XI International Transformative Learning Conference Unique Design: Transformation Spaces Experience Friday, October 24, 2014

RSVP early for the space you would like to attend at http://tinyurl.com/TLRSVP

Transformation Spaces Descriptions

Dialogue – An international dialogue on the meanings, problematic and potential of transformative

learning ......................................................................................................................................................... 2

Musicals as Problem Solving Tools in Transformative Learning ................................................................... 3

Exploring the Spirituality of the Space Within .............................................................................................. 4

The Global in the Local: Learning through Diversity at a Local Community College .................................... 5

Inner Mastery and Outer Impacts: Exploring Mindfulness and Martial Arts as Whole Person Learning ..... 6

Whistle-blowing – Trigger for Transformative Learning ............................................................................... 7

The POP UP Gallery: A Transformational Art Influx ...................................................................................... 8

Spaces to Become a Head Taller: Explore the Developmental Power of Performance through Play and

Improv ........................................................................................................................................................... 9

Unbounded and Connected: Digital Spaces and Social Learning for Transformation ................................ 10

Museum Hack ............................................................................................................................................. 11

Designing a Space for Ambitious Learning, Teaching, and Discovery ......................................................... 12

Cultivating Resilience after Natural Disasters ............................................................................................. 13

2

Dialogue – An international dialogue on the meanings, problematic and potential of transformative learning

Curators Dr. Alexis Kokkos Dr. Linden West

TC Partner Dr. Michel Alhadeff-Jones

Student Volunteer Jennifer Miles

Location Teachers College

Description The session aims to enhance an international dialogue on transformative processes in learning – how these may best be conceptualized and illuminated. We will include in the dialogue perspectives from Mezirow, Kegan, Freire, and of critical theory, Freud, Winnicott and object relations, as well as psychosocial studies, and traditions of popular education. We will attempt to capture, through interactive dialogue with participants, a range of conceptual frameworks or theoretical friends, as well as of confusions and not knowing, and to bring these into the space, in a search for greater understanding, points of convergence, difference, and of possible application in practice and research.

Areas of Inquiry What theoretical friends do we have to make more sense of transformative processes in learning? To what extent is there difference as well as similarities, viewed through an international, including a European lens? What perspectives and insights would members of the group like to bring into the space, to further dialogue and illumination? What don’t we know or what puzzles us about transformative learning?

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Musicals as Problem Solving Tools in Transformative Learning

Curator Dr. Dorothy Marcic

TC Partners Dr. Lyle Yorks

Student Volunteer Varda Brahms

Location Teachers College

Description Musicals are all about conflict and resolution. In fact, the typical musical has two competing groups, such as the Sharks and the Jets, or the Farmers and the Cowboys. What happens during the length of the musical is to explore the conflict and ultimately figure out a way for the two groups to resolve their issues. In other words, musical theater becomes a vehicle for resolving conflicts, as well as gaining a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play. The purpose of this project is to help participants identify and resolve a difficult and complicated real-life problem, and to create a transformational learning opportunity in the process. In order to do this, groups will identify the problem, as well as the two competing groups or forces in the company. In other words, who are the Sharks, and who are the Jets? Groups will write a ten-minute musical, using the “Writing a Musical for Dummies” booklet developed by the facilitator. Because we live in an unpredictable world, solving problems while learning the skills necessary, or working in “shared incompetence,” is a dynamic all-too familiar in today’s workplace and educational institutions. Join the workshop to live out your dream to be a Broadway star and to learn some important learning and management skills in the process.

Areas of Inquiry What if you found a method to help you use your left and right brains to work through complicated issues? What if there was another way to bring about transformational learning using the arts?

Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZzB0TQwG-c

4

Exploring the Spirituality of the Space Within

Curators Alicia Pace Andrea Rollefson Christie Rall

TC Partner Dr. Zachary Van Rossum

Student Volunteer Katie Davis

Location Teachers College

Description In this space, participants will be coached through an ancient Buddhist practice of self-awareness: The Straight Walk. This practice includes several walking meditations performed with observation and concentration. Steps are taken, literally and symbolically, to understand individual perception and meaning schemas to gain a new perspective on individual issues and choices. Coached by a senior Ashram facilitator, participants will observe both their emotional responses and rational thinking processes to uncover personal biases, assumptions and finally help make decisions aligned with individual ideals. Additional yogic practices that will be used in the workshop are: breath, relaxation, visualization, drawing, personal reflection and silence.

Areas of Inquiry Through partner sharing, small group discussions, as well as the final, facilitated debrief, participants will uncover a very personal experience both metaphorically and literally navigating spiritual space. How does one define spiritual space? What is the relationship between physical surroundings and spiritual spaces? What are the opportunities for using both outer and inner spiritual spaces as opportunities for reflection, learning and transformation? Finally, can non-traditional (workplace, schools, institutions create space for spiritual engagement and transformation? If so, how? If so, what might that look like?

Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzAsdhkuvWo

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The Global in the Local: Learning through Diversity at a Local Community College

Curators Dr. Rosemary Talmadge Dr. Steven Schapiro

TC Partner Dr. Placida Gallegos Dr. Ilene Wasserman

Student Volunteer Solymar Ferreras

Location LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York

Description One of the most diverse colleges in the world, students at the college come from 159 different countries, reflecting the diversity of the surrounding community and of NYC as a whole. The learning space involved in this experiential session will provide participants with an opportunity to observe and experience how we can learn from the demands presented by learning with and from such a diverse multicultural population representing a microcosm of the world on this one campus. First up on the campus will be a very short tour that includes three highlights: the entry-way where the first President and the faculty greeted the children and grandchildren of Italian and Irish immigrants when LaGuardia opened in 1973; the cobble stone street that was de-mapped by the city to allow the creation of a natural courtyard and indoor pool; and the hall of the flags which displays the 159 flags of countries represented in our current student body. The experience will involve a series of small and large group discussions and dialogic encounters through which the guests from the conference will interact with students and staff from the College, and with one another. The students will discuss their experiences with diversity at the College and what they have been learning through that experience and the staff and faculty will discuss what they do to catalyze that learning. The conference participants will engage in encounters across difference with those from the College and with one another as they experience being in this space.

Areas of Inquiry Community colleges as spaces for transformation Diversity as an impetus for perspective change Dialogue across difference as a catalyst for transformation How educators shape spaces for transformative learning How students experience spaces for transformation

Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soGFrJY9OaU

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Inner Mastery and Outer Impacts: Exploring Mindfulness and Martial Arts as Whole Person Learning

Curators Dr. Dennis Chambers Home Nguyen

TC Partner Dr. Carmela Bennet

Student Volunteer Julia Yi

Location Teachers College

Description Mindfulness is the foundational practice of many martial art forms, which affords the learner to challenge pre-existing assumptions, as well as commonly held beliefs regarding limitations of self and expectations of others. In this experiential and reflective demonstration, Dennis Chambers and Home Nguyen invite you to create a learning environment for all of your senses. We will explore the use of mindfulness practices and martial arts through exploring the embodiment of social, emotional, and communicative learning as meaning making and facilitating intuition and insight. We posit that Transformative Learning relies on the learner being emancipated from fragmented thoughts and distractions, while accessing an inquisitive, attentive, and reflective mind.

Areas of Inquiry The ability to exist/be in the present moment with openness and curiosity is essential to create an inner space for awareness which impacts the outer expression. How do we create mindfulness for transformative learning? What does it mean to make space for learning and expression of our intuition and embodiment? This presentation will examine the mind and body relationship, as well as the impact that mindfulness, and space/context plays on this phenomenon.

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Whistle-blowing – Trigger for Transformative Learning

Curators Dr. Katharina Weghmann

TC Partners Dr. Neal Chalofsky Peter Neaman

Student Volunteer Allie Cox

Location Teachers College

Description Whistleblowing is a social phenomenon that disrupts environments. Due to its embeddedness in a multi-layered context it a) creates multiple spaces for transformative learning and b) ideally changes organizational and societal spaces by moving towards a culture of learning. This session is an inter-active panel and group discussion featuring a prominent whistleblower, a journalist, an ethics professional, and an organizational learning researcher. The aim is to collaboratively find ways in which whistleblowing may be transformative for individuals, organizations, and society.

Areas of Inquiry Individual, organizational, and societal consequences and benefits of whistleblowing The challenges for individuals, organizations, and society to fundamentally learn from / change because of whistleblowing (and why are there so many challenges?) Constructive ways to embed whistleblowing into organizations and societies moving forward

8

The POP UP Gallery: A Transformational Art Influx

Curator Dr. Auburn Ellis

TC Partner Dr. Randee Lawrence

Student Volunteer Chloe Tseung

Location Art Influx Harlem

Description A POP-UP Gallery, in its conception, is indeed a transformation of a non-traditional space meant to visually stimulate audiences and engage communities. Art has an impact because it is reflective of human experiences we all share. Art based methods, for instance graphic facilitation, can be used to articulate more challenging concepts in transformational learning. It can also extend research to non-academic audiences through visual aids.

Area of Inquiry How can art based learning (for instance a POP UP Gallery) be utilized as a strategy for the revitalization of urban communities?

Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZz48gpdGH8

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Spaces to Become a Head Taller: Explore the Developmental Power of Performance through Play and Improv

Curator Dr. Lois Holzman

TC Partner Dr. Ellen Scully-Russ

Student Volunteers Z. Chen Phillip Smith

Location All Stars Project – West 23rd Street and West 42nd Street

Description Our time together will be one of exploring the social activity of creating spaces in which our individual and collective learning and development are a unified whole, accomplished through the activity of performing who we are. Performing in this context is akin to children’s play as Lev Vygotsky conceived it, and to theatrical improvisation as professionals and trainers conceive of it. Theoretically, the approach participants will be exposed to is a union of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural understanding that developmental (i.e., transformational) learning takes place through the creation of zones of proximal development, his understanding of play as developmental because it is where/when/how children perform a head taller than they are, and the surprisingly similar experience of performing on the theatrical stage (where you are both who you are and not who you are at the same time). Our creating will take place in two physical spaces: the East Side Institute (on W 23 St), a non-profit education, research and training center for new approaches to human development, learning therapeutics and community building that is a leader in the new international performance activist movement for social change; and the national headquarters of the All Stars Project (on W 42 St), a non-profit organization that uses the developmental power of performance to transform the lives of youth and poor communities. At the Institute we will experience first hand what it is like to play/perform a head taller as adults. At the All Stars, we will tour the facilities and create conversation with staff, volunteers and students about the impact the All Stars programs and its overall performatory environment on their lives.

Media TEDx Talk: Play Helps Us Grow at Any Age

10

Unbounded and Connected: Digital Spaces and Social Learning for Transformation

Curator Dr. Diana Woolis

TC Partner Dr. Jeanne Bitterman

Student Volunteer JungEun Lee

Location Virtual Space – Teachers College Media Room

Description Social learning and the emergence of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) provide unprecedented opportunities for collaborative, contextual, and professionally embedded learning. Related digital methods of dialog and reflection surface tacit knowledge and help make knowledge actionable. The “digital footprints” we create offer ways to “see” learning. What are the challenges and opportunities for transformative learning? This is a hands-on session in which we will design and implement, and analyze one type of online collaborative learning event. As part of the event we will explore how the process connects or can connect to the explicit objective of transformational learning.

Area of Inquiry How can we begin to think about social learning in relationship to transformational learning: challenges and opportunities?

11

Museum Hack

Curator Nora Boyd

TC Partners Dr. Victoria Marsick

Student Volunteer Kristen Rich

Location Metropolitan Museum of Art

Description Experience an alternative spin on NYC’s venerable Metropolitan

Museum of Art

Media PBS News Hour video

Podcast with Museum Hack Founder Nick Gray & recent corporate

guest Daria describing her bank's offsite adventure

12

Designing a Space for Ambitious Learning, Teaching, and Discovery

Curators Dr. Gary Natriello

Hui Soo Chae

Bevin Savage-Yamazaki

Ellen Hudson

TC Partner Stacey Robbins

Student Volunteer Jolene Lane

Location Teachers College Library

Description This experience will engage educators and scholars in the design of a space to support transformative learning experiences. This session grows out of a year-long project to develop designs for a major renovation project at Teachers College, Columbia University. A 10,000 square foot space will be developed into the Learning Theater, conceived as a flexible, reconfigurable space to support ambitious learning and teaching, i.e., learning and teaching activities that cannot be easily accommodated in a typical campus classroom. Activities for this session will include a series of structured, highly-participative, collaborative activities. Following an introduction to the format of the session, participants will engage in an ice breaker activity designed to unleash their powers as designers of space. This will be followed by opportunities for group research into the ways learning spaces are being developed across a number of higher educational institutions. A whole group brainstorming exercise will be followed by opportunities for smaller groups to think through the requirements of a space to support transformative learning. This will prepare participants to engage in a table top prototyping activity where they will be asked to develop a design for a specific space optimized for transformative learning and teaching. A final discussion will connect the activities to the wider conference theme.

Media For a quick look at the general EdLab Design Event process, see: https://vialogues.com/vialogues/play/13444 For a look at some activities from earlier learning space design events, see: https://vialogues.com/vialogues/play/15355 But remember that every design event is different because the participants are different!

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Cultivating Resilience after Natural Disasters

Curators Julia LeMense, JD, MPH Ana Baptista Earl Jackson Rebecca Rand Helen Henderson Sylvia Kovaćs

TC Partner Dr. Aliki Nicolaides

Location Teachers College

Description Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc on Caribbean Islands and on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, taking lives, reshaping our environment, challenging our assumptions and demanding that communities reframe their relationships with one another and with their environments-natural and built. In this way, Superstorm Sandy is a quintessential example of the type of life experience long recognized by Mezirow and other transformational learning scholars as a driver of change in meaning perspectives. During this experience, we will explore how stakeholders from many disciplines, neighborhoods, sectors and perspectives convene in ways familiar and not-so-familiar to build resilience and reimagine their environment.