Showing papers on "Transformative learning published in 2007"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a review of the last significant review of research about transformative learning, focusing mainly on unpublished dissertations and focusing on the complex nature of critical reflection, relationships, the nature of a perspective transformation and the role of context.
Abstract: The last significant review of research about transformative learning was in 1998 and was mostly focused on unpublished dissertations. In response, this paper reviews an exhaustive body of research conducted since that time, involving 40 studies, published in peer‐review journals with a lens of analysis of new findings and insights on transformative learning theory. The review finds less research less about identifying transformative experiences in different setting, and more about fostering transformative learning and the complex nature of critical reflection, relationships, the nature of a perspective transformation and the role of context. Furthermore, even though qualitative designs still dominate, they have become more sophisticated and creative, including longitudinal and mixed‐method designs and the use of video and photography.
889 citations
TL;DR: The intersection of mixed methods and social justice has implications for the role of the researcher and choices of specific paradigmatic perspectives as mentioned in this paper, as well as the transformative paradigm with its associat...
Abstract: The intersection of mixed methods and social justice has implications for the role of the researcher and choices of specific paradigmatic perspectives. The transformative paradigm with its associat...
655 citations
TL;DR: A brief overview of Burchum's (2002) Evolutionary Perspectives that will help to assist readers in obtaining a clear understanding of cultural competence can be found in this paper.
Abstract: Migration across national borders has resulted in demographic changes in the United States, causing the country to become more multi-ethnic. This presents considerable challenges for graduate level educators who need to be responsive to the unique academic needs of diverse populations by considering students' previous experiences, values, and beliefs. This change requires educators to incorporate various teaching styles and to create a classroom atmosphere where security, trust, and openness can be achieved. Developing cultural competence and creating a transformative learning environment is essential for social work educators teaching in multicultural environments in the 21st century. This article provides a brief overview of Burchum's (2002) Evolutionary Perspectives that will help to assist readers in obtaining a clear understanding of cultural competence. It also presents Blunt's Model of Cultural Competence for Transformative Education, which can promote both transformative learning and assi...
454 citations
TL;DR: It is argued tentatively that the working hypothesis that the forms of expansive learning required for coconfiguration work have transformative, horizontal, and subterranean features has to be enriched by the notion of experiencing, which serves to bridge the design and implementation of organizational transformation.
Abstract: An intervention study aimed at analyzing and transforming work and learning in three organizations (a bank, a primary health care center, and a hi-tech company) allowed us to investigate forms of coconfiguration work in which there is a focus on the development of products and services that adapt to the changing needs of users. The working hypothesis of our study was that the forms of expansive learning (that is, the processes by which a work organization resolves its internal contradictions in order to construct qualitatively new ways of working) required for coconfiguration work have transformative, horizontal, and subterranean features. Based on our three organization case studies, this article argues tentatively (as a stimulus to further theoretical and empirical research) that our working hypothesis has to be enriched by the notion of experiencing, which serves to bridge the design and implementation of organizational transformation. In terms of the role played by tools and technologies in work and l...
258 citations
TL;DR: Results indicated that online research, productivity tools, drill and practice, and eCommunications were the most frequent uses of computers in the 1:1 classroom, and the 1%:1 classroom provided potentially transformative added value while simultaneously presenting unique management challenges to the teacher.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to document typical use and configuration of 1:1 computing in twoschoolsfocusingontheaddedvalueanduniquechallengestheseusespresent.Aqualitative casestudydesignwasusedintwomiddleschools(sixth,seventhandeighthgrade)inthesoutheastern United States purposefully selected for their 1:1 computing programmes. Data were collected through formal and informal interviews, direct observations and site documents. Results indicated that online research, productivity tools, drill and practice, and eCommunications were the most frequent uses of computers in the 1:1 classroom. Moreover, the 1:1 classroom provided potentially transformative added value to these uses while simultaneously presenting unique management challenges to the teacher. In addition, the presence of 1:1 laptops did not automatically add value and their high financial costs underscore the need to provide teachers with high-quality professional development to ensure effective teaching. In order to create effective learning environments, teachers need opportunities to learn what instruction and assessment practices, curricular resources and classroom management skills work best in a 1:1 student to networked laptop classroom setting. Finally, researchers documentedwidevariationinfidelityto1:1computing,whichsuggeststheneedforfurtherresearch exploring the conditions under which this variation exists.
