Towards a Theory of Education for Social Change: Exploring the Nexus between Transformational Education and the Capability Approach

Education generally is geared towards training the mind and getting the learner to acquire skills and knowledge needed in different sectors in society. However, if we agree that education is a public good, there is need to go beyond its conceptualisation from a utilitarian perspective of being instrumental to society’s economic progress to an understanding of education as instrumental to realising individual’s transformative capabilities and subsequently, social change. Education aimed at achieving social change should focus on not only subjecting learners to cognitive aspects but also getting them to be capacitated to become agents of social change and progress. Exploring this theme and theorising on some mechanics of realising education for social change is the focus of this article. The article adopts qualitative desktop method and utilises secondary data to theorise on realising education for social change, with a consideration of the nexus between two frameworks: Transformative Learning and the Capability Approach frameworks.

УПРАВЛІННЯ ЯКІСТЮ ОСВІТНІХ ПОСЛУГ У ВІДКРИТОМУ УНІВЕРСИТЕТІ

The article is devoted to the issue of quality provision in respect of educational services rendered by the open university which is regarded as an innovative digital educational and scientific environment. The article gives substantiation and features the results achieved in approbation process of modern model applied for management of educational services quality in open university; this model is presented as the one which provides competitiveness of specialists in the labor market in conditions of social instability and uncertainty. In particular, the article characterizes such aspects as the influence of educational economics upon apprehension of educational services quality, the importance of transformational education applied to ensure the competitiveness of students in the labor market, the management basics of open university considered by the example of functioning of non-formal education system at SEE "University of Education Management" at NAES of Ukraine. The article features the orientation of transformational pedagogy at formation and development of complex (interdisciplinary) mentality of specialists, as well as at their ability to overcome obstacles in activities and to critically analyze different situations, to participate in joint problems solving, to find creative approaches and alternatives.

Safe at Home: Co-curricular Spaces for Generative, (un)safe Conversations

Third space describes an intentional space where normative assumptions are challenged by shared encounter with cultural and ideological otherness; third spaces open possibilities for transformational education. Beam Library at Oklahoma Christian University generates third space experiences through co-curricular events that engage the intersection of faith and culture. Specifically, our Safe at Home chapel exists as a generous (un)safe space that facilitates crucial conversation about gender, sexuality, and faith, empowering students who may feel unsafe because they are or affirm LGBTQIA individuals. Library initiatives like Safe at Home chapel create third space learning experiences, positioning the library at the intersection of formation and information, re-visioning the library as facilitator of generative conversation in a generously hospitable space. As co-curricular entities, academic libraries are aptly situated for the creation of third spaces, demonstrating the educational and formational value of the library as third space.

Teaching Innovation Through Collaborative and Team-Based Learning

Higher educational institutions must radically (re)envision teaching and learning opportunities. Provision of content through learned scholars is insufficient. There is a need to curate innovative, integrative, and transformational education. This chapter explores how collaborative, team-based learning provides relevant, innovative, and generative approaches to working through real-world, urgent, complex, social, environmental and economic issues. Collaborative and team-based learning can support student citizenship, changemaking capacity, collaboration, respect for diversity, and effective practice across a range of professions. Despite the opportunities, team-based exercises pose significant challenges for students. Drawing on an action-oriented research project, this chapter discusses ways to improve processes to support students' team-related skills to further their success and student citizenship.

We Are Cal State LA

Cal State LA runs a successful face-to-face Bachelor's Degree completion program at a maximum-security prison. This chapter describes the BA program, including an assessment of the political, academic, and structural challenges. The chapter also outlines two intertwined components of Cal State LA's commitment to transformational education in the prison. The first is WordsUncaged which is open to all students on the yard and extends the transformational opportunities of higher education to a larger number of students than can be accommodated in the formal BA program. The second is Cal State LA's commitment to reentry support, including enrollment on the home campus for all students released prior to degree completion. The chapter argues that serving the prison with the three intertwined components—the BA degree pathway, WordsUncaged, and reentry support—is core to Cal State LA's mission as a public university serving the greater good of the Los Angeles region and the residents of California.

Effecting Epiphanous Change in Teacher Practice: A Teacher’s Autoethnography

This study comprises of a series of autoethnographic vignettes stemming from Karen’s life experiences that provide a snapshot of her quest for equality and fairness in her personal life, as well as her professional life as a primary school and special education educator. Karen later became a teacher of teachers, keen to share what she had learned with her peers. It was when she began educating other teachers that she became even more self-reflective with the most poignant question being, what causes one to change their beliefs, attitude, or way of thinking? The included vignettes encapsulate significant stories, starting from early childhood, to the motivation behind Karen’s teaching career and then the students that she met who shaped her adoption of the belief of equality and fairness for all. The vignettes provide the foundation for a qualitative study where one teacher’s journey of transformative and epiphanous change are analysed using autoethnography, reflexivity and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The study examines the value of tacit knowledge, and then segues to explore resonance with Dewey’s constructivism, Kolb’s experiential theory, Mezirow’s transformational education theory and Tang’s Synergic Inquiry. While these theories provide a foundation for how learning and personal transformation may occur and attempts to answer the aforementioned question; not one theory captured what Karen was seeking; which is: How does epiphanous, mind blowing, life affirming change occur? The author contends that to shift one's value’s paradigm, one needs to incorporate the essence of all of the above theories to create a new integrated model.

Dialogue Education: A Learning-Centered Pedagogy

When implemented, Dialogue Education™ offers a system of teaching and learning that moves beyond lecture into interactive engagement. This article highlights some of the principles and practices within this dialogical approach to teaching while also demonstrating the methodological techniques within this system of learning. Attention will be given to the nature of transformational education in light of the following elements: the learner, the community, the content, the context, and the role of the Holy Spirit.