What can the ‘Transpersonal’ Contribute to Transformative Research?

Walton, Joan

doi:10.2478/ijtr-2014-0002

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The research upon which this paper is based examined data from 65 participants, with representatives from 19 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Ireland using a four-phased, sequential, and concurrent qualitative data collection methodology (Rath, 2020). By capturing a diverse range of data from diverse sources (Walton, 2014), including current undergraduate disabled students, disabled graduates, students' union full time officers, senior managers, and disability support personnel, it provided the integral knowledge for transformational research (Mertens, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social engagement: Hearing the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland

Rath

2022

Front. Educ.

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Research on the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland has focused primarily on barriers to their transition and academic experiences post entry. Their wider social engagement experiences have yet to be explored. Early and ongoing social engagement has been found to be particularly beneficial for non-traditional students leading to the creation of sense of belonging and greater student retention. There has been limited consideration of this area within Irish policy or research. As a disabled researcher with a human rights perspective. I adopted a qualitative framework which combined the transformative paradigm with the bio-ecological model. This approach enabled me to place the voice of the student at the center of the research whilst examining the system around them. The research upon which this article draws upon the findings of research carried out by a disabled researcher which brought together data from 65 participants, with representatives from 19 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the Republic of Ireland using a four-phased, sequential, and concurrent qualitative data collection methodology. This paper focuses on the disabled undergraduate student cohort from this research (n = 23) and the theme of social engagement. The key findings under the theme of social engagement included, (i) Social engagement was highly valued and recognized as being vital to the formation of connections that resulted in a sense of belonging. (ii) The majority of disabled students reported being socially engaged, yet almost all reported barriers to their social engagement. (iii) A lack of disability awareness, inaccessible physical infrastructure, peer, and staff attitudes, negatively impact upon students’ sense of value, ability to maintain friendships, and develop a sense of belonging. (iv) There was little evidence of structures or a strategic approach to disabled students’ social engagement. These findings resonate with international research which demonstrated that disabled students face a range of systemic barriers to their social engagement in higher education. The implications of this research point to a failure of national and institutional policy to adequately consider the social engagement opportunities of disabled students within higher education.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social engagement: Hearing the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland

Rath

2022

Front. Educ.

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“…The participants' perceptions of the researcher is a crucial piece of the puzzle and will determine the quality of relationships that are developed, as well as the data that will be collected. Walton (2014) supports the importance of researchers moving beyond the cultural lens of scientific materialism that has dominated in the West in order to be open to meanings of ethics that come from spiritual, religious, and Indigenous traditions. The intertwining of the concepts of cultural respect and spirituality became evident to me when I was working with two Indigenous researchers on identifying the pathways that Indigenous researchers negotiate to become professionals in their fields.…”

Section: Transformative Axiological Assumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transformative research: personal and societal

Mertens

2017

International Journal for Transformative Research

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Abstract:Transformative researchers have the potential to contribute to both personal and societal transformation. In this article, I argue that the two are intertwined and that personal transformation is a necessary component of research that is designed to support change at the societal level in the form of furthering human rights and social justice. I describe a transformative framework that examines assumptions related to ethics, the nature of reality, epistemology, and methodology that can guide researchers who choose to address both the personal and societal levels of transformation. Ethically, researchers need to examine who they are and who they are in relation to the community in which they are working. This process goes beyond self-examination to a critical analysis of the cultural blinders that might obscure our ability to contribute to positive impacts. I put forth the hypothesis that if we design our research so that it explicitly addresses issues of discrimination and oppression that the probability of personal and social transformation increases.

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“…Nonetheless, most published work on transformation is, as Newman ( 2012) suggests, theoretical in nature. Most empirical work has been undertaken by doctoral students and remains unpublished (Walton, 2014). Researchers are now, however, finding effective research designs to evaluate and report processes of transformation by applying multiple data pathways (Snyder, 2008).…”

Section: A Rejoindermentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring transformative journeys through a higher education programme in a further education college

Rocks

Lavender

2018

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This article describes a research project designed to understand the experiences of students undertaking higher education in a further education setting in the UK. Since the 1960s, there has been a sustained policy commitment in the UK to widen participation in education to social groups previously under-represented (Thompson, 2000; Burke, 2012), leading in part to the current government mantra that one should be either earning or learning (Burke, 2012). The consequence is a discourse in which it is argued that higher education has been dumbed down to include 'non-traditional students' frequently ill-prepared for academic challenges (Haggis, 2006). This research explored an alternative discourse, proposing that education should be a catalyst for significant social, emotional, and intellectual growth, culminating in a transformative experience (Mezirow, 1978a, 1991; Cranton, 2006). Twelve non-traditional graduates from a full-time BA programme at a Scottish College of Further and Higher Education were interviewed to determine if graduates experienced significant social, emotional, and intellectual growth as a result of participation; what teaching and learning settings make this possible; can it be proposed that graduates can be transformed by the experience of higher education in further education (hereafter HE in FE)? The findings of the research indicate that the participants all experienced some significant shift in attributes such as confidence, independence and willingness to try new things. How they experience, conceptualise and participate in their social worlds has become more discriminating. We conclude by 2 | P a g e proposing that HE in FE can have the potential to provide transformative experiences for non-traditional students. The implications of this study lie as much in the nature of the transformative learning experience as in the structures in which education is provided. Additionally, it is proposed that transformative teaching and learning theory may be as significant now as it ever was in understanding the changes which learners experience in higher education study.

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What can the ‘Transpersonal’ Contribute to Transformative Research?

Abstract: Since Mezirow, there

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Social engagement: Hearing the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland

Social engagement: Hearing the experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland

Transformative research: personal and societal

Exploring transformative journeys through a higher education programme in a further education college

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