Developing Higher Consciousness: The Effects of Mantra Meditation on the Development of Self-Actualizing Qualities in Teachers

This qualitative study focuses on teachers ranging from the elementary to secondary level who have practiced mantra meditation for at least three years while also teaching. By utilizing the methodology of portraiture, this study endeavored to determine if the practice of mantra meditation creates self-actualizing qualities in teachers, how teachers who practice mantra meditation perceive their response to stress and conflict in the classroom, and how teachers who practice mantra meditation perceive the effects of meditation on their personal and professional lives. The methodology of portraiture was chosen because according to Lawrence-Lightfoot, "with its focus on narrative, with its use of metaphor and symbol, portraiture intends to address wider, more eclectic audiences. The attempt is to move beyond academy's inner circle, to speak in a language that is not coded or exclusive…" (Lawrence-Lightfoot and Davis, 1997, p. 10). Through personal narratives composed by the three participants and interviews conducted by the researcher, data was collected and analyzed. The findings indicate that each participant perceived the practice of mantra meditation as positively contributing to his/her personal and professional lives, enabled him/her to feel psychologically healthier and better equipped to handle the stress and conflict encountered within the classroom, and created a sense of interactions with students being more positive and rewarding. Each of the three participants also displayed certain dispositions, and demonstrated through their narratives and their interviews, that they embody certain qualities of self-actualization.

Name thesis:degree_name

EdD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Instructional Leadership Excellence (ILEAD)

Year dc:date.available

2008

Author dc:creator

• Klein, Lisa M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Margaret Ford
• John P. Miller
• Ruth G. Biro

• conflict
• education
• meditation
• self-actualization
• stress

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/756

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1772