According to Pohland and Bova (2000), Macleod et al. (2003), Mallory (2003), Feinstein (2004), and King (1997; 2004), one of the best ways to promote transformative learning for mature students is to provide them with learning experiences such as direct, personally engaging and stimulating reflections on their own personal experiences. Taylor (2000) also identifies activities that are known to promote transformative learning experiences of mature students specifically in higher education. These include critical thinking skills, personal self- reflection, classroom discussions and dialogues, and mentoring. Each of these is discussed in the next section.
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Critical Thinking
Brookfield (1987), describes critical thinking as the process of examining assumptions that form the basis of beliefs, values, and ways of understanding. Many researchers and writers have explored and discussed in some detail how critical thinking skills could be used to empower mature students to reflect on and refine their ideas, assumptions, beliefs, and values (Brookfield, 2000; Cranton, 2006a). Critical thinking is at the core of transformative learning and it provides many of its facilitating strategies (Brookfield, 1987; Cranton, 1994; Dirkx, 1997; Pilling-Cormick, 1997). King (2005) argued that some mature students transform from passive students into class leaders through critical thinking.
Cranton (2006a) discusses how lecturers can apply critical thinking to empower mature students by giving them challenging assignments within the lecturing environment. The lecturer needs to encourage critical self-reflection and this can be done using questions, experiential learning, critical reflections, and journals among other methods. Because critical thinking involves self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking, it is intuitively appealing to mature students (Cranton, 2006a).
Personal Self-reflection
Personal self-reflection, as explained by Mezirow (2000) is the ability of the mature student to question the validity of assumptions and beliefs they hold based on previous experience. It can ultimately lead to perspective transformation. According to Brookfield (2000), critical self- reflection is central to transformative learning.
Several other researchers (Boyer, Maher, & Kirkman; 2006; Chimera, 2006; Kichenham, 2006; Ziegler, Paulus & Woodside, 2006) also maintained that personal self-reflection can be promoted among mature students when lecturers use instructional tools such as reflective accounts. Mezirow (2000) explained that in order for a mature student to learn independently and completely, there must be critical discourse involving two core elements. The first is what Kegan (2000) identified as the development of the adult’s ability to become critically self- reflective. In other words, mature students are expected to critically examine their own perspectives. The second is what King and Kitchener (1994) termed as reflective judgment, that is, the capacity to engage in a critical discussion involving the evaluation of the individual's assumptions, values, beliefs and feelings.
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Classroom Discussions and Dialogues
Brookfield and Preskill (2005) argue that there should be lively critical discussion for the purposes of probing meaning, questioning assumptions and supporting learners, taking place among mature students in a higher education environment. In-class discussions can also be very beneficial for all of the class members due to the variety of personal experiences which many full-time mature students can describe.
Carter (2002) concluded in a research study that the use of dialogue in the classroom places a lot of emphasis and importance on trustful communication, personal interactions, and self- disclosure. According to Mezirow et al. (2000), an ideal condition to promote transformative learning using reflective dialogue is one where there is freedom from coercion and distorting self-deception and which encourages openness to alternative points of view.
In addition, Cranton (2006) outlined a number of criteria to be used in a mature student learning context when the lecturer wishes to engage in dialogue. These include finding a provocative way to stimulate dialogue; developing discourse procedures; avoiding making dismissive statements and facilitating time for reflection.
Mentoring
Mentoring provides a method of providing psychological, emotional, and technical support to the mature student as and when it is needed (Daloz, 1987; Bloom, 1995). Daloz (1987) explained that mentoring can lead to the development of innovative ways of questioning the learning process itself as well as the environment in which it takes place. Mentoring can also assist mature students in dealing with interpersonal interactions that can help them to achieve their learning transformations.
Brookfield (1987) argued that mentoring would be of most benefit to the mature student in a structured group setting. While there is no general consensus in the literature as to the value of mentoring, in practice it can be useful in smaller group settings where each individual not only has the opportunity, but is actively encouraged to participate in the group discussion.
This section shows that while there are marked similarities in the educational experiences of full-time traditional and mature students, such as their requirements to meet learning outcomes and to engage with others in their classes, particularly in the course of group-work, the
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experience of the full-time mature student in returning to higher education also differs greatly from that of the traditional student. The next section of this chapter identifies a number of challenges, which are specific to mature students, as described in the literature.