Transformational learning

No. 8 (August 2025) in the 'Mastery in Writing' series of articles: https://www.paramedicpractice.com/content/mastery-in-writing. Last month we looked at critical reflection and how you can expand this into reflexion, moving forward in the way you think more widely about the issues you encounter in practice. When you study at level 7, you may well come across the terms of transactional, transformational or transformative learning and wonder what these mean. In brief, transactional learning occurs when ‘something’ is passed from person to person through interactions and experiences. In basic terms, this can be seen as: learn this, sit exam, receive result. Teaching of clinical skills by repetition and rote to become proficient results in transactional learning. Simple reflection using Gibbs’ reflective cycle results in transactional learning, which leads to an increase in knowledge or skill, but at a more surface level.