The Ethics of Radical and Transformative Education

Abstract

This article presents a framework for ethics for radical and transformative education. Taking as a starting point ethical perspectives by which educators of adults are justified in imposing upon, coercing, and manipulating adult learners in the name of social justice, this article highlights the necessary connection between pedagogies and learning outcomes. It positions democracy, with its concomitant respect for human dignity, as the raison d'être of the field of adult education. Therefore, adult education practice should support democratic capabilities, respect learner autonomy, and allow for plurality. From both consequentialist and deontological ethical perspectives, it is argued that methods of instruction that undermine democracy cannot also be claimed to support democracy.

Metaphors of Transformation: Revealing and Concealing

“…Unlike the metaphors described so far, this one is troubling because Pygmalion himself does not transform, but rather shapes something else into his vision. Such a conversion is indeed the role of the sculptor, but it is problematic to think of humans as objects that one can convert according to one's own desires (Hoggan & Hoggan-Kloubert, 2023).…”

The 7 Cardinal Sins of Transformative Learning Scholarship

“…To assume that it is within the rights of the individual educator or the institution to try to change other human beings (i.e., their learners) is highly problematic. To respect human dignity, we must respect the autonomy of learners, and that consideration makes it difficult to justify anyone's right to try to transform someone else (Hoggan & Hoggan-Kloubert, 2023). There are ways of thinking and writing about TL that respect the needs, situations, and dignity of learners (ibid.…”