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School of Education |
Introduction To Education EDG 2701 Unit III Lesson IV Transpersonal Education as a Theory of Teaching and Learning | |||
Personal Information Associate Professor, Senior |
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Introduction to the Lesson The purpose of this fourth lesson in this third unit is to introduce the education student to Transpersonal Education as a theory of teaching and learning. The terms Transpersonal education and Humanistic education are often used interchangebly, due to the influence of Abraham Maslow. Transpersonal Education as presented here represents a paradigm shift from the older teaching learning paradigms, e.g. behaviorism/objectivism and constructivism/cognitivism/cognitive field interactionism, keeping and expanding upon the elements of these older paradigms that work and introducing or including previously excluded elements of transformation and self-trancendence. In this lesson, the student will study the ideas, concepts and constructs of transpersonal psychology, transpersonal education, including those of William James, Carl G. Jung, Ken Wilbur, Marilyn Ferguson and John Davis among others. In addition, the student will study such applications of transpersonal education as ritual (the rites of passage), meditation, peak or mystical experiences, What is Transpersonal Psychology Transpersonal Psychology includes the study and open communication of transpersonal experiences, concepts, and practices. It accepts as its province the full range of human development, especially those elements that are personal as well as transpersonal, reaching through, across, and beyond the human personality. As a major orientation in psychology, a transpersonal perspective exercises both objective and subjective modes of knowing. It connects contemporary educational, scientific, and clinical methodologies with personal, social, and spiritual understanding. It is concerned with full human awareness, the integration of psychological and spiritual experience, and the transcendence of self. Transpersonal psychology was first announced and defined with the publication of The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, in 1969. Guided by the work of psychologists Abraham Maslow, Anthony Sutich and colleagues, this new field was founded on a commitment to open-ended inquiry, experiential and empirical validation, and a values-oriented approach to human experience. (http://www.atpweb.org/journal.html#orien) According to Michael Daniels: "Transpersonal Psychology" is a branch of psychology that is concerned with the study of those states and processes in which people experience a deeper or wider sense of who they are, or a sense of greater connectedness with others, nature, or the "spiritual" dimension. The term "transpersonal" means "beyond the personal" and a common assumption in transpersonal psychology is that transpersonal experiences involve a higher mode of consciousness in which the ordinary mental-egoic self is transcended. Transpersonal Psychology is a relatively new development in academic psychology that has yet to be recognised formally by the American Psychological Association. However, in 1997, the British Psychological Society approved the formation of an academic Transpersonal Psychology Section, as well as one for the related area of Consciousness and Experiential Psychology. Among the topics currently being explored by transpersonal psychologists are:
Although transpersonal psychology is a branch of psychology, it recognises the importance of a non-parochial and integrative approach in which other disciplines are acknowledged to have their own contributions to make in our combined explorations of the transpersonal. These other disciplines include philosophy, psychiatry, sociology, politics, education, anthropology, history, literary studies, religious studies, biology and physics. What Transpersonal Psychology is NOT Transpersonal psychology is, in the broadest sense, a scientific enterprise - it is NOT a religion or ideology. Individual transpersonal psychologists may or may not have their own religious or spiritual beliefs, although most will be engaged in some kind of transpersonal practice (e.g., meditation, ritual, service, devotion, transpersonal therapy, reflective living, political action). Although there is currently a predominance of Buddhist-inspired transpersonal psychologists, other traditions are also well represented. These include Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Hindu, Shamanic, Taoist, Tantric, Magical, Gurdjieffian, Theosophical, and Agnostic. Transpersonal psychology is NOT the New Age. Although transpersonal psychology represents a paradigm shift in consciousness, science and culture, it seeks to distance itself from the kind of uncritical adoption of New Age beliefs that characterises certain elements of the so-called counter culture. Transpersonal psychology has very little, if anything, to do with crystals, UFOs, alien abduction, chakras, auras, fairies, psychism, aromatherapy, levitation, fire-walking, or the millennium, except as these phenomena, practices or experiences may be investigated in terms of their transformational consequences. Transpersonal Psychology is NOT metaphysics. This is rather more