DOCUMENT RESUME ED 107 626 SP 009 249 AUTHOP Poberts, Thomas Bradford; Clark, Frances Vaughan TITLE Transpersonal Psychology in Education. INSTITUTION Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Bloomington, Ind. PUB DATE 75 NOTE 36p. AVAILABLE FROM Phi Delta Kappa, Eighth and Union, Box 789, Bloomington, Indiana 47401 ($0.50) EDPS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$1.95 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Creative Development; Education; Educational Innovation; *Educational Psychology; *Psychology; Self Concept; *Self Congruence IDENTIFIERS *Transpersonal Psychology ABSTRACT The introduction to this booklet states that transpersonal psychology focuses attention on the human capacity for self-transcendence as well as self-realization, and is concerned with the optimum development of consciousness. This booklet attempts to illustrate the value of this psychology in educatf.on, not as a complete substitute for traditional educational psychologies, but working in conjunction with them. The first seclic,i, "Current Classroom Application," discusses the following nays of shifting the focus from external to internal awareness: relaxation and concentration, guided fantasy, and creativity. Section 2, "Altered States of Consciousness," stresses that open discussion of altered states of consciousness can inform students of ways of exploring and controlling consciousness without the use of drugs. Discussed in this section are dreams, meditation centering, biofeedback, parapsychology, spirituality, and growth potential. The final section, "Future Trends and Implications," highlights possibilities for transpersonal psychology in research, teacher education, and philosophy. (JA) TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY IN EDUCATION By Thomas Bradford Roberts and Frances Vaughan Clark U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION 4 WELFARE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISCOPY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RIGHTED.,MATERIALHAS BEEN GRANTED By EDUCATION f. TH.S DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO X DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEvE0 FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANZAT,ON ORIGIN e1,1,1? ..fraY? AT INCT PON TS Of %new OR OPINIONS tzl,LiL; STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPOF To Ent( AND URGANI;ATIONSOPERATINC, MTH THE NATIONAL IN YEN, OI'IC SAL NATIONAL IN Or ONCEP ACRE EP.i D,,C A T q-)N POST nON OR Pr(-1 STOWE OF ETA _ATiON FURTHER REPRO DUcTION OU,SIDE THEERIC SYSTEM RE MIRES PERMISSION OF THE- COPYRIGHT OWNER Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-33809 Copyright1975 by The Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation Bloomington. Indiana TABLE OF CONTENTS Transpersonal Psychology........ .. .... .. 7 Current Classroom Applications 9 Relaxation and Concentration 9 Guided Fantasy 11 Creativity .... 14 Altered States of Consciousness 17 Dreams 18 Meditation and Centering 20 Biofeedback . 23 Parapsychology 24 Spirituality 26 Growth Potential . .. ......... .... ... ........... .. 27 Future Trends and Implications . 29 Research*- 29 Teacher Education 30 Philosophy 31 Summary 35 Recommended Resources 36 Arevolution in psychology usually foreshadows a revolution in education, and the current developments of a new psychology raise a number of questions and possibilities for educators. The new psychology is called "transpersonal" psychology.Itisre- asking basic educational questions. What are the limits of our capacity for leaning? Can we learn to use our minds in ways which surpass our present expectations? Are there newways of teaching which are superior to our current methods? Are there different kinds of learning which we are failing to develop? This booklet describes the emerging psychology, then outlines some ofits educational applications, firstto the classroom, then to teacher education and research. 5 TRANSPERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY The development of a comprehensive educational psychology requires a theoretical framework which includes all the phe- nomena related to human learning, and must therefore include areas of human experience which previously have been ignored by traditional academic psychology. Freudian, behavioral, and humanistic psychologies are seenas useful, but incomplete psy- chologies Trarspersonal psychology offersa more inclusive v.