberatory education empirical base, as well as the implications of our findings on education and practice.

Transformative Pedagogy in the Film Taare Zameen Par: An Empirical Analysis under the Light of Transformative Learning Theory

This article examines how transformative pedagogy happens in the Indian film Taare Zameen Par. This film has been analyzed under the lens of transformative learning theory introduced by Jack Mezirow. The author of this article purposively selects some critical scenes, dialogues, and situations that appear throughout the film to understand transformative pedagogy and transformative learning theory. This study employs the textual analysis method suggested by Frey et al. (1999). The prime intention of this study is to investigate how transformative learning happens in that film and find out ways to overcome the challenging situation in classrooms. This study finds that substantial transformative learning happens in the film’s last half. Communication or dialogue is the most important element to engage students in transformative learning activities. This study discovers the teacher’s extensive communication or communication efforts that support Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. Teaching critical thinking is another vital element of transformative learning. This study observes teachers could change students’ views about themselves and turn perplexed or shattered students into successful ones. Desire to change students, empathy for students, trusting students, and caring for students are some of the essential elements of transformative learning. This study notices that all those components of transformative learning exist in the film Taare Zameen Par. This study is crucial from the pedagogical point of view, which applies film as a transformative learning tool. Later, this article suggests how the school system and higher education institutions across the globe might be beneficial by employing a transformative learning approach in the classroom to make learners confident and successful in their life.

The two continua model for life skills teaching

ABSTRACT Life skills refer to a person’s ability to do life well through the successful completion of everyday tasks and a meaningful engagement at school, at work, at home and in the community. However, several scholars have critiqued existing approaches to life skills teaching in sport, often situated as individualistic and focused on economic productivity and integration in predetermined social orders. For the teaching of life skills in sport to instigate social change, coaching approaches must consider broader structures of power, privilege and oppression. The purpose of the paper is to propose a two continua model coalescing implicit/explicit approaches and normative/transformative dimensions of how coaches can teach life skills through sport. The model is designed to account for how coaches can be implicit or explicit in their approaches to teaching life skills, doing so in manners that can be normative or transformative. Within each of the model’s quarter-circles, examples are offered as to how coaches can teach life skills in approaches considered normative implicit, normative explicit, transformative implicit and transformative explicit. In the transformative explicit quarter-circle, the concept of social justice life skills is expanded to include dignity, reciprocity, transformative leadership and critical consciousness. Implications for research and practice are offered in terms of situating youth development from a relational perspective and positioning transformative change as a complex process that carries certain challenges and risks for coaches and youth. The two continua model for life skills teaching offers researchers and coaches a conceptual framework that delineates actions that can be taken to enact transformative pedagogies, while also opening new horizons for what life skills can become when envisioned with social change in mind.

Transformative Pedagogy as a Decolonised Teaching Philosophy

Observations and experiences confirm that most university instructors and lecturers have migrated from traditional teaching, but many teaching styles are not transformative. That is, university classrooms are still within "teach and go" without concerted consideration to the future products of classroom stakeholders. This study examined transformative pedagogy as a teaching philosophy that increases critical epistemology towards students' transformation. This theoretical paper adopted the theory of decoloniality, located within transformative world view and designed with conceptual analysis as a means to interpret the assumptions of transformation in the university classroom. The study argued that collaborative knowledge construction enhances professional trust between the lecturer and the students, encouraging freedom that could be regarded as social and academic support for students towards transformation. Therefore, the study concludes that transformative pedagogy laced with humanity, collectivism, grouping, and unity of purpose in generating knowledge is a decolonised teaching philosophy. The study, therefore, recommends that collaborative knowledge construction, professional trust and relationships, freedom within the classroom, social and academic support for students are dimensions of transformative pedagogy, therefore, should be practised by university lecturers and/or instructors.
 
 Received: 4 January 2022 / Accepted: 5 March 2022 / Published: 5 May 2022

How quality as transformation is manifested and enabled in a student vision of an ideal university: implications for quality management in higher education

The qualitative research study conducted in the Polish higher education context confirms that students’ vision of an ideal university strongly embraces the concept of quality as transformation. The enhancement and empowerment are manifested by multiple facets of transformation that the students look for at an ideal university, including intellectual, critical, personal, emotional and physical development. Quality culture and transformative pedagogies form important enablers for operationalising quality as transformation. In support of the transformative power of the ideal-type university, implications for quality management in higher education are proposed.

Toward Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: An Intersectional Analysis of Pimping in Medical Education.