249 citations
TL;DR: The implications of marital transformations are explored including spontaneous remission of distress, nonlinear dynamic systems that may produce unexpected and discontinuous change, possible nonarbitrary definitions of marital discord, and the potential for developing other constructs related to self-transformation in marital research.
Abstract: The study of conflict has dominated psychological research on marriage. This article documents its move from center stage, outlining how a broader canvas accommodates a richer picture of marriage. A brief sampling of new constructs such as forgiveness and sacrifice points to an organizing theme of transformative processes in emerging marital research. The implications of marital transformations are explored including spontaneous remission of distress, nonlinear dynamic systems that may produce unexpected and discontinuous change, possible nonarbitrary definitions of marital discord, and the potential for developing other constructs related to self-transformation in marital research.
248 citations
TL;DR: The findings suggest that student writing can be used as evidence for the presence or absence of reflective thinking and suggests that journals are a useful tool for promoting reflection and learning.
207 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the threefold "stress-adaptation-growth" intercultural learning process of these participants by focusing the discussions on the their lived experience in the UK, which has the potential to bring about profound changes in overseas students themselves, transforming their understanding of the learning experience, self knowledge, awareness of the Other and values and worldview.
Abstract: In the context of increasing recruitment of overseas students by British higher education (HE) institutions, there has been a growing need to understand the process of students' intercultural adaptation and the approaches that can be adopted by British academic institutions in order to facilitate and support these students' learning experience in the UK. Drawing upon one‐year of in‐depth qualitative research investigating the experience of a small cohort of Chinese postgraduate students' in a British university, I explore the three‐fold ‘stress‐adaptation‐growth’ intercultural learning process of these participants by focusing the discussions on the their lived experience in the UK. The key argument of this article is that intercultural adaptation is in itself a process of intercultural learning, which has the potential to bring about profound changes in overseas students themselves, transforming their understanding of the learning experience, self knowledge, awareness of the Other, and values and worldview.
204 citations
TL;DR: In the literature and in practice about how best to advance social justice among groups who are content to ignore the chorus of marginalized voices pressing for social change, this paper pointed out that "many of these groups are willing to ignore marginalized voices."
Abstract: Questions abound in the literature and in practice about how best to advance social justice among groups who are content to ignore the chorus of marginalized voices pressing for social change. This...
140 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the community of learning scientists is well positioned to build transformative models of what could be, to develop learning and teaching interventions that have impact, and to advance theory that will prove valuable to others.
Abstract: Although the work of learning scientists and instructional designers has brought about countless curricula, designs, and theoretical claims, the community has been less active in communicating the explicit and implicit critical social agendas that result (or could result) from their work. It is our belief that the community of learning scientists is well positioned to build transformative models of what could be, to develop learning and teaching interventions that have impact, and to advance theory that will prove valuable to others. This potential, we argue, would be significantly heightened if we as a community embrace the critical agendas that are central to so many discussions in anthropology, philosophy, or even curriculum development more generally. Instead of simply building an artifact to help individuals accomplish a particular task, or to meet a specific standard, the focus of critical design work is to develop sociotechnical structures that facilitate individuals in critiquing and improving the...
136 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: A literature review was conducted to investigate the adult education and faculty development literature and research to discover what is known about changes or transformation in teaching assumptions and beliefs when faculty prepare to teach online or when they are engaged in online teaching, and uncover any gaps in research involving these changes as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A literature review was conducted to investigate the adult education and faculty development literature and research to discover what is known about changes or transformation in teaching assumptions and beliefs when faculty prepare to teach online or when they are engaged in online teaching, and to uncover any gaps in research involving these changes. There were four primary themes that resulted from the analysis of the articles: moving from classroom practice to online teaching; changes related to online teaching, framing faculty development within adult education; and faculty development models. Critiques and implications are considered in regard to the possibility of faculty development for online teaching as transformative learning.
TL;DR: In this article, a view of science education from the perspective of art and aesthetics is presented, where the application of learning in everyday contexts, expansion of perception, and development of an increased interest in science ideas and aspects of the world illuminated by those ideas.
Abstract: Drawing on the work of Dewey, we present a view of science education from the perspective of art and aesthetics. This perspective places a transformative, aesthetic experience at the forefront of educational objectives. Such experience involves the application of learning in everyday contexts, expansion of perception, and development of an increased interest in science ideas and aspects of the world illuminated by those ideas. We present a pedagogical model focused on fostering transformative, aesthetic experiences. This model involves two general categories of instructional methods: (a) methods of crafting ideas out of concepts, and (b) methods of modeling and scaffolding transformative, aesthetic experiences. We discuss how the methods comprising this pedagogical model relate to established science education methods.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that powerful educative experiences can neither be fully explained nor evoked if learners exercise only logical reasoning and self-control. And they call on the aesthetic philosophy of Dewey and others to propose that transformative, compelling experiences require not only the rational, intentional processes of acting on the world, but also the non-rational, receptive process of undergoing.
