Context and Rationality In Mezirow's Theory of Transformational Learning
- 1 June 1991
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Adult Education Quarterly
- Vol. 41 (2) , 75-91
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0001848191041002002
Abstract
Transformational learning is fundamentally concerned with construing meaning from experience as a guide to action. In his theory of perspective transformation, Mezirow presents a significant conceptualization of that process, but it is flawed in one major aspect: It fails to account for context. We examine the absence of context in the theory itself, then focus on the decontextualized form of rationality that underlies the process of critical reflection central to perspective transformation. Finally, we propose a contextualized view of rationality which maintains the essential link between meaning and experience.Keywords
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