October 14, 2003, ISPI Vancouver Event
A Review of
Transformational Learning: Discovering
New Interpretations About How We Learn
With Linda-Ann Bowling
By
Ian Leighton
[Linda-Ann Bowling Resources Home]
If one was to meld equal parts of Chris Argyris and Donald Schon's reflective practice with Eric Jensen and Ronald Kotulak's brain based learning, then spice liberally with some of the Johnson's co-operative learning theory, you might end up with the core elements of transformational learning.
Linda-Ann Bowling guided the group through a high level view of this theory of how we learn, or in some cases, why we don't. The presentation started off by buzz grouping our "enemies of learning" which we discovered held a common theme of psychological beliefs about our own abilities to thrive in a learning environment. Linda-Ann funneled this understanding into a discussion of how our moods and emotions influence our learning opportunities and how the insight into our own predominant mood state offers an awareness of how and why we observe our own actions in the way we do. Change your mood, change your body, and the action you take is different.
To take full advantage of this "second order learning" one needs to ask oneself.
- "How come I observe what I observe?"
- " What is it about me as an observer that makes me see and hear things the way I do?"
- " This is the "theory of the observer", a little like the Rorschach test, it's not what you project in to the inkblot, but what in your outlook produces that particular interpretation.
From that point Linda-Ann led the group in an exercise to deconstruct and scrutinize the four elements of Dr. Fernando Flores's "cycle of the promise" and how each promise is built on and affects other promises in the community.
As a conclusion, we reviewed the human requirements of Transformational Learning;
- A body open to learning, without considering the body, we cannot learn, learning happens in the body
- A language or way of coding a common reality and distinguishing an alternate reality
- A receptive emotional state providing a positive expectation of what the change will bring
The guests and members left with an increased appreciation of the role of emotion of learning in creative possibility thinking and the learning process.
For more
information see:
http://www.plannedtransitions.com
Ian Leighton works with the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission and is an ISPI Vancouver member.
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