School as a site of transformative adult learning: parents’ experiences of Polish democratic schools

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to explore transformative learning processes of parents involved in informal, parent-established democratic schools, which are novel educational initiatives in Poland. The author argues that the distinctive educational ideology and the practice of such schools expose parents to new understandings of education, the child and the parent, which prompts their transformative learning. Drawing on the conceptual framework of transformative learning and practice-based learning theories, the author analyses interviews with parents to identify the trajectory of parental learning, the scope of their transformation and the factors that enhance or hinder it. Primarily concerning the respondents’ personal identities and part-identities as parents, the transformation entails changes in their value systems, definitions of a good life, perceptions of the child and parenting practices. While its potential to instigate broader social change currently appears limited, parental transformative learning exemplifies significant emancipatory biographical praxis.

Keywords:

• transformative learning
• democratic schools
• parental development
• parental engagement in education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. These roles are reflected in the respondent codes: ‘P’ indicates parents, ‘E’ – educators (staff members), ‘L’ – leaders, ‘P/E’ – parents who are staff members and ‘P/L’ – parents who are leaders. In total, eighty adults were interviewed. This article relies on the interviews which most prominently featured the themes of parental development and learning.

2. For a discussion of the benefits of utilising transformative learning and practice-based learning theories as complementary, see Hodge (2014). While he interprets transformative learning as an ‘inter-practice’ phenomenon, my data indicate that it can also emerge within a practice as a response to the changing circumstances and lead to a consequent transformation of the practice itself.

3. For a critical review of ‘parental determinism,’ see Furedi (2002). Importantly, though rejecting several principles of this ideology and opting for approaches that posit children as competent (e.g., Juul, 2011), the democratic-school parents are believers in the salience of proper parenting.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Centre, Poland [project number: 2014/13/D/HS6/01896].

Notes on contributors

Katarzyna Gawlicz

Katarzyna Gawlicz is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Education, University of Lower Silesia (Wrocław, Poland). Her academic interests include democratic education, children’s rights in education, transformative learning, and teacher training.