Abstract: Contemporary perspectives in psychology and education characterize ideal students as rational and in control of their thinking and actions. The good student is often described as intentional, cognitive, metacognitive, critical, and reflective. I begin with a brief history of control and rationality to establish how “The Tradition” is deeply rooted in philosophy, religion, and, in general, the story of Western civilization. Although these qualities are indeed important, I suggest that powerful educative experiences can neither be fully explained nor evoked if learners exercise only logical reasoning and self-control. I call on the aesthetic philosophy of Dewey and others to propose that transformative, compelling experiences require not only the rational, intentional processes of acting on the world, but also the non-rational, receptive process of undergoing. Dewey’s aesthetic experience, as described in “Art as Experience,” integrates both the rational and non-rational, and self-control and its opposite. In the implications section, I propose that anticipation—the imaginative sensing of possibility—as an important new motivation construct because it captures the aesthetic qualities of engaging educative experiences. I also discuss conditions that could support these kinds of experiences in the classroom. I conclude with a few provocative ideas: a new view of autonomy, the essential role of faith in education, value without work, suffering is passion, and responsibility redefined.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the views of teachers and professional development facilitators about effective professional development (PD), and found that teachers' themes for characterizing effective PD included classroom application, teacher as learner, and teacher networking.
Abstract: This study compares the views of teachers and professional development facilitators about effective professional development (PD). We analyzed interviews with 72 teacher participants and 23 PD facilitators involved in nine science and mathematics PD projects. The teachers' themes for characterizing effective PD included classroom application, teacher as learner, and teacher networking. Similarly, the PD facilitators discussed effective PD as having classroom application and experiences for teachers as learners. In addition, PD facilitators shared the need to develop collegial relationships with teachers and improve teacher knowledge. These views correspond to some of the standards and recommendations described in policy and research documents on effective PD. Criteria of effective PD in these documents that the participants did not mention included: (1) challenging teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge with transformative learning experiences, (2) encouraging teacher leadership for sustained support, and (3) focusing on student learning by instructing teachers on how to use student data to inform their teaching practice. Our findings have implications for designing PD that reflects the criteria of standards-based reform.
TL;DR: Descriptive phenomenology was used to explore the lived experience of nursing students in service-learning clinical placement working with families who are homeless and contributes to existing knowledge about the relationships between service- learning and emotional learning, cross-cultural learning, transformational learning, and developing caring as a way of being.
Abstract: Descriptive phenomenology was used to explore the lived experience of nursing students in service-learning clinical placement working with families who are homeless. Fourteen students from two different service-learning courses involving a family homeless shelter participated in the interviews. Six constituent descriptions were identified from thematic analysis: eye-opening to realize the effects of homelessness on families; feeling intense emotions that are sometimes hard to express; realizing families who are homeless are both different from and similar to families who have housing; challenging and transforming assumptions, perceptions, and stereotypes; the importance of reflection; and discovering new and different aspects of the nursing role. This research contributes to existing knowledge about the relationships between service-learning and emotional learning, cross-cultural learning, transformational learning, and developing caring as a way of being, as well as provides valuable information about improving service-learning activities.
TL;DR: The authors explored curricular and pedagogical interventions designed to move critical reflection and perspective transformation from the periphery of higher education curriculum into a central framework for teaching, as an act of intentionality and decision making.
Abstract: College mission statements often describe learning that is intended to transform students and communities. This study revealed that 35% of participating college students reported experiencing transformative learning as a result of critical reflection on disorienting college experiences. This study explores curricular and pedagogical interventions designed to move critical reflection and perspective transformation from the periphery of higher education curriculum into a central framework for teaching, as an act of intentionality and decision making. These interventions require substantial curriculum and assessment rethinking and redesign from faculty in teacher education programs—as well as faculty of all disciplines—in order for higher education students to earn a meaningful degree of understanding.
TL;DR: The application of a new approach to promote organizational improvement and transformation that is built upon collective goals and personal motivations, invites participation at all levels of the organization and connected community, and taps into latent creativity and energy is described.
