Masters Degree in Transformative Learning

The MA Transformative Learning offers a distinctive approach to postgraduate study, integrating artistic practice, scientific observation and philosophical inquiry to reimagine ways of knowing and becoming for contemporary challenges.

At its core, the programme conceptualises transformative learning as a profound experiential journey that transforms the self and the world, conceived of as two sides of the same coin. Unlike the focus of conventional educational models on knowledge acquisition, this approach recognises that genuine transformation involves shifts in how individuals understand themselves, shifts in their belief systems, and shifts in their approach to practice.

Within this framework, the dimension of self-transformation—involving changes in self-perception, meaning-making processes, and consciousness—forms an essential foundation for transformative practice. This inner journey necessarily precedes and informs the capacity to facilitate transformation for others. Students engage with these processes of self-transformation through reflective practice, experiential learning, and critical examination of assumptions, with opportunities to explore them more explicitly in their final research project according to their professional interests.

Fundamentally, this programme is a learning journey based on direct engagement with phenomena – from light and colour to living systems and cultural change. Students investigate not only these external phenomena but also the experience of transformation itself, both within themselves and through observing others, developing a truly embodied understanding of transformative learning.

Through this experiential foundation, students develop sophisticated observational capabilities that value diverse ways of perceiving and understanding. This approach naturally creates inclusive learning environments in which multiple perspectives and ways of knowing are not just accommodated but essential to deeper understanding.

The programme’s holistic methodology recognises that transformation emerges through the integration of different modes of engagement – analytical, creative, and contemplative. This approach ensures accessibility for learners with different strengths and backgrounds while building the capacity to facilitate genuine transformation across diverse contexts.

The curriculum is built upon a collaborative learning model where insight emerges through active dialogue and shared exploration rather than passive reception. Students benefit from extensive direct engagement with faculty and peers, particularly in the foundation and development phases where substantial contact time creates opportunities for deep immersion in guided learning experiences. Seminars and group inquiries form the backbone of this approach, with individual guidance woven throughout these collaborative spaces—creating a learning environment that balances personalised mentoring with the richness of collective discovery. As students progress to their final research phase, the balance shifts to provide more focused individual consultation while maintaining the communal learning foundation, supporting their growth as independent yet connected practitioners of transformative learning.

The MA’s assessment approach recognises multiple ways of knowing and demonstrating understanding. Assessment tasks are designed to value diverse forms of knowledge expression, ensuring that students can showcase their learning through varied modes – visual, practical, reflective, and written – that value different cognitive and cultural approaches to scholarship.

This practical foundation supports the development of new transformative approaches that respond to our complex environmental and social reality.The programme moves through five integrated units:

1. Holistic Ways of Seeing establishes foundational approaches through direct engagement with natural phenomena
2. The Living World develops understanding through engagement with practice of making and careful observation of plant form
3. Organism and Environment explores co-evolutionary relationships between living organisms and their ecological contexts
4. Evolution of Consciousness examines the interplay between human consciousness and cultural development, providing a foundation for understanding learning’s transformative potential
5. Researching Transformative Learning supports the development and application of original contributions to the field of transformative learning

Students learn through:

• Field-based investigation in natural settings
• Studio practice developing observational skills
• Research seminars exploring critical and philosophical thinking
• Craft workshops for developing interdisciplinary understanding and professional capabilities
• Individual projects applying learning to practice

This focused approach to transformative learning integrates rigorous methodology with practical innovation, preparing graduates to respond creatively to contemporary challenges while advancing transformative practice.

This distinctive structure enables the development of new transformative approaches that respond effectively to current ecological and social realities while maintaining academic rigour and professional relevance.

