Chapter 4: Consequential Transitions: A Sociocultural Expedition Beyond Transfer in Education

I would normally avoid using a standard English dictionary definition to begin an intelligent conversation about almost anything, let alone introduce an entire chapter with one. However, our everyday use of the term transfer has a powerful metaphorical bearing on how we, as educators and social scientists who also happen to lead everyday lives, think about learning transfer. The American Heritage Dictionary (1976) defines transfer as follows. transfer (tr~tns-ffir', t r~s ' fe r) v.-ferred,-ferring,-fers.-- tr. 1. To convey or shift from one person or place to another. 2. To make over the possession or legal title of to another. 3. To convey (a drawing, pattern, mural, or design) from one surface to another.-- in tr. I. To move oneself, as from one location,job, or school to another. 2. To change from one airplane, bus, or other carrier to another. Transfer involves the movement of a person, a transaction, or an object from one place and time to another in our daily lives. As a construct in educational psychology, it refers to the appearance of a person carrying the product of learning from one task, problem, situation, or institution to another. It is here that the metaphor begins to break down. Transfer is distinguished from run-of-the-mill