Abstract: Amid tremendous changes and widespread dissatisfaction with the current health care system, many approaches to improve practice have emerged; however, their effects on quality of care have been disappointing. This article describes the application of a new approach to promote organizational improvement and transformation that is built upon collective goals and personal motivations, invites participation at all levels of the organization and connected community, and taps into latent creativity and energy. The essential elements of the appreciative inquiry (AI) process include identification of an appreciative topic and acting on this theme through 4 steps: Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny. We describe each step in detail and provide a case study example, drawn from a composite of practices, to highlight opportunities and challenges that may be encountered in applying AI. AI is a unique process that offers practice members an opportunity to reflect on the existing strengths within the practice, leads them to discover what is important, and builds a collective vision of the preferred future. New approaches such as AI have the potential to transform practices, improve patient care, and enhance individual and group motivation by changing the way participants think about, approach, and envision the future.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of pedagogy on student learning and development of fundamental pedagogical changes in undergraduate conflict resolution teaching in the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford is investigated.
Abstract: This article reports on original research designed to track the impact on student learning and development of fundamental pedagogical changes—from tradition to critical pedagogy—in undergraduate conflict resolution teaching in the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. Using grounded theory methodology, the authors researched the transformative learning potential of the pedagogy. They found broad support for the pedagogy on student learning and development grounds in relation to the praxeological challenges of peacebuilding and conflict resolution work many of their students will expect to do after graduation. Out of the data emerged four clusters of learning experience that support transformative learning theory, particularly the role of disruption in learning and the importance of critical reflection, but that also, in a preliminary way, suggest some gaps in our current levels of understanding of transformative learning as praxis.
TL;DR: Gee et al. as discussed by the authors examined how adolescent high-intermediate Japanese language learners enrolled in a one-month credited abroad program used digital video as a mediational tool for learning foreign language, content, and technology skills, and cultivating critical multiliteracies and transformative learning regarding geopolitics and the environment.
Abstract: This instrumental case study examines how adolescent high-intermediate Japanese language learners enrolled in a one-month credited abroad program used digital video as a mediational tool for (1) learning foreign language, content, and technology skills, (2) cultivating critical multiliteracies and transformative learning regarding geopolitics and the environment, and (3) augmenting their portfolios (Gee, 2004a). Framed in sociocultural and transformative learning theories, this study also suggests that digital video production engaged students extensively in language-based tasks and cultivated collaboration and creativity. Implications suggest future research applying digital video to various languages, levels, and contexts, particularly those in traditional schools and curricula. Key words: digital video, new literacies, study abroad, teacher research, transformative second/foreign language learning Language: Japanese Introduction While Blake (1998) argued that multimedia technology offers new possibilities for foreign language learning, Parks, Huot, Hamers, and Lemonnier (2003) noted, "it is now equally incumbent on instructors to help students become proficient in [its] use" (p. 28). Friedman (2005) concurred, arguing that the global shift to a digital media culture, coupled with technological know-how developing in India, China, and Russia (among others), is leveling or "flattening" the world in terms of occupations, technology, and economics, and has implications for U.S. education and adolescents' competitiveness and job preparedness. Friedman (2005, 2006) further argued that in addition to digital technological skills, U.S. adolescents in today's fast-changing world also need to develop content knowledge in science, sustainability, and environmental education as a means of economic, social, and geostrategic security. Friedmaris arguments are applicable to foreign language as national standards (National Standards, 1999) include developing technology and interdisciplinary content knowledge in addition to learning language and culture. Development of critical inquiry and critical literacy, however, are also included as goals in national standards (National Standards, 1999). Beach and Bruce (2004) argued that cultivation of critical literacy should engage students part and parcel with technology applications, technology skill development, and language learning. Alvermann (2004b) agreed, noting that "new" literacies-like those in digital media-"reflect the socioculturel, economic, and political struggles that come with reading the world, not just the word-in effect, they are the literacies that adolescents need presently as citizens of a fast-changing world. . . ." (p. viii). As necessary as it may be for language learning to encompass digital technology, content, and critical multiliteracies, Gee (2004c) lamented that such learning occurs only beyond the margins of traditional school contexts and curricula. Gee further commented that the information age is pushing students to build diversified portfolios of experience and learning that prepare them to "shape-shift" in response to rapidly changing national and international-"flattening" (Friedman, 2005)-trends, such as those from factory-based to those based on information technology (Gee, 2004a, 2004b, 2004c). Necessarily operating extracurricularly, shape-shifting portfolio students diversify portfolios by choosing what they believe are the right sort of summer camps and travel that include a wide variety of interactional, aesthetic, and technological skills and earn them honors or awards in preparation for admission into elite educational institutions and for professional success later in life (Gee, 2004a, 2004c). Regardless of location, research has been done in each of the abovementioned areas independently and in partial combination (e.g., Alford, 2001; Alvermann, 2004a; Blake, 1998; Carrier, 2005; deHaan, 2005; Duff, 2001; Gee, 2004c; Goodman, 2003; Jeon-Ellis, Debski, & Wigglesworth, 2005; Kasper, 2002; Kern & Schultz, 2005; Kohl, Dressier, & Hoback, 2001; Kubota, 2003; Morgan, 2004; Norton & Vanderheyden, 2004; Parks et al. …
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted interviews with forty-seven teachers and scholars from religious and spiritual traditions and modern transformative movements to identify factors common to the transformative process across traditions, and found that compassion and altruism were almost universally identified as important outcomes of positive consciousness transformation.
