Mezirow’s Legacy: The Evolution and Impact of Transformative Learning

Contemporaries and students of Transformative Learning’s founding father, Jack Mezirow, will come together to share their insights on how Mezirow’s original work was not only developed, but also how it has evolved through research and application of these concepts over time. The panel will explore the relevance of transformative learning to contemporary concerns related to identity, change, and learning. Contributors will discuss the origins of Mezirow’s work and ways that his work relates to constructive developmental theory on transformation of Ways of Knowing; collaborative inquiry as adapted from Peter Reason and John Heron; and a recent turn to recognition theory by the new leader of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research that opens up new directions for understanding the nature of transformative learning. Applications to learning, development and change in TC’s AEGIS adult learning program, organizations, schools, and social action will be explored. The panel will commemorate the legacy of the late Jack and Edee Mezirow.

Speakers:
Jeanne Bitterman (Ed.D. ’83), Senior Lecturer, TC

Rachel Ciporen (Ed.D. ’08), Adjunct Assistant Professor, TC; Educational Consultant at Ciporen Consulting

Ellie Drago-Severson, Professor of Education, TC

Ted Fleming (Ed.D. ’80), Company Director, Association for Higher Education Access & Disability/HEA

Gwendolyn Kaltoft (Ed.D. ’90), Director of Quality and Compliance,
Yolo Hospice

Victoria Marsick, Professor of Education, Co-Director J.M. Huber Institute AEGIS, TC

Lyle Yorks, Associate Professor of Adult & Continuing Education, TC