Igniting Brilliance: An Integral Approach to Education

In Perú, public primary and high school educational levels are quite deplorable because a large percentage of it has been high jacked by a somewhat radical left wing organization called SUTEP. They demand higher salaries but teachers themselves tend not to be well educated. They even march in the streets throwing rocks at public buildings. Besides this, open signal TV focuses too much on sensationalism in order to capture the audience's attention: Everyday heinous crimes and corruption scandals are dramatized and loudly publicized in spite of some intelligent voices warning against it and opposing it. The system allows it. Business is first -apparently even before human dignity- and against this there is some intellectual and political resistance to what is perceived to be the main culrpit: neoliberal policies that allow free market without ethics to blossom. Another response against this sickening information mud (a response somewhat similar to the resurgence of fundamentalisms and polarizations in the U.S. Europe and the Middle East) is a growing number of people turning towards more fundamentalist evangelical Christianity. In other words, the options seem to be going back to clear-cut, well-defined values either in the passé political spectrum or in religion. Regarding the latter, interestingly, it is a growing attention to fundamentalist U.S. style religion.

However, there are some integral and integral-like inquiring/research responses in higher academia. They are seeking to create a better educational plan and, since I'm in contact with one of these efforts linked to the Universidad Ricardo Palma, I think I'll read Willow's book and see if it can be shared and talked about at that level. It may be compatible with other visions and models being locally considered.

I think that here, for the most part, the concept of HOLISM has been more recognized than Integral thinking a-la-Wilber. This may be in part because the few books available are usually shelved at new age, self-help and metaphysical sections and because this kind of integralism is quite open to Buddhism and this may not be well-understood locally. Thus, so far the Integral Movement a-la-Wilber seems so far to be receptive among green to post green, U.S. middle class, self-development, psychology interested, eurocentrically well-educated individuals. Here philosphers, academic intellectuals in general and the legal system are closer to French and Continental philosophy and, since Marxist ideas were also quite influential, and are recently being transcended and included led by sociologist-philosopher Aníbal Quijano and his concept of "colonización-descolonización." Under this concept Marxism is also considered a eurocentric idea that may not apply to our local historical context.

I don't know how Integral Theory a-la-Wilber will be received in this context but I personally think that it had many very important and valid elements even if I don't necessarily agree with all of it or with how it is being understood at present. Unfortunately, I've detected a lack of intellectual interest to move beyond the prevalent model especially if plausible complementary ideas come from overseas. However, I welcome the fact that Meta Integral is inviting Edgar Morin but I think that an interest in transcending and including the lines of "either-or" eurocentric thinking without realizing that some traditional eurocentric shadows remain in the biases will not make Integral Theory easily applicable to Perú, Latin America and the whole world. The world besides how Ken might partially judge it correctly also possesses integral-level wisdoms that are not being recognized because, by not being participants of the more clear-cut green to post green Euro-American historical process in the emergence of ideas and sensibilities, these other parts of the world are implicitly judged under an over-generalization.