The Eastside

THE EASTSIDE

Look at the cop
the Mexican mafia killed off of East Houston Street, just five minutes away from
home.
His body is paper, hole punched over and over and over again.
A rain
of brass casings, a thunder of stray dogs. A graveyard of
gangs and pigs, the reds, the red
and red.
Eastside child, Your mother tried
to flush you
in the bathroom of a Burger
King.
My Eastside, I do not surrender
to your sidewalks
of old diapers and cigarette boxes,
or your lonely women that cry on the curbs with blue faces.
The thread that hangs from my heel, connecting
me to you,
thin as smoke, will never wilt,

will never

wither.

Reflection 1

How transparent do I want to be? Today I think I'll share the most immediate learning experience...

Within the same vein of Nepo’s experience I have encountered a dilemma that has completely transformed my understanding of health and wellness. As a write from a coffee shop in Texas before returning to New York end of January, I am surrounded by family in poor health. My brother-in-law is on his last battle with colon cancer that has spread to his liver, lungs, and abdomen. Being home since mid-December, I’ve accompanied my father to his doctor’s appointments, of which, are a cardiologist and nephrologist (my father has had a heart-attack and kidney cancer). Both of my older sisters have PCOS (Polycystic ovarian syndrome) and the second eldest received news today from her doctors that she needs to schedule a hysterectomy.

More recently, I am starting to show symptoms of PCOS and have decided to make a decision to completely change my diet and exercise regime in order to combat the symptoms. My weight and wellness has fluctuated the past ten years or so and was something I blamed on aging and stress. As I get older, I realize that my body and mental wellness should be nourished and treated in a way that allows it to heal and feel good. Impulse eating and unhealthy habits have become easier to avoid because I have a different perspective that motivates me to take better care of myself. Before, if I am honest with myself, I would diet and exercise to look good for former partners, not necessarily for myself and well being.

When reading Mezirow, I really resonated with the following passage:

“Transformation Theory's focus is on how we learn to negotiate and act on our own purposes, values, feelings, and meanings rather than those we have uncritically assimilated from others-to gain greater control over our lives as socially responsible, clear-thinking decision makers” (p.8).

I think because my perspective on health has taken a real shift, due to not only seeing the struggle of others close to me, but undergoing this struggle myself, I have become more motivated to prioritize health and wellness. Through this prioritization and motivation, I’ve also been able nudge family members and friends to take small steps in eating healthier too.

Looking at learning and transformation as a negotiation process is something that I can really jive with and feel comfortable talking about in my own classroom. Whenever I am teaching painting classes, I always try to be sure to not establish any kind of hierarchy, but rather, serve as a facilitator to my students, giving them the tools and environment to uncover their own ah-ha moments. Yet, at the same time, as educators, how do we toe the line of teacher, negotiator, facilitator and the like? 

On another aside I agree with the notion of what Mezirow writes about in the former article about transformative learning being impeded by different speedbumps and loopholes that include culture, social class, etc. feel so valid. 

Week 1 | Notes

Basic Theoretical Terms and Concepts: Overview

By Dr. Patricia Cranton

Purpose: To introduce the basic terms in transformative learning theory, so as to have a common language for discussing and working with transformative learning.

Kinds of knowledge

Instrumental knowledge. Scientific cause-and-effect knowledge.  Objective and invariant.  Consists of principles, rules, technical information. Derived from scientific methodologies. 

Communicative knowledge.  Knowledge of ourselves, each other, and social norms.  Interpretive in nature.  Varies from one community or culture to another.  Consists of values and beliefs.  Socially constructed.

Emancipatory knowledge. Knowledge that leads to freedom from constraints and oppression (either personal or social).  Subjective in nature.  A product of critical reflection and critical self-reflection.  Transformative learning leads to emancipatory knowledge.

Making Meaning

Meaning perspectives.  Broad, generalized ways of seeing the world.  May have to do with professional knowledge, social views, spiritual beliefs, self-concept, aesthethic preferences, morality, philosophy of life...

Meaning schemes.  Specific assumptions, beliefs, values, and habitual expectations.  Often uncritically assimilated.  Often unarticulated.  Clusters of meaning schemes make up meaning perspectives. 

