My research centers upon designing transformative learning environments and supporting technologies. Kitchen Science Investigators (KSI) is an out-of-school transformative learning environment we designed to help young people learn science through cooking. My dissertation considers the question, 'How can we design a learning environment in which children discover the utility of science in their lives and their own scientific capabilities?' I have explored this question in the context of designing and enacting KSI. We designed the environment (i.e., activities, facilitation, and technology support) so that in the midst of cooking, participants generate personal goals that they need science to achieve. Our design integrates software to promote scientific practices in a real world context. In my thesis research I analyze how learners are developing identity as scientific reasoners in this environment. I also make recommendations about the design of learning environments and technologies to help with scientific development. My dissertation study is a longitudinal study of individuals in our most recent implementation of KSI. My current analysis of KSI shows significant development of disposition and identity development among focal learners, as well as a set of causal factors. I found that as learners connected cooking and science, and as they participated in science socially with their friends, they began to increase their scientific participation in and outside of KSI. My findings suggest guidelines for software support, facilitation, and activities for getting learners engaged in scientific inquiry in ways that promote the development of scientific identities.

In a world of increasing religious/political tensions and conflicts this study asks, what is the transformative significance of an arts and ritual-based approach to developing and encouraging women’s spiritual and multi-faith leadership? To counter destructive worldviews and practices that have divided people historically, politically, personally and sacredly, the study reinforces the political and spiritual value of women spiritual and multi-faith leaders creating and holding sacred space for truth making and world making. An a/r/tographic and mindful inquiry was engaged to assist self and group reflection within a group of women committed to multi-faith education and leadership in their communities. The objectives of the study were: 1) to explore through collaboration, ritual and art making processes the women’s experience of knowing and not knowing, 2) to articulate a curriculum for multi-faith consciousness raising, and 3) to develop a pedagogy and methodology that can serve as a catalyst for individual and societal change and transformation. The co-participants/co-inquirers (including the lead researcher as a member of the group) are fourteen women, who practice within eleven different religions and/or spiritual backgrounds, and who are part of a volunteer planning team that organizes an annual women’s multi-faith conference (Women’s Spirituality Celebration) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The aesthetic/ritual structure of the labyrinth served as a cross-cultural multi-faith symbol in guiding the dissertation, which includes three art installations and four documentary DVDs of the process and art. New understandings found in the study include: 1) the ethical sanctuary that a/r/tography as ritual enables for personal and collective change to take place within, 2) the addition of synecdoche to the renderings of a/r/tography, assisting a multi-dimensional spiral movement towards a whole a/r/tographic practice, 3) a lived and radically relational curriculum of philetics within loving community that drew forth the women’s erotic life force energy and enhanced the women’s ability to remember the power of the feminine aspect of the Divine, and 4) the decolonization of the Divine, art and education, which took place as a pedagogy of wholeness unfolded, requiring a dialectic relationship between restorative and transformative learning.

