Pay Attention in School, Kids:
Benefits of Transformative Learning in Elementary School
Transformative learning is an application-based instructional method that integrates classroom knowledge into the everyday life experiences of the student. Existing literature studying post-elementary school students posits that this form of instruction yields increased student achievement and aids in long-term retention of learned material, compared to other teaching methods. In three different observational studies at the Elementary School of the Community School of Davidson, various applications of this method were observed for younger students. This poster examines the importance and benefit of introducing transformative instruction at a young age, thereby establishing the link between school and life skills from early-on. We hypothesize that this opportunity to learn with this form of instruction at such a young age will establish good learning habits, setting students up for success throughout their continued education. This longitudinal trajectory was not possible to observe for the purpose of this poster. However, because existing literature establishes the benefit of transformative learning for older students, we believe that exposure to this learning even earlier on can only increase these benefits.
