Becoming a transformational learner in vocational education

Author: Steve Henry

Supervisors: Samuel Mann Henk Roodt Martin Andrew

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10 December 2025

 

Henry, S. (2025). Becoming a transformational learner in vocational education [Doctoral thesis, Otago Polytechnic]. 

 

Abstract

This practitioner thesis makes the claim that transformational learning for adult vocational learners is enabled by a suitable, critically reflective space and an impetus for sense-making. The context for this thesis is customised degree-level vocational education for experienced adult professional learners against a backdrop of profound societal changes. Transformative learning has been described by Mezirow (2009, p. 22) as “learning that transforms problematic frames of reference to make them more inclusive, discriminating, reflective, open, and emotionally able to change.” This thesis centres on the discernible challenges confronted by both learners in vocational educators their institutions. These challenges encompass the evolving nature of work; the catalytic influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has validated remote work and distance learning; and the precarious sustainability of traditional delivery models. In New Zealand, these dynamics have led to a current overhaul of the entire vocational sector, rendering it increasingly complex and resulting in a state that Casico (2020) aptly terms "BANI" - brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible.

One consequential response to this changing workplace has been the growing emphasis on recognizing prior learning for experienced learners within educational institutions. An example is found within the researcher's own workplace, CapableNZ at Otago Polytechnic. At CapableNZ both learners and educational professionals have testified to the advantages of placing the learner and their context at the heart of curriculum co-construction, as they compile a portfolio of evidence derived from their ongoing experiential learning. Prior research in this context (Carpenter & Ker, 2021; Day et al. 2022; Ker, 2017; Mann, 2017a) has consistently reported significant transformative learning experiences.

This study embarks on a journey to investigate transformational learning and to find out whether it may offer a fitting response to the escalating complexity within the vocational sector for working learners. I re-examine and reflect upon my own transformational practice across my 38 years as a professional educator using an autoethnographic approach with action-based, narrative and appreciative inquiry research methods. Concurrently, a qualitative exploration of transformational learning unfolds through surveys, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews with alumni learners and education professionals. The combined evidence suggests that a discernible transformation manifests in learners as a re-framing of identity in practice, leading to a space for an augmented curiosity and impetus for sense-making.

 

Keywords

transformational learning, sensemaking, response to disruption

 

Licence

This thesis is not yet publicly available.

The author can be contacted on shiftforums@gmail.com  to request a copy.