|
Research on the Transcendental Meditation Program in Education |
Holistic Student Development
at Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment:
Theory and Research
Randi Jeanne Nidich
Fairfield, Iowa, U.S.A.
This paper presents research examining Consciousness-Based(SM) education as a method of promoting the holistic development of students. Consciousness-Based education provides both intellectual knowledge and research from the perspective of modern science, and research in consciousness through the Maharishi Transcendental Meditation(SM) and TM-Sidhi® programs for directly experiencing the fundamental field of life. The findings presented in this paper are based on research conducted on the academic and social development of students at Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment (MSAE), one of the schools where Consciousness-Based education is practiced. Over the past four years, a majority of classes at MSAE scored above the 95th percentile on overall academic achievement, as assessed by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development. In addition, students exhibited significant gains on overall academic achievement within a one-year period. Research on social development, using the Moral Atmosphere Interview, found that students at MSAE exhibited strong norms for caring, keeping agreements, not stealing, trusting others, and restitution. Significant differences in prosocial behavior responses were found between MSAE students and students at special alternative "just community" schools. These findings are interpreted in the light of the model of levels of the mind developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Maharishi University of Management and Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment.
Reference: Nidich, S. & Nidich, R. (1987). “Holistic Student Development at Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment: Theory and Research.” Modern Science and Vedic Science, 1:4, 432–468.
Department of Education, Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, IA 52557
Phone: (641) 472-7000 ext. 5021 • E-Mail: eddept@mum.edu • Fax: (641) 472-1189