The “Building Capacity for Transformative Learning“ project increases adult educators competences to use more deeply engaging learning methods in their teaching and training programs. BACKGROUND: As knowledge takes the centre stage of our economic growth, learning needs to provide ways for the integration and application of new knowledge into a rapidly changing world, and to help the learners to connect it with their own meaning-making. We believe Transformative Learning can address such gaps. PURPOSE: The project's purpose is to provide convincing knowledge about an innovative learning approach that transforms learners perspective on fundamentals of life and their roles. It compiles theories and practices about “transformative learning” into a competence framework, a training program, a book and a blended learning course in an online learning environment. This project draws upon resources from transformative learning theory by Mezirow, constructive-developmental approach (such as in Robert Kegan), and other approaches which will be explored with qualitative research and experts interviews. THE PROJECT’S MAIN OBJECTIVES ARE: *to provide access to deeply engaging and participative learning methodologies *to strengthen the network of practitioners *provide a shared language within the transformative learning approach The core team is made of five leading partners who all bring together relevant skills in transformative education: Visionautik e.V., Germany (project coordinator); Isoropia, Croatia; Meaningful Meetings, The Netherlands; Legacy17, Sweden Rogers Foundation, Hungary Main beneficiaries of our projects are adult education trainers who have a deep curiosity and passion to innovate in their learning environments towards a more transformative education, e.g.: the teaching of meta-skills, more self-directed learning, approaches that can make the students take an increased responsibility for their own learning and self-construction of meaning. Teachers who wish to innovate in such areas but lack the training opportunities, are our primary target. Activities and Methods: A blend of literature review and expert practitioners interviews will provide the context of adult transformative education, and how to design learning environments for students’ transformation (as per Mezirow’s theory). From this foundation, a Competences Framework will be created, which will list key factors and skills for a trainer of Transformative Learning. Results from such framework will be presented to an international audience of Transformative Learning practitioners who will brainstorm multiple ideal train the trainer curriculum designs during a “Hackathon”. Informed by the Competences Framework and the Hackathon results, the project team will design a prototype curriculum Train the Trainer for our direct intended beneficiaries. The project will launch the Train the Trainer curriculum during a kickoff event, and a follow up online learning environment for 30 motivated educators who wish to learn more about transformative education and apply such learnings to a context relevant for their work. The blended workshop + online learning environment will steward learners through peer-feedback, formative evaluation. Each participant will create a tangible curriculum design as a final project. In conjunction with the beginning of the blended TtT workshop and online course, a course-book will be compiled and launched at a series of five parallel multiplier events, one in each project participant country, to involve a total of 205 attendees. The book on transformative education will harness insights from our previous work; it will include the Competences Framework and ideas for practical classroom and curriculum design, and will be able to stand alone as an educational tool for adult educators EXPECTED RESULTS: “Building Capacity for Transformative Learning“ projects to impact nearly 300 participants directly and 7000 indirectly. Direct impact includes 15 participants to our Hackathon, 30 learners during our 4-months training event, and 205 participants to our book launch. Indirect impact runs on the assumption that once our learners (who are educators themselves) will have completed our educational journey with a successful curriculum design, they will run courses informed by their newly acquired knowledge and skills, which will impact their own students. Outputs: The project will produce O1) a Competences Framework for trainers in the field of transformative education. O2) A Train the Trainer Curriculum; O3) a course book that will serve as course materials but can also stand by itself for all readers who did not partake our activities; and O4) an online Train the Trainer platform and course.
The “Building Capacity for Transformative Learning“ project increases adult educators competences to use more deeply engaging learning methods in their teaching and training programs. BACKGROUND: As knowledge takes the centre stage of our economic growth, learning needs to provide ways for the integration and application of new knowledge into a rapidly changing world, and to help the learners to connect it with their own meaning-making. We believe Transformative Learning can address such gaps. The project´s results provide convincing knowledge about an innovative learning approach that transforms learners perspective on fundamentals of life and their roles. It provides access to theories and methods about “transformative learning” in a competence framework, a training program, a book and a blended learning course in an online learning environment. THE PROJECT’S MAIN OBJECTIVES WERE: *to provide access to deeply engaging and participative learning methodologies *to strengthen the network of practitioners *provide a shared language within the transformative learning approach All objectives were reached both through the process of work during the project (e.g. co-writing of the book with more than 40 authors, meetings/conversations of project partners at the project´s events) and dissemination of the results. PARTICIPANTS: Staff members, learners of the partner organizations and participants in Multiplier Events participated in the project, a total of 324 individuals. Staff and learners are adult education practitioners who have a deep curiosity and passion to innovate in their learning environments towards a more transformative education, e.g.: the teaching of meta-skills, more self-directed learning, approaches that can make the students take an increased responsibility for their own learning and self-construction of meaning. Multiplier Event participants were both adult education practitioners and policy makers. ACTIVITIES: A blend of literature review and expert practitioners interviews provided the foundation for development of a Competences Framework will be created, which lists key factors and skills for a trainer of Transformative Learning. A draft of this framework was presented to an international audience of Transformative Learning practitioners who gave feedback and brainstormed multiple ideal train the trainer curriculum designs during a “Hackathon”. Informed by the Competences Framework and the Hackathon results, the project team designed a curriculum Train the Trainer for our direct intended beneficiaries. The project tested the Train the Trainer curriculum during a kickoff event, and a follow up online learning environment. This "Transformative Edge Program (TEP)" was attended by 32 participants curious to learn more about transformative education and apply such learnings to a context relevant for their work. The blended workshop + online learning environment stewarded learners through peer-feedback, reflection exercises and content input. Each participant worked on a tangible curriculum design as a final project, however not all designs could be tested because of corona restrictions. A book "A transformative edge" was written in a collaborative process with over 40 co-authors. It was launched at a series of 7 multiplier events, 5 of them online. The book on transformative education includes the Competences Framework, Theories and Methods about TL and guidance to design an own TL event. It was promoted through a social media campaign. RESULTS AND IMPACT: Competences Framework Train the Trainer Curriculum Book "A Transformative Edge" Online Learning Environment How-to guide for replicating the collaborative writing process of the book 324 participants were impacted directly by participating in the project. More than 32.000 people were reached through the social media campaign. LONGER TERM BENEFITS 2 follow up projects are receiving EU-funding and will take the results of this project to the area of online learning and to the target group of underprivileged learners.