Abstract: It is clear that human consciousness can be transformed through spiritual experiences and practices. Little is known, however, about what the predictors, mediators, and outcomes are of such transformations in consciousness. In-depth structured interviews were conducted with forty-seven teachers and scholars from religious and spiritual traditions and modern transformative movements to identify factors common to the transformative process across traditions. Compassion and altruism were almost universally identified as important outcomes of positive consciousness transformation. Results of our analysis suggest that altruism and compassion may arise as natural consequences of experiences of interconnection and oneness. These experiences appear to lead to shifts in perspective and changes in one's sense of self and self in relationship to others. Based on these findings, we suggest several mechanisms by which transformative experiences and practices might influence the development of compassion and altruism.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the challenges and benefits of an action-research project with a Nashville-based nonprofit human service organization, which aims to develop and evaluate value-based organizational processes and outcomes designed to transform human services.
Abstract: This paper describes the challenges and benefits of an action-research project with a Nashville-based nonprofit human service organization. In our view, outmoded human service organizations are in serious need of innovation to promote psychological and physical wellness, prevention of social problems, empowerment, and social justice. This project aims to develop and evaluate value-based organizational processes and outcomes designed to transform human services. Although the goal of moving human services from ameliorative to transformative approaches is invigorating, our efforts have revealed expected and unexpected barriers to this process of change. Two main barriers are a strong cultural current working against change and irregular pacing of the change efforts. Positive outgrowths of the project include a new organizational philosophy that includes attention to issues of justice and equality, and changing individual and organizational beliefs and practices. Clear messages regarding the changes desired and a highly participatory process have facilitated these initial outcomes. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: It is suggested that occupational therapists in acute settings can utilise language more effectively to augment their ability to promote the vital and unique contribution that occupational therapy has to make.
Abstract: Aim: This article presents findings from a participatory action research study into the experience and use of occupation, theory and evidence in the everyday practice of a group of occupational therapists working in a large metropolitan hospital delivering a range of acute services, in Melbourne, Australia.
Methods and findings: Narrative data gathered from 11 individual interviews and 10 group discussions were analysed through numerous iterative cycles to explore research issues and evaluate research actions. This article discusses why the participating occupational therapists chose to change the language they used to describe their practice from a focus on ‘function’ to a focus on ‘occupation’. This change improved the therapists’ levels of confidence, strengthened their professional identities and provided for a sense of renewed empowerment within the organisation.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that occupational therapists in acute settings can utilise language more effectively to augment their ability to promote the vital and unique contribution that occupational therapy has to make. Such small, yet powerful changes can empower occupational therapists to address long-standing dilemmas of representation and enable transformative practices.
TL;DR: This paper explored the contradictions that four new teachers experienced as their commitments to social justice collide with urban school culture, and contributed empirical evidence of the application of critical multicultural teacher preparation into practice, a cultural representation of how educational inequities are reproduced or disrupted in the situated contexts of urban schools, an application of Lave and Wenger's theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation that incorporates formal and informal education across multiple activity settings, and a call for collaborative communities of practice that support teachers' situated learning.
Abstract: In this article, I explore the contradictions that four new teachers experienced as their commitments to social justice collide with urban school culture. Framed within Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's (1999) theory of situated learning and development concepts of identity, practice, and relationships illustrate how teachers' ideals are challenged as socializing features of two communities of practice—the universities and schools—intersect in new teachers' development. This research contributes empirical evidence of the application of critical multicultural teacher preparation into practice, a cultural representation of how educational inequities are reproduced or disrupted in the situated contexts of urban schools, an application of Lave and Wenger's theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation that incorporates formal and informal education across multiple activity settings, and a call for collaborative communities of practice that support teachers' situated learning in creating transformative practices.
