Transformative Education and The

School System

Context
How can our schools be cultural
spaces against ecological
degradation, poverty, and
gender insensitivity?

How can our schools be liminal

spaces of human creativity and
imagination to respond to
challenges of our times?
Paradigm shift
This situation calls for a paradigm shift in
the system of education towards
an instructional system that is
transformative in its culture;
an educational system that creates a
balance between knowledge
acquisition and values formation and
places an equal focus on personal
achievement and social responsibility
(Gonzales, et al, 2002).
transformative- based education
requires a redesigning of a school
system
the mission-vision-goals
complemented by a set of core values;
organization/ governance system;
institutional culture and climate;
curriculum program and
the human and material support system.
(Duderstatd 2000) A Tale of Power & Vision.flv
School Vision, Mission, and Core Values:
Bedrock of Transformative Education

Administrators will have to revisit,

review and rearticulate their schools
Vision-Mission- Goal (VMG) statement and
to evolve their core values.
The core values are to be incorporated
into the teaching program across key
learning areas.
The school may consider to map a new
educational agenda oriented to the
vision of God’s reign of justice, peace
and integrity of creation.
TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION AND VALUES
FORMATION TOWARD SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The mission is to make teaching social

responsibility a core practice in
education so that young people
develop the convictions and skills to
shape a safe, sustainable, democratic,
and just world.
This challenge raises questions about
content and how schools are
structured.
It demands a balance between
personal competence and social skills
and social responsibility.
This effort can renew a sense of
purpose and meaning among
educators (Berman, 1992).
Transformative Education and the Curricular Program or the
school’s instructional program.

Strategizing curriculum program

includes review and revision of the
traditional curriculum
reorganization towards integrating
strong transformative elements,
especially the content areas.
Curriculum Content Major Themes

The major themes consist of:

Justice and Peace Education
Environment Education
Engaged Citizenship
Poverty Reduction
Gender Sensitivity
Youth Empowerment
 Desired outcome
The desired outcome of
transformative education is a
transformed student who could
improved society, an integrated,
wholistic, God-loving person a
builder of family and community.
The school will need to match the
requirements of the student to
challenge him / her to seek
leadership for a sustainable
future. (de Jesus, 2007)
In short, the outcome of transformative
education is a transformed person,
commissioned in turn to transform society
(de Jesus, 2007).
The Transformative Teacher

Teachers who know and believe in the power

of transformation are the ones capable of
moulding the soul, mind and heart of the
school’s institutional processes and structures
so that these reflect the school’s aspiration to
be a living arena of cultural transformation.
Two aspects
Witnessing the transformative process
demands from teachers two fundamental
things:
1) that they, as persons, are examples of
transformation as a lifelong process; and
2)they teach transformatively.
In the transformative teacher, BEING TRANSFORMATIVE
and EDUCATING TRANSFORMATIVELY become one.
• Transformation towards right relationships is a
lifelong experience, process and commitment
that ask to be embraced as one of life’s realities.
• This movement towards right relationships has
brought about the growing awareness about
human rights, environmental advocacies, gender
sensitivity, poverty reduction, youth
empowerment, and engaged citizenship.
VOCATION
Teaching becomes a vocation when
one grows into appreciating how
one’s involvement in the education
process impacts society at an
individual, social and ecological
level, and embraces the
responsibility of such an impact as
a lifelong commitment.
Teaching becomes a way of life
when one’s craft as a teacher is
expressed whatever one’s
profession or involvement.
For a transformative teacher, the
academic is seen in relation to real
life, not only in terms of its
application but also its responsible
impact in society and the earth.
 Educating Transformatively—Inviting Students to
Experience the Transformative Process

• The basic dynamics of eco/human

community that students need to
understand are: interrelatedness,
interdependence and
interconnectedness. A True Teacher.flv
ANIMATOR
A teacher’s role is to be animator and
usher of students into community living.
Interrelatedness focuses on how each one
is related to everything else in the
community.
Interdependence highlights the need of
each one for the other and the role of
each one in the wellbeing of the whole
community.
Interconnectedness stresses how each
one’s actions or decisions affects others
and the whole community.
INTEGRATIVE LEARNING AND
REFLECTION – CO-LEARNER

Teachers best develop integrative learning

and reflection when they are co-learners
with their students in an atmosphere of
acceptance, wellbeing and concern, open to
the variety of talents, gifts, and personhood
of all.
Participation is evoked in this kind of
atmosphere, allowing genuine dialogue to
guide the learning process towards critical
inquiry and conscientious reflection about
the realities in the world and themselves.
CHALLENGER
Radical imagination is
cultivated when the
transformative teacher guides
the students in seeing and
naming the root causes of a
situation, not just the
symptoms.
The transformative teacher
acts as a challenger who
motivates the students to
imagine alternatives to the
situation that needs to be
changed.
 Mentor
• A transformative
teacher is a mentor to
students, guiding them
in appreciating how
their giftedness, talents
and skills are God-given
capacities to be
constantly honed,
expressed with humility
and used in the service
of the wider
community.
COMPASSIONATE HEART
Transformative teachers hone in
their students a compassionate heart.
A transformative teacher will hone
compassionate hearts most
effectively through his/her way of life
that exhibits transformation both in
the personal and professional
dimensions.
Being transformative is an experience in
actively participating in the fulfilment of
God’s dream for all peoples—a world that is
just, peaceful, and harmonious.
The transformative teacher journeys as a
faith companion of students as they,
together, co-create God’s world. [YOUTUBE-HQ]-
Even_Eagles_Need_a_Push_by_David_McNally.flv.flv ,