Transpersonal teaching in the face of adversity

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how a teacher’s inner process work or innate qualities can support creativity for a transformative online learning experience during an adverse situation, such as COVID-19, a global pandemic which emerged at the end of 2019. Many teachers were forced to quickly pivot to online teaching, prompting me to engage in heuristic inquiry (Moustakas, 1990), a qualitative research method, to explore the subjective living experiences of these teachers, including my own. Taking all ethical aspects into consideration, I carried out semi-structured interviews with eight teacher “co-researchers”. Analysis of interviews uncovered themes which were illustrated through individual depictions and a composite depiction. The discussion looked at findings in the data in relation to relevant literature and through a transpersonal lens. The data suggested that it is the quality of the teacher-student relationship, emanating from teacher presence, which could potentially overcome the challenges of pivoting to online teaching and create transformative learning. Finally, the limitations of the study were explored and areas for future research identified.