The Development of an Objective Scale to Measure a Transpersonal Orientation to Learning

Abstract

A transpersonal orientation to learning was detected in the writings of 89 well-known representatives of humanistic education. According to the transpersonal approach, schools and other learning environments should be used for the development of spiritual potential as well as academic, vocational, and socio-personal learning. Despite many studies and measures of paranormal/ transpersonal beliefs and practices, there has been none devoted exclusively to objective scales measuring such applications to education. In the current study, a 40-item Likert-scale, The Transpersonal Orientation to Learning (TOTL), was developed and validated to meet the need for such careful measures in today's increasingly controversial climate regarding the place of any and all religious beliefs in the public schools. Satisfactory reliability and promising predictive and construct validity were demonstrated for TOTL. An equamax factor analysis revealed four factors: Fantasy Techniques in Schools, Mysticism Preferred to Science, Paranormal Techniques in Schools, and Transcendent Conscious-ness.