In the summary of the dissertation “Educational poetic therapy as a tool for empowerment of adults ill with schizophrenia or depression“ conception of empowerment of individuals ill with schizophrenia and depression is presented, conception is based on tranformative learning theories. Theoretical model of educational poetic therapy was developed using the strategy of grounded theory: the practical 10 years poetic therapy experience is analysed, insights of the researcher are compared with stadpoints of transformative learning theories (Freire, 1970, Tisdell, 2003 Mezirov, 1997); with data of effectivness of patients‘ teaching (Rindner, 2004, Fulton, 1997, Hage, 1997), with insights of analysis of schizophrenic patients‘ abilities to live in society self dependendly (Barker 2001, Johansson, 2002, Coggins, Fox, 2009, Hayne, 2003); with insights of analysis of schizophrenic patients‘ skills to tell one‘s own socialy meanigful life story (Lysaker, 2005). Model is grounded with social emancipation and cultural spiritual standpoints to transformative learning. Constructed methodic of educational poetic therapy, based on that model, is new in international context of science. In Lithuania first time are analysed possibilities of application of educational poetic therapy: case analyses are presented. It is disclosed, that authentic story of personality, expressed in artistic language positively transformes self evaluation and reconstructs social behavior. / Disertacijos „Ugdomoji poetikos terapija kaip priemonė suaugusiųjų, sergančių šizofrenija ar depresija, įgalinimui“ santraukoje pateikta transformuojančio mokymosi teorijomis pagrįsta suaugusiųjų, sergančių šizofrenija ar depresija, įgalinimo koncepcija. Ugdomosios poetikos terapijos teorinis modelis yra išryškintas, vadovaujantis grindžiamosios teorijos strategija: analizuojama dešimties metų praktinė poetikos terapijos taikymo patirtis, tyrėjos įžvalgos lyginamos su transformuojančio mokymosi teorijų (Freire, 1970, Tisdell, 2003 Mezirov, 1997) teiginiais; su ligonių mokymo, padedančio įveikti krizes, efektyvumo tyrimo duomenimis (Rindner, 2004, Fulton, 1997, Hage, 1997); su sergančiųjų gebėjimo savarankiškai būti ir gyventi visuomenėje analizės įžvalgomis (Barker 2001, Johansson, 2002, Coggins, Fox, 2009, Hayne, 2003); su sergančiųjų šizofrenija gebėjimo papasakoti socialiai reikšmingą savo gyvenimo istoriją (Lysaker, 2005) tyrimo įžvalgomis. Modelis grindžiamas socialiniu emancipaciniu ir kultūriniu dvasiniu požiūriu į transformuojantį mokymąsi. Vadovaujantis šiuo modeliu sukurta Ugdomosios poetikos terapijos metodika suaugusiųjų, sergančių šizofrenija ar depresija, įgalinimui yra nauja tarptautiniame mokslo kontekste. Pirmą kartą Lietuvoje išanalizuotos ugdomosios poetikos terapijos taikymo galimybės – atlikta atvejų analizė. Įžvelgta, kad menine kalba perteikta asmens autentiška istorija pozityviai transformuoja asmens savęs vertinimą ir rekonstruoja socialinį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Communication across the curriculum (CXC) programs are becoming increasingly common as institutions of higher learning recognize the need for improving communication skills in college students. Consequently, the University of Kentucky (UK) is piloting Presentation U, a multimodal communication across the curriculum (MCXC) program. This study examines the degree to which the Faculty Fellows program succeeds in helping faculty across the university integrate effective communication instruction and assignments into their courses. For this study, all faculty members participating in cohort #2 of the program responded to surveys and wrote reflection papers regarding their experiences. Their responses were analyzed and conclusions drawn. The study, grounded in the adult theory of transformative learning, found evidence of worldview transformation among faculty fellows as a result of their participation in the program.

The creation of a hybrid/blended basic course aligns with university goals and may increase viable curricular options for student success. If universities offer hybrid courses, they ought to do so based on data-driven evidence confirming that face-to-face (F2F) and hybrid courses are comparable. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the learning outcome achievement of students enrolled in a blended (hybrid) version of the basic course. More specifically, a comparative analysis of student affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning outcome achievement in face-to-face sections and hybrid sections was conducted. This study also examined affect for course delivery format for students enrolled in traditional F2F compared to hybrid sections. Ultimately, two important conclusions were drawn from this analysis. First, hybrid courses are a viable instructional modality for delivering the basic communication course. Second, students are satisfied with aspects of both F2F and blended course modalities. More specifically, each course delivery format has strengths and weaknesses and instructors, students, and university administrators share responsibility for course and student success.

Social media are often touted to have the potential to transform education. These media enable students to connect with others from around the world, to work collaboratively, and to share their learning with an authentic audience. The literature offers support, yet raises questions about this promise. The intent of this research was to examine how and why some classroom teachers make use of social media for teaching and to determine if, and how, this changes their pedagogical practices. A qualitative, interpretivist multiple case study approach was used to tell the stories of nine teachers in a rural Canadian prairie school as they explored and implemented various social media in their teaching practices. A hermeneutic and phenomenological approach formed the theoretical framework guiding this study. The primary source of data was a multi-part interview consisting of conversations held over the six-month study. Participants reflected upon and shared their perspectives as they made use of social media in their teaching practice. Other data sources included a variety of relevant documents such as school plans and online interactions undertaken by the participants. The analysis followed a constant comparative thematic analysis method, providing a rich exploration of the phenomenon of social media pedagogy. The teachers in this study generally found their use of social media to be a positive experience; however, several challenges and areas of concern were identified. The teachers’ reasons for using social media included communication, engagement and motivation, exposure of student work to a broader audience, and collaborative activities. Supports for implementing social media were identified and included good access to working technology and professional learning. The teachers raised concerns such as privacy, safety, and time constraints. Ethical and appropriate use of social media was seen not only as a concern, but also as an opportunity to teach. Impacts on teaching practice ranged from the addition of strategies to teaching repertoires, to change that could be considered as transformative learning. One of the most significant results was the apparent effect on the school environment. Trust and responsibility were extended to students, and the response was increased communication and connection between students and teachers.