This structure enables graduates to: 

• Design and lead innovative transformative experiences
• Develop sophisticated research capabilities
• Understand complex environmental relationships
• Implement transformative change in varied contexts
• Evolve their professional practice through ongoing reflection

The programme particularly welcomes:

• Educators seeking to develop new approaches
• Creative practitioners exploring educational contexts
• Environmental professionals interested in learning design
• Changemakers working towards systemic transformation
• Individuals searching for a fulfilling vocation in line with their values

Graduates emerge equipped to:

• Lead transformative learning in various settings
• Conduct sophisticated practice-based research
• Design transformative learning experiences
• Contribute to systemic change through ecological awareness

While the MA Transformative Learning develops sophisticated capabilities in designing and facilitating transformative learning experiences, it is not a teaching qualification. The programme develops practitioners who can implement transformative approaches within varied professional contexts but does not confer qualified teacher status or equivalent professional teaching accreditation.

Key features:

• Direct engagement with phenomena as a foundation for learning
• Integration of artistic, scientific and philosophical approaches
• Focus on ecological consciousness in transformative learning
• Clear progression from exploration to leadership
• Emphasis on practical innovation through research
• Strong links between individual development and social change

In essence:

Throughout this journey, students experience transformative learning firsthand before developing the capabilities to facilitate it for others – moving from self-transformation to transformative practice. The programme’s distinctive methodology enables development of new approaches to learning that respond effectively to current ecological and social challenges while maintaining clear academic rigour and professional relevance.

All students are registered for the award of Master of Arts; however, exit awards are available if a student leaves the course early. If a student successfully completes a level of the course, they will automatically be entitled to progress to the next level.

For the award of Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) students must have achieved a minimum of 60 credits at Level 7; and any specific requirements of the course as outlined in the Course Handbook.

For the award of Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip), students must have achieved a minimum of 120 credits at Level 7; and any specific requirements of the course as outlined in the Course Handbook.

For the award of Master of Arts (MA), students must have achieved 180 credits, of which a minimum of 120 credits must be at Level 7; and any specific requirements of the course as outlined in the Course Handbook.

The course progresses through three distinct but integrated years of part-time study, with five units across three developmental stages:

Year 1: Foundation (60 credits)

Establishes methodological foundations through direct engagement with phenomena:

• Holistic Ways of Seeing (40 credits): Developing foundational capabilities in observation and philosophical understanding
• The Living World (20 credits): Applying holistic approaches to understanding organic development

Year 2: Integration & Development (60 credits)

Builds integrated understanding of ecological and cultural relationships:

 Organism and Environment (20 credits): Examining co-evolutionary relationships in ecological systems

• Evolution of Consciousness (40 credits): Exploring the interplay between human consciousness and cultural development as a foundation for understanding transformative learning

The 40-credit unit ‘Evolution of Consciousness’ develops a sophisticated understanding of the relationships between consciousness, culture and self-transformation. This integrated perspective provides a foundation for understanding transformative learning and developing this understanding into a substantial research project in Year 3.

Year 3: Research & Innovation (60 credits)

• Researching Transformative Learning (60 credits) synthesises previous learning and supports substantial original research that contributes to the theory and practice of transformative learning

• Unit 1: Holistic Ways of Seeing (40 Credits)

This foundational unit establishes the programme’s distinctive approach through direct engagement with natural phenomena. Through careful investigation of light, colour, sound and form, students develop sophisticated observational capabilities and philosophical understanding that inform their practice. Working both individually and in groups, they learn to perceive and document subtle relationships while developing rigorous thinking about the nature of knowledge itself.

The unit integrates observation, artistic practice and philosophical inquiry, offering multiple pathways into understanding. Students explore how different ways of seeing and thinking reveal complementary aspects of reality, developing critical awareness of the relationship between perception, thinking and knowledge. This understanding informs the design of transformative learning experiences.

Through structured observation exercises, artistic exploration and philosophical dialogue, students begin developing the facilitation skills needed for transformative learning. They learn to guide others in seeing and thinking anew, establishing foundations for their emerging role as learning practitioners.

Careful documentation of these investigations, combined with collaborative reflection and philosophical contextualisation, builds the methodological rigour needed for advanced research while making sophisticated understanding accessible through various modes of representation.