Increased awareness of the role of power and privilege in medical education demands reevaluation and critical reflection on the role of pimping, both in name and practice. The authors use an intersectional approach to explore the ways in which the term pimping is rooted in sexist, racist, and classist stereotypes. In using this term to describe a pedagogical approach rooted in hierarchical power and stark knowledge differentials, the medical community intentionally or unintentionally reinforces racist stereotypes, acts of carceral violence, gender-based violence, and harmful ways of referring to sex work. The authors suggest drawing on principles of trauma-informed care, often considered solely in the context of clinical care, as a means of engaging in transformative pedagogy. Embracing such a trauma-informed, transformative pedagogical approach can help dismantle entrenched hierarchies and create a liberatory learning environment grounded in knowledge cocreation and reimagination of teacher-learner binaries. Decentralization of power in teaching relationships can further empower trainees to become active knowledge partners alongside educators, encouraging shared responsibility, trust, and empathy in learning spaces.

Developing transformative pedagogies for transdisciplinary education – Resources and competencies students need

ABSTRACT International field trips provide opportunities for interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary learning experiences which can be transformative. Whilst these projects are becoming popular with increasing focus on internationalisation of the curriculum, tackling global challenges and encouraging student mobility, there is scant literature on the critical pedagogical approaches which support the design and delivery of transformative learning experiences. The study described herewith examined the transformative pedagogies used to facilitate learning during interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field trips and placements. Objectives of the study included (1) evaluating the impact of two projects related to student interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field trips; (2) identifying best practice of teaching and learning design; and (3) providing recommendations for future higher education (HE) arrangements. The findings show that transformative learning experiences must be carefully integrated into the design of international field trips, setting up pivotal learning moments and suitable challenges which enhance reflexivity, shared learning and problem-solving.

Teaching for Comfort or Diversity in Comprehensive Sexuality Education Classrooms? Third-Year Student Teachers' Perspectives

Discussion of sexual rights in the context of disability is an often neglected and underdeveloped terrain within the human rights discourse, worldwide. More so, it becomes taboo to discuss the sexual health and reproductive rights of adolescents living with disabilities. This group of adolescents are often constructed as being sexually innocent, asexual, or lacking sexual agency thus denying their sexual autonomy. In other contexts, adolescents living with disabilities are constructed as hypersexual, thus putting them at risk of sexual exploitation and harm. While the human rights terrain has begun to acknowledge adolescents living with disabilities as ordinary citizens with rights equal to those of other citizens, they have not fully been recognised as sexual beings in their own right as human beings, especially in the Global South. Thus, in this article I aim at rethinking an inclusive sexuality education in South African schools that caters for the special needs of adolescents living with visual impairment. I employ theatre-in-education processes to explore student teachers' understandings and perceptions of teaching sexuality education to learners with visual impairment. Thirty-five student teachers participated in the study and engaged in theatre-in-education presentations and discussions. Data for this paper consist of students' discussions of their experiences of the theatre-in-education processes, which were thematically analysed. The findings indicate that the student teachers resorted to their comfort zones when designing their lesson portrayals-in line with their socialisation. However, their understandings and perceptions of using assistive devices to teach sexuality education were challenged and deconstructed through their engagement in theatre-in-education processes, thus highlighting the importance of engaged scholarship in deconstructing harmful norms towards transformative pedagogies.

Towards a pedagogy of reconciliation and transformation: A peace education through art initiative in response to 26/11

The 26/11 Mumbai attacks in India severely impacted the already strained Indo–Pak political relations and fuelled prejudice against the common people of Pakistan. Since the attacks, Indian people have found various expressions of collective memory and ways to commemorate the incident. While these serve as a remembrance of the attack, it also reinforces negative attitudes towards Pakistan and its people, hindering any prospects of peace and reconciliation. This article describes a peace education through art initiative implemented in a high school in Mumbai. It draws from a synergy of theoretical concepts in peace, reconciliation and conflict transformation for its curricular framework that has three inquiry processes: Examine–Envision–Envisage. This article describes the implementation and outcomes of the initiative that support the value of an integrated peace- and reconciliation-focused art education pedagogy aimed at promoting reconciliation in relation to ongoing/intractable conflicts. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of addressing negative emotions inherent in ongoing conflicts and how empathy might contribute towards reducing prejudice towards the ‘Other’.

Transformative, interdisciplinary and intercultural learning for developing HEI students' sustainability-oriented competences: a case study.

