Dr. George Slavich (UCLA) and Dr. Phil Zimbardo (Stanford University) have published a comprehensive review article on Transformational Teaching, an exciting new approach to classroom instruction. The article appears in the current online edition of the journal Educational Psychology Review.
According to Slavich and Zimbardo, transformational teaching involves creating dynamic relationships between teachers, students, and a shared body of knowledge to promote student learning and personal growth. From this perspective, instructors are intellectual coaches who create teams of students who collaborate with each other and with their teacher to master bodies of information. Teachers assume the traditional role of facilitating students’ acquisition of key course concepts, but do so while enhancing students’ personal development and attitudes toward learning. They accomplish these goals by establishing a shared vision for a course, providing modeling and mastery experiences, challenging and encouraging students, personalizing attention and feedback, creating experiential lessons that transcend the boundaries of the classroom, and promoting ample opportunities for preflection and reflection.
Dr. George Slavich is an assistant professor and Society in Science: Branco Weiss Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. He is also a Research Scientist at the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, where he directs the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research.
Dr. Phil Zimbardo is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. He has published more than 400 professional articles and is generally recognized as the voice and face of modern psychology. He is best known for his award-winning textbook, Psychology and Life, PBS TV series, Discovering Psychology, and landmark studies including the Stanford Prison Experiment.
ARTICLE DOWNLOAD LINKS
Transformational Teaching: Theoretical Underpinnings, Basic Principles, and Core Methods
Dr. George M. Slavich, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2012 Raymond D. Fowler Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Professional Development of Graduate Students. The award is administered by the American Psychological Association and honors psychologists who have made significant contributions to the professional development of graduate students over the course of their careers. Criteria for selection include encouraging and facilitating academic and/or scientific excellence, encouraging broader socialization of students, and helping students to shape their own professional identity. 
Dr. George M. Slavich, Ph.D., has been awarded the 2012 Theodore H. Blau Early Career Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Clinical Psychology. The award is given jointly by the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Foundation, and the Society of Clinical Psychology, and honors outstanding contributions to clinical psychology by an early career psychologist. Accomplishments may include promoting the practice of clinical psychology through professional service; innovation in service delivery; novel application of applied research methodologies to professional practice; positive impact on health delivery systems; development of creative educational programs for practice; or other novel or creative activities advancing the service of the profession. Dr. Slavich received the award for his outstanding early career achievements in advancing the science, practice, and profession of clinical psychology.
