Perception and Experience of Transformative Learning and Faculty Authenticity among North American Professors of Christian Education (NAPCE)

Abstract

Perception and experience of transformative learning and faculty authenticity among Christian education professors in North America were explored in this qualitative research. Through convenient purposeful sampling, 19 professors from North American Professors of Christian Education were recruited for this study and, ultimately, 16 professors participated in the whole research process. The findings from the research study consist of Christian professors’ experience and perception of transformative learning and faculty authenticity, and through the qualitative research analysis three components to “pedagogy of authenticity” were derived, namely (a) integrity; (b) facilitating disorientation; and (c) relational teaching.

Perspective Transformation through Small Group Discipleship among Undergraduate University Students in Nairobi, Kenya

“…It was also consistent with evidence from prior research, where connectedness to God was found to foster transformative learning (Lang, 2015;Chan, 2008). Sensing God at work in one's life (Kang, 2013) and the desire to transform were previously found to be related to spiritual development (Freeman, 2007), and this was confirmed by what the students reported. In congruence with the participants' experiences were the findings that spirituality not only helped individuals overcome their own potential limitations to change (Tisdell & Tolliver, 2003;Freeman, 2007;Chan, 2008), but it also connected people's transformative outcomes with their responsibilities in the community (Merriam & Ntseane, 2008;Freeman, 2007;Tobias, 2013).…”

“…The role and process of experiencing critical reflection also continues to draw interest (Taylor, Duveskog, & Friis-Hansen, 2012;Kang, 2013;Malkki, 2012;Nichols & Dewerse, 2010;Brock, 2010;Sims & Sinclair, 2008). Reflection was, however, either not evident or minimal in some situations of higher education (Nichols & Dewerse, 2010;Brock, 2010;Chan, 2008), as well as in some nonformal settings (Taylor, Duveskog, & Friis-Hansen, 2012;Cranton & Wright, 2008).…”

“…Dialogue was highlighted in the reviewed studies (Wilhelmson, 2006;Merriam & Ntseane, 2008;Kang, 2013;Glisczinski, 2007;Brock, 2010;Chan, 2008). The finding that dialogue-competent behavior needed to be cultivated in a non-formal setting (Wilhelmson, 2006) might explain why discourse was not prominent among people going through diverse experiences in non-formal/non-educational settings (Merriam & Ntseane, 2008), or why students' conversations were found to be shallow (Nichols & Dewerse, 2010) and incapable of moving them toward critical reflection.…”

“…At the same time, while service-oriented learning experiences fostered a wide range of Mezirow's phases (Tobias, 2013), it was noteworthy that experiential activities were especially meaningful in stimulating the change process (Tisdell & Tolliver, 2003;Sims & Sinclair, 2008), and supporting the later action/role-oriented phases of transformative learning (Tobias, 2013;Freeman, 2007;Sims & Sinclair, 2008). A safe environment (Lang, 2015;Taylor, Duveskog, & Friis-Hansen, 2012;Kang, 2013), embodying trust and care (Cranton & Wright, 2008;Kang, 2013;Chan, 2008), authentic and supportive relationships (Cranton & Wright, 2008;Merriam & Ntseane, 2008;Tobias, 2013;Chan, 2008), along with modeling (Lang, 2015;Chan, 2008) and the freedom to explore (Cranton & Wright, 2008) remain influential in supporting transformative learning.…”

“…Beyond the core elements, spirituality has been shown to interact with the transformative process. When the individuals had a sense of spiritual awareness there was increased impetus in the change process (Merriam & Ntseane, 2008;Tisdell & Tolliver, 2003;Kang, 2013;Freeman, 2007;Chan, 2008). Spirituality not only helped individuals overcome their own potential limitations to change (Tisdell & Tolliver, 2003;Freeman, 2007;Chan, 2008), but also connected people's transformative outcomes with their responsibilities in the community (Merriam & Ntseane, 2008;Freeman, 2007;Tobias, 2013).…”