The literature has produced relevant theoretical insights into pedagogical frameworks, tools and competences that would be best suited to teach sustainability at higher education (HE). This article contributes to such a discussion using a course on sustainability developed by us as a case study. Two research questions are tackled in this article: (1) How to empower students to address urban sustainability challenges through the inclusion of transformative, interdisciplinary and intercultural learning into the current HE system? (2) Which pedagogical tools can be used to develop students’ sustainability-oriented competences? To address the research questions, the case study consists of two parts. First, by reflecting on the course design, this article aims to shed light on the benefits and challenges of transformative pedagogy and of an interdisciplinary and intercultural framework. Second, by analyzing students’ learning diaries (N = 36) using thematic analysis, this article offers insights into some of the students’ learning process, allowing us to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the course design as well as draw implications to improve and renew courses on sustainability in HE. The findings from the learning diaries indicate the students’ thirst for formal knowledge on sustainability, which they connected to their professional development and yearning for action. The learning diaries also suggest students’ increasing awareness of sustainability as a systemic and structural issue during the course, which aligns with the transformative learning framework used. Finally, this study emphasizes the need for structural support to meaningfully integrate sustainability in HE curricula and teaching practices.

Sustaining the old world, or imagining a new one? The transformative literacies of the climate strikes

AbstractIn this article, we consider the climate strikes in the context of intergenerational narratives that de/limit young people’s political subjectivities and imaginaries concerning climate change. Considering the strikes alongside other youth-led responses to the crisis, we reconsider the question of young people’s climate change ‘literacy’ and posit that young people’s literacies are characteristically transformative. Despite their broadly transformative nature, however, the climate change literacies of young people remain bound up in a complex, adult-centred discursive framework that limits young people in various ways, including positioning them as objects of care or otherwise objectivising their activism. We advocate interdisciplinary thinking in support of creative and transformative pedagogies arising from and informed by the climate strikes, arguing that young people’s political subjectivities are indivisible from their cultural imaginaries. We advocate a step change in the way educators respond to the educational dimensions of climate strikes, as well as the educational opportunities this movement provides. Vitally, we include young people themselves in the category of educators and consider the ways the climate strikes represent an educational opportunity in which young people share, support and collaborate as educators and learners.

Physical Health Education preservice teachers’ experiences with autobiographical narrative inquiry and transformative pedagogies

ABSTRACT Background Issues of social justice require the understanding and intervention of teachers across all subject areas. Teachers must be positioned to uphold fairness for all individuals in their classes while considering the disparities of wealth, opportunities, and social privileges that may impact the student experience. This paper explores the challenges and benefits of choosing transformative teaching methods when preparing preservice teachers to adopt socially just teaching practices. In the study, the experiences of four student participants, shared through autobiographical narrative inquiry, help us to better understand how transformative teaching modalities might best be applied in the Physical and Health Education Teacher Education (PHETE) context to assist student understanding of, and engagement with, social justice concepts. Study aims: The purpose of the study was to (1) better understand how PHETE students experienced transformative teaching methods in the post-secondary classroom, and (2) learn about student tensions, challenges, and successes felt whilst learning through this novel approach. Methods The study uses narrative inquiry methodology to engage with the individual and shared experiences of participants. Drawing on four preservice teachers’ narratives, our study brought to life the struggles PHETE educators and students face in confronting the hardwired ‘rules of school’ in university contexts. Results Strong theoretical underpinnings for our methods did not entirely liberate students from their institutional understanding of learning and achievement. However, students did show greater critical awareness once they felt acknowledged as having individual agency. Conclusion Our findings expose the shift in student perceptions of PHETE instruction to appreciate more reflexive methods and transformative pedagogies. They signal opportunities for larger institutional shifts, like removing rigid assessment structures which undermine the theories we’re implementing.

Transform the world or adapt the student: discursive shifts in the constructions of teachers’ roles and pedagogy in the Russian Federation

ABSTRACTDrawing on the analysis of discursive shifts in the constructions of teachers’ roles during the twentieth century in the Russian Federation, this paper argues that pedagogy becomes redefined based on the political elites’ vision for the society’s future. During the Soviet era, teachers were expected to play a key role in social transformation. In order to transform the world, they were expected to deploy humanistic pedagogy to help all students realise their potential. During the post-Soviet era, this vision was abandoned. As teachers were expected to fulfil the function of social control, they were called to adopt technocratic pedagogy that comprised principles of psychologisation, individualisation, pathologisation, and depoliticisation. Psychologisation of teachers’ roles and pathologisation of diversity became deployed to “adapt students to the world” by addressing problems within students rather than in the society. The significance of this paper lies in demonstrating connections between shifting discourses of teachers’ roles, pedagogy, and pursuit of social transformation or conservative social change.