Habermas’s Lifeworld and System in Mezirow’s Transformative Learning

Abstract

Transformative learning theory in the field of adult education clearly emphasizes the development of individuals and groups. Theoretically, this theory was influenced by many social scientists, but the most important contribution was from Jürgen Habermas. However, Jack Mezirow not only borrowed Habermas’s concepts of knowledge and human interest to develop his transformative learning theory, but also other conceptual frameworks under the umbrella of communicative action theory. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how Habermas’s concepts of lifeworld and system helped explain and develop Jack Mezirow’s  transformative learning theory. Methodologically, this is a documentary research which employed the qualitative criterion of managing data sources to collect and interpret the yielded qualitative data. The primary sources were Habermas’s The Theory of Communicative Action and Mezirow’s major works on transformative learning theory, including seven other secondary sources. The qualitative data analysis showed that transformative learning theory was heavily influenced by the concepts of lifeworld and system, especially in the following stages of transformative process: disorienting dilemma, critical reflection, discourse, and reintegration of new perspectives. In other words, transformative learning theory had articulated Habermas’s concepts of lifeworld’s elements and to the reproduction processes of lifeworld, namely the cultural reproduction, social integration, and socialization.