At the level of self-transcendence we refuse either the role of the victim or the role of the victimizer. We rise above power struggles. We soar above them like an eagle. We fly higher, above the power struggles and dualistic metanarratives which consume humankind. Emancipation achieved at the expense of others is an act of oppression, is an act of dehumanization. To attempt to overcome oppression by means of imposing our truths on others is an act of oppression, which turns the oppressed into the oppressors of their oppressors. The process of self-transcendence requires that we drop labels of race, nationality, religion, gender, and class. There is no room for ethnocentrism on the path to self-transcendence. There is no room for victim mentality or the persecution complex on the path to self-transcendence. There is no room for the me-against-them paradigm. There is no room for xenophobia. Self-transcendent education is aimed at releasing the fear of the other (person), and therefore the shadowy self our dark side, which we mirror and project out onto others and the world.
Genuine self-transcendence is achieved when we manage to rise above dialectical conflicts – when both extremes in the dialectical conflict meet halfway in order to realize that Life, and all of us, are interconnected, interdependent, and interrelated. When we strip ourselves of ego – the addiction to power struggles and the need to be right, the need to win, the need to control – only then can we be truly free. When we soar above power struggles – only then can we become the peace we want to see in the world. Transcenders no longer need to impose their truths on another, for they understand the interconnectedness of all life. They realize that no one is better than anyone. They do not conquer their freedom at the expense of the enslavement of others. They do not reach their successes at the expense of the failure and loss of others. Each of us is unique and special. And our uniqueness – our individuality – is crucial to the balance of the intricate Web of Life. It is our individuality, not our individualism, what sustains the interconnectedness of Life. When we drop our individualism – only then can we see our individuality, our beautiful, whole Self, and what once seemed impossible can now happen.
When he comes into a full realization of his own individuality, he can recognize and embrace the individuality of another. It is in the process of coming into the full realization of his own individuality that he begins to appreciate the interconnectedness of life. Then his dreams begin to serve only one purpose – to uplift all Life unconditionally. His achievements will make not only his life but also all Life expand and transcend itself. Self-transcendence is the process of conscientization of our own individuality and its interconnectedness with all life. Self-transcendence involves two essential steps: realization of the psychological roots of dialectical struggles and liberation from the ego: the oppressor-oppressed dichotomy.
(Dr.Claudia Correa in The Self-transcendent Pedagogy Manifesto)
Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what
is hidden as a seed.
(Thomas More)