TL;DR: In this article, a teacher education model based on the transformative framework for adult education suggested by Mezirow is proposed to transform ESOL teachers' worldviews about English and English language pedagogy and empower them in bringing about the necessary changes in their ownteaching context.
Abstract: The article responds to the emerging need for a general framework forELF (English as a lingua franca) teacher education that would appropriatelyinform and sensitize ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) practi-tioners about ELF teaching matters. The teacher education model put forwardis based on the transformative framework for adult education suggested byMezirow and has five phases. The framework aims at bringing about themuch-needed paradigm shift in postmodern ESOL pedagogy by transform-ing ESOL teachers’ worldviews about English and English language pedagogyand empowering them in bringing about the necessary changes in their ownteaching context.
TL;DR: In this paper, the constructivist elements embedded in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning are examined at the theoretical intersections of Transformational Learning and developmental constructivism, specifically the work of Robert Kegan.
Abstract: In this study of peer instructors in three Learning in Retirement Programs, the constructivist elements embedded in Mezirow's theory of transformational learning are examined at the theoretical intersections of transformational learning and developmental constructivism, specifically the work of Robert Kegan, resulting in a suggested developmental reforming of the phases of meaning in transformational learning.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the skills and experiences of the researcher become important during challenging interview situations and that moving away from traditional qualitative interviewing means attempting to include people with profound learning difficulties in the process of researching their lives and experiences.
Abstract: This article argues the case for employing narrative methods when undertaking research with people with profound learning difficulties and people who lack verbal articulacy. It considers the foundations of life history research and the transformative position of the researcher since the 1930s. The article then examines the requisite skills for eliciting life stories and interviewing, followed by the form of the interview. It questions the logic in rigidly following qualitative interviewing as the main tool for eliciting information. The author argues that the skills and experiences of the researcher become important during challenging interview situations and that moving away from traditional qualitative interviewing means attempting to include people with profound learning difficulties in the process of researching their lives and experiences.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on a project to innovate the use of wikis for collaborative writing within student groups in a final-year undergraduate political science course, and raise questions concerning the nature and limits of lecturer and tutor power to deliver transformative educational innovations in relation to the capacity of students to embrace, comply with, or resist such innovation.
TL;DR: Through a facilitated experience of perspective transformation, clinicians are engaged in an on-the-job process of developing a deeply felt interest in research findings relevant to everyday practice, as well as ownership of that knowledge and its application.
Abstract: As the evidence-based practice movement gains momentum, continuing education practitioners increasingly confront the challenge of developing and conducting opportunities for achieving research uptake. Recent thinking invites new approaches to continuing education for health professionals, with due consideration of what knowledge merits uptake by practitioners, who should play what role in the knowledge transfer process, and what educational approach should be used. This article presents an innovative theory-based strategy that encompasses this new perspective. Through a facilitated experience of perspective transformation, clinicians are engaged in an on-the-job process of developing a deeply felt interest in research findings relevant to everyday practice, as well as ownership of that knowledge and its application. The strategy becomes a sustainable, integrated part of clinical practice, fitting naturally within its dynamic, unique environment, context, and climate and overcoming the barrier of time. Clinician experience of a top-down push toward prescribed practice change is avoided. With an expanded role encompassing facilitation of active learning partnerships for practice change, the continuing educator fosters a learning organization culture across the institution. The resultant role changes and leadership and accountability issues are elaborated.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a three-dimensional cube framework to help community organizational researchers and administrators think about an organization's learning and empowerment-related structures and processes in terms of first-order (incremental or ameliorative) and second-order change at the individual, organizational, and community levels.
Abstract: We present a three-dimensional cube framework to help community organizational researchers and administrators think about an organization’s learning and empowerment-related structures and processes in terms of firstorder (incremental or ameliorative) and second-order (transformative) change at the individual, organizational, and community levels. To illustrate application of the framework, case studies of three different types of exemplary nonprofit organizations (a participatory neighborhood planning organization, a grassroots faith-based social action coalition, and a larger community-based human service agency) were based on qualitative interviews and participant observations. Our analysis, rooted in organizational learning theory, suggests that organizations that empower staff and volunteers through opportunities for learning and participation at the individual level are better able to succeed in terms of organizational-level learning and transformation. Community-level change is particularly difficult but must be made a more explicit goal. Learning that can lead to second-order change at each level must help participants engage in critical AR T ICLE