Saying “No!”: The Power of Transformative Learning

• In Event: In a Time of Permanent War: A Symposium to Generate a Culture of Peace

Abstract

Saying "No!" The Power of Transformative Learning
Culture and ideology are relevant to peace and violence (Galtung, 1990) and they are human made. If they promote violence and harm more than peace and kindness, it is because we directly or indirectly feed, support, and reinforce their inhumane sides. Through socialization process people absorb their society’s value system in which the notion of war that is hardly critically questioned. In most cultures war even has a greater value attached to it; going to war is to preserve the way of life, to serve the country, and to be good citizen. Moreover today’s sophisticated and subtle ways of indoctrination and mass persuasions through knowledge distortions make even harder for people to critically question their own assumptions and frames of references about war and armed conflict. In our chapter, we examined how individuals (bystanders) are uncritically assimilating assumptions such as: war or violence is a “reality,” “war is necessary,” and “war is always going to be with us.”
We described what can and should be done to turn this perspective upside down and work toward peace. Grounding our writing in the adult education literature, we turn to transformative learning theory as a way to learn to critically question the embedded assumptions that continue to drive not only the curriculum and program decision making in education but also adults’ daily lives. In adulthood, when we encounter points of view that are discrepant with our own or have experiences that shock us into reexamining our beliefs, we can choose to critically question our prior beliefs. Through challenging activities, participatory teaching and learning, critical self-reflection, arts-based experiences, debate and discourse, adult educators strive to help learners revise their perspectives so that they are more open and better justified.

Author

• Ilhan Kucukaydin, The Pennsylvania State University