This research project is based upon the assumption that humanity is passing through a period of great transition, or “Great Turning,” in which we have a critical opportunity to pass from a destructive “industrial growth society” to a “life-sustaining society” (Macy and Brown, 1998). I argue that the current scale of social, political, environmental, economic, psychological, and spiritual challenges reflects an underlying “disconnect disorder” (Arabena, 2006), and that these combined external and internal crises present an opportunity for widespread transformative learning and a collective shift. My core hypothesis is that this transition depends on humanity’s ability to engage in a dual process of individual and collective transformation through remembering our connections with ourselves, with one another, with the natural world, and with a sense of purposeful engagement in the world. I investigate this hypothesis through an in-depth, relational study of the Ecology of Leadership program (EOL) at the Regenerative Design Institute (RDI) in Bolinas, California, an organization that aims to “serve as catalyst for a revolution in the way humans relate to the natural world.” The Ecology of Leadership represents a unique model of transformative adult education that incorporates the principles of “inner permaculture” and regenerative design to support participants in cultivating personal and collective transformation. I introduce a “relational” theory and methodological approach, which centralizes Indigenous and ecological principles of relationship, respect, reciprocity, and regeneration. Using interviews (p=20), surveys (p=409), arts-based data (p=12), sharing circles (p=8), and participatory research, I integrate personal and participant narratives together with images, graphics, poems, and practices to bring this case study of the Ecology of Leadership to life. I also advocate for a new model of “regenerative research,” in which the research itself is life-giving and contributes to the healing, transformation, and regeneration of the researcher, the community of research, and the whole system. Based upon my interactions, observations, and interviews in the EOL program and my reflections and supportive research, I conclude by articulating the “Ecology of Transformation,” a holistic model for transformation that incorporates inner and outer change with practices for reconnection to oneself, the natural world, and the village.

The purpose of this autoethnographic study was to examine three questions: (a) how did my view of myself as a non-Aboriginal educator change as a result of teaching in an Aboriginal cultural context, (b) how did my teaching philosophy and pedagogical approach change as a result of teaching in an Aboriginal cultural context, and (c) how did my sense of community and relatedness to the people I interacted with change due to increased cultural awareness and exposure to Aboriginal cultures? Data from my time in my teacher education program and teaching in Klemtu, BC was collected, and Mezirow’s (1997) transformative learning theory was used to analyze the shift that I made in these three areas. Finally, recommendations were made to teacher education programs and future non-Aboriginal educators who choose to teach in Aboriginal-run schools.

This thesis examines the tenets and approaches of integrative learning for sustainability, and critiques the adequacy and effectiveness of conventional, higher education practices in preparing students for what is an increasingly uncertain future. At the centre of this inquiry is the study of a fourth year, undergraduate field course from the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria that took an integrative, whole-person approach to sustainability in light of integral systems theory. The course provided students with an experiential and integrative learning approach to the study of sustainability that sought to engage the multiple intelligences of students, issuing from their intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions. To support this process, the course aimed at meeting the needs associated with these facets through diverse learning experiences that included contemplative exercises, the development of a learning community, a critical examination of course readings and experience in service learning activities. The evaluative research of the course’s impacts examined the learning experiences from the students’ perspective to identify which experiences and approaches were most meaningful. The enquiry also investigated which, if any, of these experiences led to enduring personal transformation and/or community action. The methodology undertaken involved a phenomenological examination of two small group interviews with six of the participating students, as well as an analysis of the six students’ written reflection assignments. The results of this research show the effectiveness and impact of some of the distinctive approaches of the course, namely the powerful effects of experiential learning, community based learning and the provision of time and space for personal and group reflection. These activities supported students in broadening and changing their view of themselves, their sense community, as well as provided opportunities for students to engage in sustainable practices. / Graduate

This study examines transformative learning in the context of an annual First Nations journey in traditional cedar dugout canoes tracing ancestral trading routes between Western Washington and British Columbia. Transformative learning is a shift or change in perspective of self, life, and the world. The goal was: to illuminate the role of Indigenous cultures in facilitating transformative learning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners; to contribute to the development of transformative learning theory; to provide research that contributes convergent solutions to global issues and the development of interdisciplinary methodology, integrating Western and Indigenous worldviews; and to construct an integrated transformative program for participants to ensure that the results benefit them. To achieve these goals, an Integrated Voice Approach (IVA) was applied, piecing together different techniques, tools, methods, representations and interpretations to construct a multi-faceted reality. The IVA is constructed through the use of five “voices” strengthened by building on each other: Indigenous Voice, Grounded Theory Voice, Auto-ethnographic Voice, Ethno-ecological Voice, and Integrative Voice, harmonizing the previous four voices. Demonstrated here are an integration of interviews, researcher field notes, participation, observations and photographs, revealing that transformative learning in this context is dependent on the cultural landscape, cultural memory and somatic and embodied knowing, enacted in a repeating cycle of paddling, circling, dancing, singing, storytelling and drumming. The components of this learning process are measured through mental, emotional, spiritual and physical indicators and draw on traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom. The study develops guiding principles to provide a foundation for future curriculum development for transformative learning. / Graduate