Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

74 Roberto Assagioli defined “psychosynthesis” as the “formation or reconstruction of a new personality—the transpersonal or ‘spiritual Self.’” An excerpt from Psychosynthesis explained: What distinguishes psychosynthesis from many other attempts at psychological under standing is the position we take as to the existence of a spiritual Self.… We consider that the spiritual is as basic as the material part of man… essentially we include within the study of psychological facts all those which may be related to the higher urges within man which tends to make him grow towards greater realization of his spiritual essence. Our position affirms that all the superior manifestations of the human psyche, such as creative imagination, intuition, aspiration, genius, are facts which are as real and as important as are the condi tioned reflexes, and therefore, are susceptible to research and treatment just as scientifically as conditioned reflexes. As psychology began to assert itself as an “acceptable science” in the “sick sixties,” Assagioli’s “psychosynthesis” concept is credited with creating a paradigm that enabled an integration (synthesis) of psychology with spirituality. Assagioli emphasized a holistic world view, laying the groundwork for the future educational pedagogy of “holistic education” of the 1990s—teaching the “whole child.” He was also the originator of a group of exercises for “Spiritual Psychosynthesis” based on what we now call “role playing.” These include: “on the Legend of the Holy Grail, ” “on Dante’s Divine Comedy, ” and “on the Blossoming of the Rose. ” Assagioli’s view of the human psyche included a progression from lower to higher order “consciousness” (or thinking) which is similar to “New Age” ideas about the evolution of man into a “collective consciousness.” These ideas laid the philosophical foundation for character education, values clarification, and consciousness-altering techniques used in the classroom. For example, the “sick sixties” were hallmarked by the emergence of “transpersonal psychology,” a designation typified today by the statement, “I’m OK, you’re OK.” One of its promoters—and a disciple of Roberto Assagioli—was Jack Canfield. Canfield’s name appears on many education curricula and training programs utilizing behavior modification for values clarification. Significantly, Roberto Assagioli’s selected appendices in Psychosynthesis include an article entitled “Initiated Symbol Projection” (ISP) written by a German psychiatrist named Hans carl Leurner. According to a note by Assagioli, “Dr. Leurner now prefers to call his method ‘Guided Affective Imagery’”—a form of guided imagery widely practiced in elementary and secondary classrooms, business training sessions, counseling sessions, and religious services. A description of what Leurner called his “psycho-diagnostic and psycho-therapeutic technique” is provided: The subject is seated in a comfortable chair or on a couch (lying down), asked to close his eyes, and induced to relax…a light hypnoid state has proved valuable. Deep and regular breathing…[t]hen, in a psychological state characterized by diminished consciousness of the outer world, reduced conscious criticism and self-control, the subject is asked to visualize…. In the phenomenology of medical psychology, they are similar to “hypnogic visions.” [Ed. Note: The fact that guided imagery is a psychological technique raises a question regarding its use in the classroom by teachers who are not professional therapists.]