Transformative Learning In Educating Rita - Essay Example

Topic: Educational Communication Introduction Educating Rita is a 1983 film that was directed by Lewis Gilbert and starred Michael Caine and Julie Walters in chronicles of the adventure of a woman going through the Open University program in Britain as well as her progresses in friendship with a world-weary professor of literature referred to as Frank Bryant. In the film, Susan White is a twenty six year old hairdresser, who is the wife of an electrician and residing in a middle class neighborhood of a British city. Her husband, Denny, wants them to have a baby and for his wife to be satisfied, but Susan does not show any form of satisfaction. Susan realizes there is more to life and makes the decision to pursue an education regardless of the fact that her family disapproves of it. The film gives an account of Susan’s story and progress as an adult learner from an inexperienced person with reverence for great learning of the university types, to a higher appreciation of herself as well as the role played by education. Nonetheless, the film went further to exemplify numerous theories concerning adult education as well as learning while simultaneously depicts the continuing struggles that are faced by adult educators together with their learners. At some point in the film, Susan is depicted watching a television show for one of the course she takes. In 1983, this was the only realistic manner of running a massive open course because there was no internet as well as wide-spread use of videotapes. She then goes to see Frank as he is her tutor and this is a reflection of the manner in which the universities are run in Britain. However, the Open University targets the working adults with tutorial hours being held in the evenings. The Open University that was started in 1969 by the Labor Party waives the traditional entrance prerequisites for the adult learners. Open Learning continues to grow strong with more than a quarter a million students all over the globe and it has been recognized in the United States. This form of learning employs a blend of methods in its delivery of courses that include research, gradate as well as undergraduate divisions. Transformative learning in Educating Rita There are various reasons and topologies that explain why adults take part in formal adult education initiatives. The first topology which is liberal is different from the vocational or careers programs, self-improvement, civic engagements as well as emancipator purposes. In this set-up, liberal denotes arts curriculum, awareness of literature, sciences arts as well as history that makes people human. The reasons why Rita want to enroll at the Open University is clearly not so that she can be able to get a better job, however, she wants to major in literature and not a different field that will give her a chance develop a career. She has no concern for politics or liberation as well civil justice as she is not satisfied with her life. At one time, while depressed from intensely realizing the class divide that exists between Frank and herself and being incapable of going to a party since she bought the wrong wine, she settles for joining her family as well as her husband at a bar where all the people are singing a common song. She turns her attention to her mother who began crying and asks her what may be wrong. The mother states that there are better songs that can be sang and this moment strengthens her desire to attain whatever education can provide which is a better song and a better way of considering oneself for an enhanced self-concept. This moment comes at a time when her husband is increasingly getting tired of the educational efforts of Susan and discovers that she still takes birth control even though she has told her husband something different. Consequently, her marriage will come to an end because of the better song that she seeks in her life. Even though the desire for education that is seen in Susan centers on liberal topology, issues that touch on identity are extremely vital in the film as well as to the development of the character. Frank does not get an understanding of the manner in which the class divide delineates his student when the film begins. He perceives the Susan and her viewpoints on literature to be fresh, funny, engaging and practical. On the other hand, Susan tells him that he looks like an elderly hippie and writes down essays that comprise of two sentences in an effort to manifest her thoughts. Susan is reluctant to meet Frank’s friends, even though he wants her to do so as she is aware that she does not belong to the same class as them. Her lacking of education along with an access to a typical university education is part of her identity and she does not wish to abandon all of her past as well as her identity. The will she has to get an education is not informed by a hatred for her class and background or a wish to become an elitist but a simple dissatisfaction with what she is aware of and the choices she is likely to make in the future. When considered from a dramatic point of view, the character that is portrayed by Susan is pleasant. Educating Rita can also be considered as a demonstration of the ideas of Kegan (1982) in regard to adult development as well as the transformative learning theory that is associated with Mezirow (2000). In The Evolving Self, Kegan dwells on the problems associated with the human life from the viewpoint of a single process that he refers to as meaning-making that involves making sense of experiences by discovery and resolution of problems (Merriam & Heuer, 1996). He states that it is not the individual who develops meaning, but the meaning is created by the action of being an individual with meaning-making existing as an action which lasts for an entire life. This activity begins during infancy and has the capacity to go through evolution even in difficulty via a sequence of evolutionary balances that create equilibrium between a person and other people, the environment or an organization (kegan, 1982). On the other hand, Mezirow created a transformative learning theory in the past twenty years that has continued to evolve into a detailed and intricate definition of