problematic, because many would claim that transpersonal experiences imply a metaphysical belief in a spiritual, divine, or transcendent realm. However, there are some transpersonal psychologists who understand the transpersonal in more immanent terms, for example the developing of a greater sense of connectedness with the deeper Self, the world of nature, or the social, interpersonal dimension. In practice it is important that transpersonal psychologists are clear and open about their own metaphysical assumptions. Transpersonal Psychology is NOT anti-rationalist. Although many would argue that the highest states of transpersonal consciousness are ineffable and beyond a rational appreciation, transpersonal psychology does not dismiss or devalue rational and intellectual analysis, which can add much to our knowledge and understanding in these areas. However, it is important also to acknowledge the reality and importance of non-rational modes of knowing, such as intuition, integrative awareness, and contemplation. Pioneers of Transpersonal Psychology William James, through his ground-breaking work on paranormal experiences and the varieties of religious experience. Aldous Huxley, especially because of his investigations into the apparent expansion of consciousness using mescalin, and for his analysis of the elements of the "Perennial Philosophy" Teilhard de Chardin, who developed a model of the evolution of consciousness that integrates biological science with Christian theology. Sri Aurobindo, who developed a similar model of the evolution of consciousness, based on Eastern philosophies. Carl Gustav Jung, who introduced the concepts of the collective unconscious and archetypes, and especially for his attempt to understand religious archetypes from a psychological perspective. Abraham Maslow, through his studies of self-actualization, peak experiences, self-transcendence, and metamotivation. Maslow was one of the key founders of both the "third force" (humanistic psychology) and "fourth force" (transpersonal psychology). Together with Anthony Sutich and Stan Grof, he was responsible for the establishment of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology (1969) and the Association for Transpersonal Psychology (1972). Stanislav Grof, through his extensive explorations of transpersonal experiences resulting from the use of LSD and Holotropic Breathwork TM Roberto Assagioli, the founder of psychosynthesis, a transpersonally-based approach to therapy and personal growth. Charles T. Tart, who pioneered empirical research into altered states of consciousness. Ken Wilber, currently the leading theorist in transpersonal psychology, who has developed a brilliant model of the evolution of consciousness that integrates the philosophies and psychologies of West and East, ancient and modern. Transpersonal psychology stands at the interface of psychology and spirituality. It is the field of psychology which integrates psychological concepts, theories, and methods with the subject matter and practices of the spiritual disciplines. Its interests include spiritual experiences, mystical states of consciousness, mindfulness and meditative practices, shamanic states, ritual, the overlap of spiritual experiences with disturbed states such as psychosis and depression, and the transpersonal dimensions of interpersonal relationships, service, and encounters with the natural world. The core concept in Transpersonal Psychology is non-duality, the recognition that each part (e.g., each person) is fundamentally and ultimately a part of the whole (the cosmos). As obvious as this might sound, it has radical implications for psychological systems founded on the premises of mechanism, atomism, reductionism, and separateness. From this insight come two other central insights: the intrinsic health and basic goodness of the whole and each of its parts, and the validity of self-transcendence from the conditional and conditioned personality to a sense of identity which is deeper, broader, and more unified with the whole (Lajoie and Shapiro, 1992; Scotton, Chinen, and Battista, 1996; Walsh and Vaughan, 1993a). The root of the term, transpersonal or "beyond the personal," reflects this impulse toward that which is more universal than individual or personal identity. Since the root of the word, personal, comes from persona or the masks worn by Greek actors to portray characters, transpersonal means literally "beyond the mask." These masks both hid the actor and revealed the actor's role. Following this metaphor, transpersonal psychology seeks to disclose and develop the source and deeper nature of our identities, roles, and self-images. However, it is important that a focus on non-duality, self-transcendence, and intrinsic health not negate the importance of individuality or personalness. Transpersonal psychology's orientation is inclusive, valuing and integrating the following: psychological development as well as the spiritual; the personal and the transpersonal; exceptional mental health, ordinary experience, and states of suffering; ordinary and extraordinary states of consciousness; modern Western perspectives, Eastern wisdom, (some) postmodern insights, and worldviews of indigenous traditions; and analytical intellect and contemplative ways of knowing. Transpersonal psychology is not a religion; it