• Unit 2: The Living World (20 Credits)

Building on established observational capabilities, this unit explores living systems through experiential and holistic approaches. Students engage deeply with plant growth and form, developing understanding through careful observation, geometrical and artistic representation and theoretical reflection. This work develops their capacity to perceive and represent complex developmental processes.

Working primarily in field and studio settings, students learn to recognise and document subtle patterns in organic phenomena. They develop sophisticated approaches to representing their insights, building communication skills essential for leadership. Group work provides opportunities to guide others in observation and understanding, further developing facilitation capabilities.

The unit establishes foundations for ecological consciousness through direct engagement with living processes. Students begin to understand how form and function interrelate in nature, developing insights that will inform their practice. This practical foundation supports development of learning experiences that foster environmental awareness.

• Unit 3: Organism and Environment (20 Credits)

This unit examines dynamic relationships between organisms and their environments, developing sophisticated understanding of how parts and wholes interact. Through comparative studies and field research, students explore how organisms and environments shape each other over time, building an evolutionary conception for understanding transformative processes in living systems.

Students investigate animal form, ecological systems and their co-evolution through both observation and artistic representation. This work develops their ability to perceive and communicate complex relationships, skills essential for facilitating transformative learning.

The unit’s emphasis on relationship and context helps students understand how environments shape development and transformation. This understanding supports the development of learning experiences that foster environmental awareness and systemic thinking. Field-based research develops both observational capabilities and practical skills needed for transformative practice.

• Unit 4: Evolution of Consciousness (40 Credits)

This extended unit explores the co-evolutionary relationship between human consciousness and cultural development, drawing on key insights from Romanticism and other relevant fields. Students examine how shifts in consciousness and culture contribute to transformative learning through multiple modes of inquiry.

The unit builds on foundational understanding established in Year 1 to investigate the deep structures that shape transformative experiences and developmental processes. Emphasis is placed on developing advanced skills in cultural analysis and interpretation, recognising how different knowledge traditions contribute to understanding transformation. This integrated approach supports students in developing learning practices that respond effectively to varied contexts and experiences.

Completing Year 2, Evolution of Consciousness deepens students’ comprehension of how consciousness, culture, and self-transformation interconnect. By reflecting on their direct experiential engagement with consciousness development and examining theoretical perspectives, students gain valuable insights into transformative learning.

This combination of experiential reflection and conceptual understanding establishes a strong foundation for the original research they will pursue in Year 3.

• Unit 5: Researching Transformative Learning (60 Credits)

This culminating unit supports students in conducting substantial original research that contributes to social and cultural change through transformative practice.

Building on methodologies and understanding developed throughout the programme, students begin by formulating meaningful research questions about transformative learning. These questions emerge from their own learning experiences across the previous units and connect to their professional contexts. Students then develop these questions into formal research proposals that outline their intended contribution to the field.

With proposals established, students implement research projects that demonstrate sophisticated engagement with holistic approaches to learning and development. The unit provides a flexible research framework, allowing students to investigate transformation using methods that align with their particular professional settings and interests. This flexibility ensures that research remains grounded in practice while maintaining academic rigour.

Through this structured yet adaptable research process, students develop as both practitioners and scholars of transformative learning, capable of making original contributions that bridge theory and practice in their professional fields.

Students work independently while maintaining dialogue with peers and tutors, developing research capabilities while refining their philosophical and practical approaches. They learn to integrate theoretical sophistication with innovative practice, establishing foundations for continuing development as change-makers. Their research makes substantive contributions to transformative practice across learning, cultural and social contexts.

The unit emphasises practical application of research insights, ensuring academic rigour serves broader cultural and social transformation. Students develop and implement innovative approaches to learning, systemic change, and social development, demonstrating their capacity to lead transformative initiatives in varied contexts. This work establishes foundations for continuing development while contributing to the evolution of learning and cultural practice.