the manner in which learners interpret, authenticate and re-articulate the meaning attributed to their experiences. In order for a learner to change his or her meaning scheme that includes particular beliefs and emotional responses, they are required to critically reflect on their experiences that will result in a perspective transformation. The meaning scheme that comprise of the meaning structure may evolve with the addition or integration of ideas in a scheme that is already in existence and this transformation in terms of the meaning schemes takes place typically through learning. However, perspective transformation that leads to transformative learning takes place less frequently and Mezirow developed the belief that this less recurrent alteration typical develops from a disorienting dilemma that has been stimulated by a crisis in life or a key transition in life (Mezirow, 2000). Regardless of the longing for education that could be seen in Susan, she is resistant to the criticisms that come from Frank at first. The holds a correct viewpoint as she does not consider getting educated and learning as activities that demand for the changing of perspectives. At some point, Frank asks her to redo an essay and she salutes him in a Nazi manner and walks away to work on it. With time, she develops a dependence on his viewpoint and he is forced to discourage her from following his ideas without questioning them. As she gains knowledge and other people revere her views, she develops a high level of self-assurance in regard to her personal views. By the time the film comes to an end after going through some dramatic events, Susan, who does not call herself Rita anymore, realizes her independence and is in a phase that Kegan Considers as self-authoring. She is thankful for the lessons she has acquired from Frank but she no longer needs his assistance and she declines the offer she is given to go to Australia while considering Frank as a friend and equal. The theory of transformative leaning creates the hypothesis that adults learners start with a dilemma that may be confusing. This dilemma is more than a problem as the learner comes across a situation that his present resources or awareness may not be able to deal with adequately. Bothe external and internal realities are not harmonized thereby motivating the learner to move towards gaining of knowledge, individual reflection of new ideas as well as the adoption of new viewpoints (Mckenzie, 1987). In the same way that the disorienting dilemma is not considered as a basic issue, learning is not perceived as the mere addition of facts and skills. In Educating Rita Susan has no idea that when she starts Open University, a change in perspective will take place even though it consequently occurs. Indeed, the disorienting dilemma in her case does not take place at the commencement of the film. Her motivation towards liberal education that she can access through the Open University is not the fact that she perceives her situation as one where her internal resources are not sufficient. Actually, she believes she has the ability to deal with the courses mainly since she has no idea how difficult higher education may be. The disorienting dilemmas manifest themselves in the entire film, and it is the unexpected barriers that make her reflect and work through a new view of herself, education and other people. Educating Rita may be considered as an authentic depiction of adult education together with adult learners. It is more realistic than the films where student find themselves sleeping with their lecturers shortly after they have made acquaintances or those where obstacles disappear and the students attain full mastery of his life and surrounding settings. Susan, through learning and growth, graduates to a different phase of adulthood but she maintains her character of being lively and opinionated. According to her, her great accomplishment is the fact that she has choices, opinions that she never had before are available to her in regard to her careers and personal self. Conclusion Even though Rita does not accept the invitation to go to Australia, she essentially embraces the same idea that entails a new form of existence that exists far beyond the old type of life she lived. The fact that she has overcome the barriers associated with her initial world through the acquisition of education as well as the recognition of her acquisitions at the university, she ends up in the same setting as Frank: some form of existential Australia where all the aspects are merely beginning. There are choices that she is required to make, and her growth past the initial type of life she led allows her to make the necessary choices. In the long-run, this is the principle of her education, and the principle associated with all the liberal forms of education which entails the capacity to separate oneself from all the forms of life based on knowledge acquired, the ability to engage in deliberations freely and the capability to adopt a specific course of action that is not dependent on recognized patterns and unexamined desires, but based on critically reflected and cognizant decisions (Daloz, 1988). Rita thanks Frank at the end of the film for being a good teacher and assisting her to get to a particular position that gives her a choice making education a form of liberation. This makes education the emancipation of an individual for a being an ordinary part of a particular setting to an active representative who has the ability to choose who to become and potentially create his own world. References Daloz, L. (1988). Beyond Tribalism: Renaming The Good, The True, and The Beautiful. Adult Education Quarterly, 38(4), 234-241. doi:10.1177/0001848188038004005 Kegan, R. (1982). The evolving self: Problem and process in human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Mckenzie, L. (1987). Worldview Construction and Adult Education. Adult Education Quarterly, 37(4), 230-236. doi:10.1177/0001848187037004005 Merriam, S., & Heuer, B. (1996). Meaning-making, adult learning and development: a model with implications for practice. Int. J. Of Lifelong Educ., 15(4), 243-255. doi:10.1080/0260137960150402 Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Read More