does not present a belief system or provide an institutional structure. Rather, it is a field of inquiry which includes theory, research, and practice, offering insights based on research and experience and practices for evaluating and confirming or disconfirming its findings. It is scientific in the broader sense of the phenomenological or "human" sciences (Braud and Anderson, 1998; Davis, 1996; Giorgi, 1970). Overlaps between psychology and spirituality have been present in both psychology (e.g., William James, Jung, Maslow) and in the spiritual traditions (which have their own rich views of development, cognition, social interactions, emotional and behavioral suffering, and methods of healing). A core practice for transpersonal psychology includes meditation, mindfulness, contemplation, and phenomenological inquiry. Comparing the role of meditation in transpersonal psychology to the role of dreams in psychoanalysis, Walsh and Vaughan (1993a) referred to meditation as "the royal road to the transpersonal." In this broad category, I would include other awareness practices such as Gendlin's (1982) Focusing technique drawn from phenomenological philosophy and psychotherapy. While meditation and related practices can be used for self-regulation, relaxation, and pain control or for self-exploration and self-therapy, they have traditionally been used for self-liberation (Shapiro, 1994). Despite their many surface forms, most styles of meditation can be a means of disidentifying from our "masks" or egos and realizing our fundamental nonduality (Goleman and Ram Dass, 1996). Other practices that are associated with transpersonal psychology include shamanism, lucid dreaming, and psychedelic drugs (Walsh and Vaughan, 1993a). I would add ritual as another important, though less recognized, transpersonal practice. For people in many cultures, ritual is the central means of discovering connections with each other, with communities, with the Earth, and with the cosmos (e.g., Somé, 1998). Transpersonal psychology has benefits for both psychology and the spiritual disciplines. Psychology can expand toward a fuller and richer accounting of the full range of human experience and potential and incorporate practices that speak more directly to the depth of our nature. The spiritual disciplines can incorporate insights and skills about human development, healing, and growth to deal more skillfully with the psychological issues that arise with spiritual development. It can use these issues as gateways, rather than obstacles, to self-realization. http://www.naropa.edu/faculty/johndavis/tp/what3.html Transpersonal Psychology examines a broad range of concepts (Walsh & Vaughan, 1993). Some of its key concepts are: 1. PEAK EXPERIENCES, a term originated by Maslow (e.g., 1971). He wanted to study mystical ex periences and other experiences of optimal psychological health, but he felt the connotations of religion and spiri tuality would be too limiting. Therefore, he began using "peak experi ences" as a neutral term. A peak experience has some (but not necessarily all) of the following characteristics:
Research on peak experiences has identified the frequency, triggers, psychosocial correlates, and consequences of peak experiences. For instance, virtually everyone in representative surveys reports some kind of peak experience, and a small percentage reports profound peak experiences similar to classical mystical experiences. It has also been shown that people tend not to discuss peak experiences with each other. The most common reasons were that they felt it was a personal and intimate experience which they did not want to share, that they did not have adequate words to describe it, and that they were afraid others might devalue the experience or think they were crazy (Davis, et al., 1991). This under-reporting of peak experiences may count in part for their exclusion from much of psychology and certainly a focus on peak experiences has been discouraged by most approaches to psychology. Transpersonal Psychology encourages the inclusion of peak experiences as important windows on mental health and full functioning as a human being. Toward the end of his life, Maslow also introduced the term "plateau experiences." These are positive experiences that are of longer duration and lower intensity than peak experiences. Meditative states and quiet reverie are examples. He also made mention of "nadir experiences," the opposite of peak experiences. These are intensely negative experiences which turn around into positive experiences. This work on identifying and categorizing transpersonal experiences has been continued. Walsh and Vaughan (1993) and others have begun a systematic mapping of the their characteristics. 