Transformative Learning and Ideological Shifts: Implications for Pedagogy for the Privileged

Blood spilling into the streets in Charlottesville August 2017 during a “Unite Right” white supremacist rally, an 2019 murderous rampage targeting Latinos at Walmart El Paso, Texas, and most recent January 2021 storming of U.S. Capitol represent only few violent events that have occurred past 5 years initiated by far-right supremacists. Fringe behaviors do not exist vacuum. Every day, privileged folks adhere to hegemonic ideals engage racist transgressions stoke fires extreme violence. Significantly, however, some members class eventually reject ideology emerge as activists for marginalized populations. Drawing on theoretical frameworks Pedagogy Privileged, Oppressed, Transformative Learning Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies, this paper asks question: What facilitates significant ideological shift?