Annotated Bibliography Assignment: Course Name, Semester Details

This annotated bibliography assignment presents an example of an academic paper that explores the concepts of transformative and instrumental learning, drawing on Jack Mezirow's work. The assignment begins with a student's introduction that emphasizes the importance of non-instrumental forms of intelligence, such as compassion and creativity, within the educational system. The core of the assignment is an annotation of a single source, which includes a summary of Mezirow's key ideas from his article, focusing on the distinction between "instrumental" and "communicative" learning, and the concept of "transformative learning." The annotation critiques Mezirow's assumption about the inability of people in unfortunate circumstances to engage in meaningful discourse. The assignment highlights the significance of incorporating non-measured forms of intelligence into school curriculums to foster better individuals and active participants in society. The document is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand and create their own annotated bibliographies.

Annotated Bibliography Assignment and Sample:
Student Name
Course
Professor McCarthy
Date:
Sample Student Introduction with Thesis (in bold)
It never ceases to amaze me that we pay so little attention to the greatest bulk of our
intelligence—that is, the quality of thinking that helps us adapt, deal with stress, love, and live
lives of fulfillment. Aristotle argued that educating the mind and not the heart is no education at
all. For decades, educators have focused on cognitive skills because they are testable and,
therefore, metrics can be applied to them. This kind of education, testing, and then metrically
interpreting results has governed American education for decades. And the results have been
losses of creativity, imagination, courtesy, civic interest, and the ability to invent businesses
that serve people and advance us as a society. Although measurable skills are important,
they are not exclusively important, and in fact lose value when separated from an
education in the heart, the spirit, and the abstract qualities that make students fully
human and excellent participants in a healthy society.
Annotation of a Single Source (5 academic scholarly sources are required for the paper):
Author’s name and Publication detail: Jack Mezirow (2012). Transformative Learning as
discourse. International journal of business & public administration. 9(2), 109-124.
The Annotation Details:
In this article, Mezirow makes a distinction between "instrumental" and "communicative"
learning. "Instrumental learning" refers to those processes which measure and gage learning,

such as tests, grades, comments, quizzes, attendance records and the like. "Communicative
learning," on the other hand, refers to understanding created over time between individuals in
what Mezirow calls "critical-dialectical-discourse," (p. 92) which is a fancy way of saying,
important conversation between 2 or more speakers. Another key idea Mezirow discusses is
"transformative learning," (p. 94) which changes the mind, the heart, the values and beliefs of
people so that they may act better in the world. Mezirow argues that "hungry, desperate,
homeless, sick, destitute, and intimidated people obviously cannot participate fully and freely in
discourse" (p. 92). On the one hand, he is right: there are some people who cannot fully engage
because their crisis is so long and deep, they are prevented. But, I don't think Mezirow should
make the blanket assumption that everyone in unfortunate circumstances is incapable of
entering the discourse meaningfully. One thing is certain: if we gave as much attention to the
non-instrumental forms of intelligence--like goodness, compassion, forgiveness, wonder, self-
motivation, creativity, humor, love, and other non-measured forms of intelligence in our school
curriculums, we'd see better people, actors in the world, and interested investigators than we
currently have graduating high school.