2. SELF-TRANSCENDENCE, states of consciousness in which the sense of self is ex panded beyond the ordinary definitions and self-images of the individual personality. Self-transcendence refers to the direct experience of a fundamental connection, harmony, or unity with others and the world. The "self" which is transcended is the personality or ego-self, the collection of self-concepts, self-images, and roles which develops through one's interactions. Transpersonal approaches hold that this ego-self is not the same as one's true nature or essence and that self-transcendence opens one to the experience of this deeper nature. The notion of self-transcendence is a key part of Maslow's thinking and the roots of transpersonal psychology. Toward the end of his career, Maslow's transpersonal in terests led him to add a sixth level to his widely-known Hierarchy of Needs. This sixth level, a meta-need for self-transcendence and a motivation toward peak experiences, extends beyond the deficiency needs and the need for self-actualization. He found that such a need was present for some but not all self-actualizing persons. A sense of self-transcendence is a defining characteristic of mystical experiences. 3. OPTIMAL MENTAL HEALTH, beyond what is considered possible by other ap proaches to psychology. Mental health is usually seen as adequate coping with environmental demands and resolution of personal conflicts, but the view of transpersonal psychology also includes a fuller awareness, self-understanding, and self-fulfillment. Optimal mental health also includes the notion of serving others. Peak and plateau experiences are brief examples of optimal states of mental health, but expanded awareness, freedom from internal conflicts and deficiency, and authentic contact with others are possible as enduring traits also. Transpersonal psychology seeks to explore and validate states that have been termed enlightenment, awakening, or liberation by the spiritual disciplines (Walsh and Vaughan, 1993). 4. SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY, a disturbing experience resulting from a spiritual experience (or "emergence"). In general, transpersonal psychology holds the view that psychological crises can be part of a healthy awakening and that they are not always signs of psychopathology. Closely related to this is a view that the person is intrinsically healthy and that this health may manifest in ways that look pathological. Within the most pathological thinking and behavior is a core that is healthy. Transpersonal psychotherapy seeks to draw out and support this core. A specific example of a transpersonal view of psychological crisis has been developed by Stan Grof, who has made other important contributions to transpersonal theory, and Christina Grof (Grof & Grof, 1989). They recognized that a transpersonal experience, or spiritual emergence, under certain conditions, may be so disturbing and unsettling that it feels more like a spiritual emergency with many characteristics of several psychopathology (see also Bragdon, 1987). Lukoff (1985) and others have shown that it is useful to differentiate "mystical experiences with psychotic features" (MEPF) from brief reactive psychosis and mania. Based in part on these studies, the new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) contains the category of "Psychospiritual Problems" which include the notion of MEPF. The Grofs and others have developed guidelines for caring for someone in a spiritual emergency, recognizing both the person's immediate distress and the potential for profound growth. For those, such as the woman described at the beginning of this paper who have been misdiagnosed as having a psychotic breakdown when they were having a spiritual breakthrough, that distinction can make an enormous difference. 5. DEVELOPMENTAL SPECTRUM, a notion which incorporates many of the con cepts of psychology and philosophy into a transpersonal framework. Philosophically, this model is an example of the Perennial Philosophy. This view suggests that there are levels of reality, from material to psychological/mental to spiritual and that each successive level incorporates the properties of previous levels along with new emergent properties. It has been the basis for most philosophical and spiritual systems as well as being found in virtually all psychological approaches (Wilber, 1993). Psychologically, this model builds on various de scriptions of devel opmental stages, such as those of Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Maslow, Loevinger, Kohlberg, and Gilligan. Psychological, cognitive, motor, social, and moral development proceeds through a predictable sequence of stages. Transpersonal Psychologists suggest those models are accurate as far as they go but that they usually stop short of a complete understanding. For instance, most psychological models consider the formation of a stable, integrated, and individuated ego to be the final stage of development. Transpersonal Psychology explores stages of personality development that extend beyond the individual ego into transpersonal realms. The Developmental Spectrum Model (e.g., Wilber, Engler, & Brown, 1987) distinguishes "Prepersonal" stages of development, prior to the development of a stable sense of self, "Personal" stages, wherein the development and refinement of an individual sense of self is achieved, and "Transpersonal" stages, based on identification with a whole that is larger than the individual ego. It is also noteworthy that, independent of Transpersonal Psychology, some developmental theorists such as Kohlberg and Erikson, are extending their models into transpersonal areas. 