- sum of human potential, suggesting both a new image of man and a new world view. Using transpersonal psychologyin edu- cation does not require a complete rejection of established edu- cational psychologies, but may be usedinconjunction with them Conflicts occur at some points, and agreementoccurs at others. An underlying assumptionoftranspersonal psychology is that physical. emotional, intellectual. and spiritual growthare interrelated, and the optimal educational environment stimulates and nurtures the intuitive as well as the rational, theimagina- tive as well as the practical, and the creative as well as the re- ceptive functions of each individualTranspersonal psychology has focused attention on the humancapacity for self-transcen- dence as well as self-realization, and is concerned with theop- timum development of consciousness. Most topics being investigated by transpersonal psychologists consist of the psyc hological aspects of at least one of the follow- inga new image of man and a new world view, altered states of consciousness (including meditation, dreams, etc.), impulses toward higher states (such as peak experiences), self-realization and self-iransc ender ce. subjective experience andinner states. 7 spiritual growth, parapsychology and pstchn phenomena, other cultures and then psti hologies iespeciallt Eastern psychologies). newly chs«itered forms ut energy, recent physiological research (such as voluntary control ot internal states), and evolving con- s( musness Many psychologists judge that we use less than 10 percentof our capacities Transpersonal psychologists areseeking to increase our understanding ot human abilities inorder to unlock some of our latent potentials How (an we learn to use someof the abil- ities which may be hidden m our own minds? Apartial answer may be tound in studying people who haveunusual abilities, and in the c ultural, social. and psychologicalfactors affecting their development transpersonal psychology gives us a new perspective on the old Delphi( precept,Know thyselt In turning our attention to the inner world ot man. we are indeed discovering awealth of unsuspected resources. Many of the transpersonal techniques for using inner imagery in the process ofself-discovery are well suited to classniorn use and may easily be introduced in the exist- ing educational system As the unitersal languageof human ex- perience, inner imagery tinds expression inall forms of creativ- ity, be it artistii, scientiti«irphilosophical As a student becomes tamiliar with his own Miler resources, he develops a new aware- ness of his individual uniqueness and hisrelationship to others and the environment Research in transpersonal psychology has indicated that cork ing with imagery can have a beneficial effect on physical. emotional, mental. and spiritual well-beingItis im- portant that we begin to give students access to thesetook that can be used for continuing growth and awarenessthroughout their livesIn applying transpersonal psychology to education, both students and tea( hers can assume responsibility for making hones. and develop a sense ot inner direction in their lives 8 CURRENT CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS The first step in applying transpersonal psychology to educa- tion usually involves shifting the focus from external to internal awareness As students become aware of their own inner states, thus can begin to re«)gnite important conditions which affect their learning ability. Relaxation and Concentration Can you remember a time when you were con( entrating so in- tently on something, perhaps a hobby, a sport, or some creative endeavor. that you lost all sense of time and were able to think and act super-efficiently? Or can you remember a time when ,ou were so clearheaded you learned a complex taskeasily? Ibis state of mind which occurs spontaneously at random. can also he (ons(iou,.y developed. Although a person's state of mind is a major variable in how well he performs. we seldom teach people to move into an appropriate state of mind before under- talc ing a taskInvestigating such states of mind has been the tor us of transpersonal psychologists who are interested in self- induced alteredstates of onsc evidencedinpsychic healing. parapsychological phenomena, yoga, biofeedback. and meditationTeaching the voluntary control of internal statesis one area of transpersonal psychology which is easily applied to education. and the first stepisthe introduction of relaxation training Relaxation training is important both for everyday func- tioning and as a beginning step to more advanced training in meditation and «m«,ntrationThe immediate effects of relaxa- tion can be experienced both by teachers and students. and 9 many who have trieditfind short periods of Intensive relaxa- tion to be of considerable benefit for example. a German teacher had a class in which the stu- dents seemed too keyed up for their own good "Whenever we would have a Unit Test, always a biggieintheir minds, no matter how much I would tryto playit down, the tenseness would per 'caw the classroom.- In one unit test. his ten stu- dents scored 5 A's, 3 B's,ind 2C's. The following unittest had proved to be more difficult in previous years. so he tried to improve their recall and ability,riot by pushing and drilling them harder, but by relaxing them at the time of the test Here is his report: Y%ell,I chanced the great experiment My only worry was the time element the QS nunute Class period was cut to 3U minutes