Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This article argues that contemporary schooling in the United States could benefit from a return to the model of Plato's original Academy in ancient Athens. Specifically, that ecstatic experience should provide a central and informative role, rather than a peripheral and incidental one to educational methodology. Citing educational theorists from Maria Montessori to Ted Sizer, and transpersonal thinkers from Ken Wilber to Michael Murphy, the author suggests that schooling should address the elective higher stages of human development in addition to the conventional ones. The author proposes supplementing traditional curricula with integral practices that address the students' bodies, minds, and spirits, and reviving the tutorial as an effective means of mentoring adolescents.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Anand

(1998). The art of everyday ecstasy. New York: Broadway Books.

Eliade

(1957). The sacred and the profane: The nature of religion. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

Gatto

J. T.

(1997). Education and the Western spiritual tradition. In Glazer

(Ed.), The Heart of Learning (pp. 151–171). New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Glazer

(Ed.) (1999). The heart of learning: Spirituality in education. New York: Putnam.

Grof

(1988). The adventure of self discovery. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Hixon

(1992). Great swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna. New York: Larson Publications.

Hurston

Z. N.

(1991). Their eyes were watching God. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Murphy

Leonard

(1995). The life we are given. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

Plato. (360 BCE/1999). The Seventh Letter. ( Harward

, Trans.). Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hypertext (original work published 360 BCE).

10.

Schachter-Salomi

Smith

(1997). Spirituality in education: A dialogue. In Glazer

(Ed.), The heart of learning (pp. 217–231). New York: Tarcher/Putnam.

11.

Snyder

(1974). Turtle Island. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

12.

Tzu

(1983). The Way of Life: ( Blakney

R. B.

, Trans.). New York: Signet Classics.

13.

Walsh

(1999). Essential spirituality. New York: Wiley Press.

14.

Wasson

R. G.

Kramrisch

Ott

Puck

C. A. P.

(1986). Persephone's quest: Entheogens and the origins of religion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

15.

Wilber

(1990). In the eye of the artist: Art and the perennial philosophy. In Gray

(Ed.), Sacred mirrors. Vermont: Inner Traditions International.

16.

Wilber

(1995). Sex, ecology, and spirituality. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

17.

Wilber

(1996). A brief history of everything. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

The Agony or the Ecstasy? The Academy at the Crossroads

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References