5. MEDITATION, practices for focusing or quieting mental processes and fostering transpersonal states. Just as conditioning is a key method in behaviorism and interpretation and catharsis are key methods in psychoanalysis, meditation is a key method for Transpersonal Psychology. Adapted from spiritual traditions in the East and the West, most forms of meditation involve either focused attention on one object (such as one's breath or a word repeated silently) or mindful attention to all contents of awareness. The specific techniques differ, but both forms of meditation have the ultimate goal of expanded awareness and self-transcendence. Self-transcendence, exploring the nature of the mind and identity, and expanding the sense of self have been the traditional uses of meditation and continue to be its primary value in a transpersonal framework. However, meditation is often used as a relaxation or psychotherapeutic technique as well. A great deal of empirical research has been published in recent years describing and validating various effects of meditation, both for self-regulation and expanding consciousness. Whether or not transpersonal systems include a formal meditation practice (and most do), training and working with moment-to-moment awareness is the one of the foundations of Transpersonal Psychology. http://www.naropa.edu/faculty/johndavis/tp/tpintro4.html What is Transpersonal Education? Again, John Davis: Many conventional approaches to higher education are guided by Bloom's Taxonomy of Education, a hierarchical arrangement of cognitive skills: memorization, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Critical thinking, a "hot item" in higher education these days, attempts to teach students to carry an argument from premise to conclusion, apply abstractions, and examine the evidence and assumptions behind arguments. Affective education is generally not included, and the cultivation of mindfulness, intuition, openness to immediate experience, and compassion are nowhere in these schemes. These approaches rely entirely on rationality and intellect. From the point of view of TP, careful and powerful use of the intellect is desirable, but exclusive reliance on rationality is, at best, limited. Approaches to education and inquiry in general based solely on critical thinking and the rational mind are desacralized, disembodied, disenchanted, and arid. A basic principle of critical thinking is to identify and question the assumptions behind an argument. Examining the assumption of rationality as the best (or only) means of arriving at knowledge, I find it lop-sided and biased. It is biased in the sense that it idealizes masculine, eurocentric approaches to education-- the linear, analytic, etc. When we look at other cultures, for instance, and especially to wisdom traditions, we find them prizing masters of intuition and contemplation more than scholars and pundits, the experts in critical thinking. Educational pluralism values learning styles beyond the linear, left-brained approach advocated by critical thinking, without devaluing elegant, curious, and creative thought. Transpersonal education stands for an integration of critical and contemplative thinking. It is radically ("at-the-root") experiential, a blend of intuition and intellect, trans-rational, evoking enchantment and inspiration, and rooted in mystery and love. TP values not only clear, systematic analysis, but also wildness, chaos, and awakening. Transpersonal education brings to mind Heidegger's term, "true thinking," i.e., inner stillness, the understanding that is before ego-driven discursive thought. It promotes a dialogue with silence. As teachers, we constantly face the
challenges of blending contemplative and critical thinking, experience and
theory, intuition and intellect. At its worst, teaching regresses into lists
of impersonal facts and teachers become authorities and oppressors, tools of
the regime of technology. The flip side of this, idealizing experience at the
expense of understanding and careful examination is not much better. When we
are more clear, teaching integrates theory and experience. We move easily from
experience to theory and back again, each balancing, supporting, and
completing the other. In the moments when we are most clear, teaching reveals
the non-duality of contemplation and thought. The mind, as a brilliant,
luminous, crystal clear manifestation of Being, dissolves into Mind, and the
moment unfolds. We feel intimate, vulnerable, graceful, alive, and blessed.
Intellect becomes another expression of love and joy. http://clem.mscd.edu/~davisj/tp/what9.html This lesson was developed to address elements of competency #2,#3, #4 and #5 on the functions of the educational process (teaching and learning) and schooling for education majors who are taking EDG 2701 in partial fulfillment of the graduation requirements for an Associate of Arts degree in Teaching (Elementary), Teaching (Secondary), Early Childhood and Exceptional Education. Competency #2 reads (in part) as follows: The student will examine the impact of diversity upon the educational process by
Competency #3 reads (in part) as follows: The student will examine barriers to understanding diversity by
Competency #4 reads (in part) as follows: The student will examine the structure and complexity of diversity by
Competency #5 reads (in part) as follows: The student will have the opportunity to develop intercultural competence and cultural relativism by
(A complete list of all the competencies for EDG 2701 is provided below by clicking on the link en titled competencies) | |||
