In his book Transformative Learning, Edmund O'Sullivan has
brought a deeply moving and deeply thoughtful vision to the discourse
of educational reform. Rather than simply offering a critique of the
modernist meta-narratives that have shaped education since the Enlightenment,
O'Sullivan offers up a new grand narrative, or mythic vision, which
he argues is necessary if we are to educate for the survival and sustainability
of our planet. In so doing, he bravely ventures along a pathway that
many postmodern and critical theorist angels fear to tread.
Drawing upon scholarship from an exceptional variety of disciplines
including history, metaphysics, anthropology, biology, eco-philosophy,
cosmology, political theory, feminist theory, psychology, chaos theory,
and physics, O'Sullivan describes and critiques modernity and the
current mantras of globalization. He then shapes a narrative vision
which he hopes will be "of sufficient power and complexity to
orient people for effective action to overcome environmental problems,
to address the multiple problems presented by environmental destruction,
to reveal what the possibilities are for transforming these and to
reveal to people the role that they can play in this project"
(p. 182). In shaping this comprehensive cosmology, O'Sullivan does
not offer particular and specific suggestions for educational practice.
Instead he invites readers to reflect deeply upon the personal and
cultural perspectives that have and are driving educational efforts
and to envision the shape of education if the cosmology he elucidates
were to become our guiding narrative.
While postmodernist critiques are typically deconstructive and express
grave concerns about the construction of new grand narratives to replace
the old, O'Sullivan posits that without a comprehensive reconstructive
cosmology humans are left without a positive transformative vision
to guide future action. In his narrative, "the universe story",
O'Sullivan proposes that three interrelated basic tendencies operate
in the universe at all levels and all the time. These tendencies are:
differentiation, which is a creative force that "brings with
it the burden of being and becoming, different from everything else
in the universe" (p. 223); subjectivity, which includes the idea
that all things in the universe have, at least in latent form, the
capacity for sentience and, therefore, should be considered as "living,
spontaneous and sentient [entities] that can be addressed in intimate
terms" (p. 192); and, communion, which embraces the notion of
"the deep and relational quality of all reality" (p. 192).
O'Sullivan's grand narrative, then, encompasses a vision that not
only includes all humans in all their wonderful diversity and uniqueness
but also includes all of the natural world and universe. This is a
compelling narrative because it is framed by ideas that enable us
to honour and encourage both the individual and the collective, the
human and not human.
Although O'Sullivan's tracing of the historical roots of the present
age is somewhat linear and simplistic, his analysis of present trends
and dominant ways of thinking is both comprehensive and insightful.
Using a plethora of recent scholarly studies he develops a well-documented
and fascinating synthesis of ideas. Although the density and abstractness
of the metaphysical ideas is challenging, this rich and complex work
should be on the reading list of all educators, including practising
teachers, administrators, graduate students, and university professors.
In fact, this book offers intriguing insights for all who ponder the
future of humanity and our planet.