Transformational Learning Through International Community Engagement
Presentation Type
Poster
Keywords
transformation, third-loop learning, community engagement, international studies
Department
Communication
Major
Organizational Communication
Abstract
This study examined transformational learning in Pepperdine’s International Program in East Africa. The following research questions guided the study: How does transformational learning occur in Pepperdine’s East Africa Program? What are the roles of vocational calling and service learning? Qualitative research methods were employed using 24 student reflection papers and interviews from a theoretical sample of students who described their experience as transformational. Analysis involved open and closed coding of transformational development, learning, vocational discernment, service, and poverty. Transformational learning occurred in four stages of Personal Transformation Development (PTD): conviction, questioning truth, immersion/participation, and discovering a more holistic truth. Each step contains three steps: reaching a new stage, trigger to move, and discomfort that pushed students to the next stage of learning. These instances of transformation suggest reflective, “triple-loop” (Bateson, 1972; Isaacs, 1988), “significant” learning (Fink, 2003), and becoming an author of one’s life with an internal foundation of morality (Baxter Magnolia, 2003). The paper concludes with how this kind of learning can support social transformation in students.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Juanie Walker
Funding Source or Research Program
Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
1-4-2016 2:00 PM
End Date
1-4-2016 3:00 PM
Transformational Learning Through International Community Engagement
Waves Cafeteria
This study examined transformational learning in Pepperdine’s International Program in East Africa. The following research questions guided the study: How does transformational learning occur in Pepperdine’s East Africa Program? What are the roles of vocational calling and service learning? Qualitative research methods were employed using 24 student reflection papers and interviews from a theoretical sample of students who described their experience as transformational. Analysis involved open and closed coding of transformational development, learning, vocational discernment, service, and poverty. Transformational learning occurred in four stages of Personal Transformation Development (PTD): conviction, questioning truth, immersion/participation, and discovering a more holistic truth. Each step contains three steps: reaching a new stage, trigger to move, and discomfort that pushed students to the next stage of learning. These instances of transformation suggest reflective, “triple-loop” (Bateson, 1972; Isaacs, 1988), “significant” learning (Fink, 2003), and becoming an author of one’s life with an internal foundation of morality (Baxter Magnolia, 2003). The paper concludes with how this kind of learning can support social transformation in students.