Bildung and Transformative Learning Theory: Two Peas in a Pod?

Abstract

Both Bildung and transformative learning theory focus on the transformative nature of education. Even though they have been developed in different continents and fairly independently of each other, they intersect, and at face value, they might appear to be very similar to each other. Both notions, though are perceived differently by diverse individuals, and even though these numerous perceptions do overlap at times, they also contrast on various points. This article gives a critical review of literature to help understand the similarities and differences between these two notions and outlines their importance in discourses surrounding education.

At Home with the Mavericks: Student and Teacher Perspectives of the Transformative Potential of Glasser’s Choice Theory at an Alternative Secondary School

“…Additionally, there were certainly examples of students in this study who exhibited aspects of transformational thinking in their responses. This supports the recent questioning of Buttigieg and Calleja (2021) and Meerts-Brandsma and Sibthorp (2021) about the possibility of transformative learning occurring in adolescents, given the right environment and support. Thus, further research examining the transformative potential in adolescents attending non-mainstream educational settings is needed to address this potential gap.…”

Traces of Bildung in Upper Secondary Science Education: A Critical Investigation of Chemistry Teachers’ Orientation Towards Promoting Bildung in Chemistry Education

“…Recent publications concerning Bildung point to Bildung as being concerned with an inward self-examination (self-reflexivity) that enables a responding to key issues/problems associated with the Bildung subject's surrounding context (Buttigieg & Calleja, 2021;Kvamme, 2021;Ørbech Jensen, 2021;Riese & Hilt, 2021). Significantly, this process of self-examination is seen as taking place in a perspective of humans as relationally bound and indivisible from the world (Buttigieg & Calleja, 2021;Kvamme, 2021;Ørbech Jensen, 2021;Riese & Hilt, 2021;Rømer, 2021;Ryen & Jøsok, 2023;Waterman-Evans, 2022). In this view, the surrounding context and the Bildung subject are both seen as being fundamentally "a part" of Bildung.…”

“…In a contemporary sense, this might mean a process of subjectification in which subjects, in coming to a critically reflexive stance, are capable of successfully responding to key issues/problems associated human impacts on the systems of the Earth (e.g. Buttigieg & Calleja, 2021;Kvamme, 2021;Ørbech Jensen, 2021;Riese & Hilt, 2021).…”

From the World to Western: A Community-Engaged Teaching Strategy to Enhance Students’ Learning of Cultural Issues Relevant to Healthcare

“…From evidence provided in the literature review [20,30,31], cultural immersion experience allows students in health-related fields the space to shift their frame of reference to be more inclusive, sensitive, self-reflective and integrative of experience when the circumstances allow it. Transformative learning, as Buttigieg and Calleja [39] explained, necessitates transformative experiences, which are situations that push the individual to confront any current meanings and discover new ones.…”