The world is changing. The rate of change is dramatic and at times, overwhelming. We are complex beings and the people trained to help us sort through our past traumas and set goals for a great future need to be trained not only in theory and technique, but also have the courage to guide us because they have done their own transformation. According to the Transformative Education Organization: Transformation is to be, explicitly, the goal and the process of all educative encounters. The transformative process also includes a search for meaning and an explanation that transformation involves the experience of discomfort, tension and chaos – even “anguish”, so that we can learn how to transform these painful emotions.
Another key tenet of Transformative Education is the idea that Human relations are to underlie the whole educational process. Instead of hierarchical top down institutional structures, a healthy learning environment includes empathy, compassion, caring, loving, respect and trust. The voices of the learners/students play a big part in shaping their own learning experience.
If being part of a community devoted to this type of education is important to you, it is important to check out the goals and philosophies of your educational organization. As a counselor or coach you are entrusted with others’ well being. Your own evolution is critical to the value you will bring to your client. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
