Teaching for Transpersonal Learning

This article addresses the “why,” “what,” and “how” of teaching for transpersonal learning. Why transpersonal education is relevant for addressing modern social problems and the global ecological crisis, what it is like to teach for transpersonal learning, and how transpersonal learning becomes transformative are discussed. Three promising options in technology and consciousness studies for transpersonal learning—transpersonal media, multistate studies, and entheogenic education—are described and the challenges of introducing transpersonal education into academic settings and assessing educational (student) learning outcomes are reviewed. The relevance of Mezirow’s Transformation Theory to transpersonal educational psychology, with special attention to ecological perspective transformation, is then examined. The varieties of transpersonal education, including Integral Transformative Practice (ITP), and pedagogical issues related to the role of the teacher and the place of contemplative practice and spirituality in adult education are also addressed. Transpersonal education, at its best, is about healing the social problems and global ecological crises of our times, empowering individuals to express their ideals in whatever way is given, and learning to reclaim the vitality, exuberance, optimism, and wonder that is at the heart of embodied life.