(Un)Know Thy “Self”: Interconnected Consciousness and Different Ways of Knowing

Authors

Laurel Waterman, University of TorontoFollow
Karyn Cooper, University of Toronto

Abstract

This paper draws on preliminary data from a qualitative study in curriculum and pedagogy, “Stories of Teaching about Consciousness: An Inquiry into Worldviews and Wellbeing.” An emerging theme is the concept of the self and how it entwines with perspectives on consciousness. Analyzing consciousness and the self through The Five Contexts framework reveals assumptions at the heart of research and education that often go unquestioned. We wonder, what might alternative perspectives on consciousness and the self offer to researchers and educators? The study aims to inform a larger project of “consciousness education,” defined as education about perspectives on the source and nature of consciousness and their implications for ways of being, knowing, teaching, and learning. The broader inquiry uses narrative methods to collect and interpret stories of teaching experiences from eight scholars from different cultural and philosophical perspectives, including Indigenous, Eastern, and Western. This paper uses The Five Contexts (autobiographical, historical, political, postmodern, and philosophical) as an analytical framework to interpret theory and data related to the concept of the self from different perspectives. This five-context analysis reveals the modern concept of the individual, material self as a theoretical construct that emerged from the cosmological context of the European Renaissance, influenced the historical development of Western science and education, and continued to be reproduced for political purposes. Different cultural, philosophical, and scientific perspectives on consciousness, both ancient and recent, challenge this theoretical construct. Instead, they offer an understanding of consciousness and the self as interconnected and existing beyond the material. Researchers and educators may benefit by becoming aware of their assumptions about consciousness and the self, and of the different perspectives that challenge their assumptions. Such awareness may open possibilities for ways of knowing that transcend the disconnected “self” and foster a more profound sense of interconnectedness.

Keywords

consciousness, education, ways of knowing

Author Bio(s)

Laurel Waterman is a Ph.D. Candidate in Curriculum and Pedagogy, Well-being Emphasis, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research focuses on consciousness education, defined as education about perspectives on the source and nature of consciousness and their implications for ways of being, knowing, teaching, and learning. She works to popularize participatory and postmaterialist paradigms in education and research. She teaches narrative writing and method at the University of Toronto, Mississauga and is an Adjunct Faculty in the Alef Trust’s MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality, and Transpersonal Psychology, accredited by Liverpool John Moores University. She is a board member of The Scientific and Medical Network (SMN), a UK-based educational organization focused on the intersection of science and spirituality and belongs to the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS Global). Please direct correspondence to: laurel.waterman@utoronto.ca

Karyn Cooper is a professor in the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, University of Toronto, Canada. She is the co-founder of the Well-Being emphasis. At the heart of her work is the belief that looking critically at personal and ethical issues may support and enhance inclusion, equity and democratic practice and ultimately, well-being.

Publication Date

10-27-2024

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.7653

Recommended APA Citation

Waterman, L., & Cooper, K. (2024). (Un)know thy “self”: Interconnected consciousness and different ways of knowing. The Qualitative Report, 29(9), 2527-2542. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.7653