Habits of mind.  A newer term used by Jack Mezirow.  Similar to meaning perspectives.  The “grooves” our mind runs in.

Points of view.  A newer term.  The way we express or demonstrate our habits of mind in interaction with others.  Often unexamined or unconscious.

Epistemic meaning perspectives and meaning schemes.   Our perspectives and assumptions related to knowledge and how we obtain knowledge.  Similar to, but not completely congruent with, instrumental knowledge.

Sociolinguistic meaning perspectives and meaning schemes.  Perspectives and assumptions derived from our culture, community, and social background, including the use of language in our culture.  Similar to, but not completely congruent with, communicative knowledge.

Psychological meaning perspectives and meaning schemes. Perspectives and assumptions related to the way we see our Self.  Usually formed in childhood.  Sometimes the product of childhood trauma. 

The Process of Transformative Learning

Trigger event. An event which initiates reflection on meaning schemes or meaning perspectives. 

Disorienting dilemma. An older term.  Similar to trigger event.  Encountering something that is discrepant with how we understand ourselves or the world.

Critical reflection. Questioning assumptions, values, and perspectives we encounter in the world.

Critical self-reflection.  Questioning our own meaning schemes and meaning perspectives.  Examining the sources of the assumptions we hold and the consequences of continuing to hold them.

Content reflection.  Asking ourselves “What has happened here?”, or “What is going on here?”  Examining the content of the problem.

Process reflection.  Asking ourselves how we came to hold a particular belief or assumption. “How did I come to believe this?”  Examining the process.

Premise reflection.  Asking ourselves why it is important to consider this issue (assumption, belief, perspective) in the first place.  “Why does this matter?” Examining the premise.  Premise reflection is most likely to lead to transformative learning.

Discourse.  A special kind of dialogue or discussion in which people rationally weigh evidence and arguments and back up opinions with evidence.  Central to transformative learning. 

Ideal conditions for rational discourse.  Participants in discourse are fully informed, have an equal opportunity to speak, are able to weigh evidence rationally, and have a goal of reaching consensus.

Individuation.  A term taken from Jungian psychology.  The differentiation of the individual from the collective of humanity.  The formation of the Self.  Integral to transformative learning.

Transformative learning.  The revision of previously unquestioned perspectives and assumptions based on critical reflection and critical self-reflection, leading to more open, permeable, and better justified perspectives.

FAVORITE MEZIROW LEARNING TO THINK LIKE AN ADULT QUOTES 

An Introduction to Me and Transformative Learning

My name is Carianna Arredondo and I am an EdD student in the Art & Art Education program here at Teachers College. Originally hailing from San Antonio, Texas, I studied in Indiana at Depauw University where I received my BA in Studio Art, English Writing, and Art History. I began my studies at TC in Fall 2015 as an EdM student in Art Education where I am continuing into the doctoral program (proposing next Fall, eek!).

My line of research focuses on understanding artistic development, identity development, culturally responsive pedagogy, and place-based pedagogy within the context of investigating artist-residency programs (aside: Artist-in-residence programs exist to invite artists, academicians, curators, to reside within the premises of an institution. Some may last for only a few days to even a few years. Some residency programs are incorporated within larger institutions, such as museums, universities, or galleries, some can be stand-alone organizations.). I have several years of experience working in non-profit arts organizations, museums, artist-residency programs, and teaching at the college level; from my ventures in the arts I found that bringing professional, working artists to communities and classrooms creates a reciprocal learning environment for both the artist and audience (in my cases, the community or classroom). Furthermore, I am specifically investigating the relationship between travel and creativity and how artists creating in new spaces reinvigorates their creative practice—likewise, I am looking at the students that shift their normal learning environment from the classroom to the artist-residency space. 

My interest in transformative learning, something in which I know nothing about, stems from my desire to further understand the countless variables that may foster transformative learning in the arts. Because in my research I am particularly interested in the intersectionality between travel, creativity, artistic development, identity development, culturally responsive pedagogy, and place based pedagogy, I think understanding the foundations of transformative learning can immensely inform my research interests.