Abstract

What is the significance of self-awareness in learning? How can self-awareness create a foundation of self-knowledge that could transform the nature of one's education? In addressing the role of self-knowledge, this study investigates Jack Mezirow's theory of transformative learning. From his work on adult learning, Mezirow has signaled the need to view learners' perspectives of their own learning history as a cardinal dimension of adult education. Diverging from traditional education, which employs an external approach described by Freire's "banking concept", the question of the learner's perspective redirects the search for knowledge towards an inquiry for gaining knowledge of one's self. Through challenging the common assumptions imposed by conditioning, self-inquiry probes into a deeper understanding of one's essential nature as an integral factor in learning. ;The research context involved the classroom of a Freshman Writing Seminar at Cornell University, entitled Themes of Spirituality in Novels by African American Women. Through reading novels by authors such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Zora Neale Hurston, students analyzed the learning processes of literary characters, in light of Mezirow's theory. Similarly, students studied their own learning patterns to discern the relevance of the theory. Through writing essays, students identified the stages of reflection in the learning process. To augment students understanding of human nature, the novels were supplemented by articles from relevant, diverse sources, such as the Upanishads from ancient Indian philosophy. Their perspectives were expanded through sharing ideas in small groups of two or three students, as well as with the class as a whole. Their insights were further enriched through a process of meditation, designed to awaken students to insights allowing for integrating the meaning of their new perspectives. With students' consent, their essays provided data for the research on the process of transformative learning. ;Ultimately, the study revealed that new perspectives could be attained through reflection in a broad sense, through an openness to intuitions of self-knowledge gained through self-inquiry