Dialogue Exhibitions: Putting Transformative Learning Theory into Practice

Exhibitions in museums, science centers, and other socio‐cultural locations can play a key role in shifting patterns in interpersonal relationships and understanding between “us” and “them.” This objective of changing attitudes and shifting perspectives can be accomplished with exhibitions designed with a clear methodology based on the Theory of Transformative Learning (Mezirow 1978, 1991, 2000). How can museum educators ensure that learners internalize attitude changes and perspective shifts, and what evidence can be shown that these learning objectives have actually been met? In this article, we explain the Theory of Transformative Learning and how it is applied to exhibitions to facilitate exactly these objectives.