Abstract
M.Ed.
The focus of this study was to explore transformational learning as experienced by
school principals. This paper argues that encountering an experience or event which
we cannot make sense out of, is the first step in the process of perspective transformation. The political changes in the post apartheid South Africa led to the
incorporation of cultural diversity in education. This view challenged the perspectives of
most Afrikaner school principals and they had to make meaning of the new experience.
Review of the research literature on adult and transformative learning revealed that
there are few detailed descriptions of the transformational learning process in a political
and sociocultural context. The purpose of this study was to explore the transformational
learning process by which school principals made meaning of the mentioned new
experience.
A qualitative design was used to explore the transformative learning process in school
principals. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with six school principals. Using
the constant comparative method an inductive analysis of the data revealed a process
of perspective transformation.
The study revealed a transformative learning process in school principals similar to that
proposed by Mezirow, beginning with a disorienting dilemma, followed by varied
reactions, catalist events, exploring and trying out new roles and the integration of the
new perspective into their lives. The two most significant findings were the role context
played in the process and that collective unconscious was the actual meaning given to
the changes in their lives. This study contributes to a growing empirical exploration of transformative learning by exploring transformational learning in a political and sociocultural context.