Undressing transformative learning The roles of instrumental and communicative learning in the shift to clothing sustainability

• Published in: Adult education quarterly Vol. 66; no. 3; pp. 199 - 218
• Main Authors: Quinn, Lisa J, Sinclair, A. John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2016
• Subjects: Adult Learning; Case Studies; Communication Skills; Erwachsenenbildung; Fallstudie; Foreign Countries; Forschungsbericht; Kanada; Learning Processes; Lerntheorie; Manitoba (Winnipeg); Nachhaltigkeit; Outcomes of Education; Qualitative Daten; Qualitative Research; Role; Surveys; Sustainability; Teaching Methods; Transformative Learning; Values; Verbrauch; Canada (Winnipeg); communicative learning; Canada; clothing; instrumental learning; sustainability; transformative learning
• ISSN: 0741-7136; 0001-8481; 1552-3047
• DOI: 10.1177/0741713616640881

Clothing is an integral part of our lives, yet modes of producing, using, and disposing of apparel have significant impacts on the environment. Our research explored the role transformative learning plays in the transition to more sustainable thinking and actions about clothing to illuminate instrumental learning processes and examine the relationship between instrumental and communicative learning. Using a qualitative case study approach, we gathered data on behaviors and attitudes (n = 32), and examined in depth the learning participants underwent and the action they took (n = 17). The data reveal that instrumental and communicative learning outcomes were plentiful, with participants discussing the array of skills, knowledge, and communicative insights they learned. Results indicate that instrumental learning makes action possible by allowing individuals to identify problems and solutions and to develop plans of action. Results also reveal the important interaction among instrumental and communicative learning as an individual seeks to understand an occurrence.