Partner Details

The Alef Trust CIC

Awards

Target Award

Award Description:Master of Science - MS
Alternative Exit
Alternative Exit

Programme Offerings

Part-Time

F2F-ALT-SEP

Educational Aims of the Course

In naming the programme MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality, and Transpersonal Psychology (CSTP) the team responsible for designing the programme is recognising that no one sub-discipline of psychology fully encapsulates the aims of the programme. Transpersonal psychology has the aim of understanding those states of consciousness in which the individual experiences an expansion of self that seems to incorporate a broader, more holistic sense of the world. Often, but not always, such states of expanded awareness have distinct spiritual connotations. Some research into consciousness acknowledges these connotations and the transformational aspect that may accompany them, which is also a major topic of study for transpersonal psychology. However, many advances in consciousness research exclude such transpersonal dimensions from their approach. Finally, considerable recent research into the psychology of spiritual practices and the states they can engender evades connections with the approach of transpersonal psychology. The three topics expressed in the title are thus cognate, whilst not being fully overlapping. The fundamental aim of the programme is to critically explore each of the three topics, focusing on the importance of studying them from a psychological perspective, and emphasising their common ground as well as their points of distinctiveness. In working with current students in the design of this programme, it became evident that they strongly valued the sense of pursuing a transformational learning journey over their period of study. In recognition of this input, another overarching aim is to facilitate appropriate forms of practice and application, and to allow space for structured reflection on students’ progress not only academically but in terms of this transformational journey which may find expression in the students’ personal and professional lives. Specific programme aims • To provide an academically rigorous framework through which learners can appreciate the specifically psychological input into our understanding of consciousness, spirituality and transpersonal issues. • To foster an intellectual environment in which learners can become aware of current issues in the above topic areas, drawing on skills of critical analysis, complex evaluation, and creative problem solving. • To encourage a critical approach, both through embodied practice and research, to contemporary and traditional practices of a psycho-spiritual nature which purport to bring about some degree of beneficial transformation within the individual. • To encourage learners to interrelate their understanding of consciousness, spirituality, and transpersonal issues drawn from academic study with that gained through experience in their own life, especially in applied and professional contexts. • To enable the above to be achieved whilst learners are distant from any institutional location, by using online systems (including a collaborative learning environment, CLE, and webinar software) to cultivate an integrative learning community.

Learning Outcomes

1.
Contextualise research into consciousness, contemporary issues in the psychology of spirituality, and the challenges addressed by transpersonal psychology in relation to the history of psychology and cultural trends more broadly
2.
Plan, conduct and report on a programme of original, empirical research, with due regard to issues of ethics and the conventions applying to research in academic psychology
3.
Reflect on, and make use of, feedback to evaluate their knowledge base, performance and skills, and use this information to monitor progress and plan for future academic and professional development
4.
Demonstrate insight in engagement with personal development practices, as well as competence in the critical evaluation of such practices, considering impact and efficacy.
5.
Employ skills of self-reflection, as well as alternative modes of knowing typically utilised in transpersonal studies (e.g. intuition, embodied awareness and contemplative knowing)
6.
Retrieve and organise information effectively
7.
Organise self-management of learning, utilising time-management skills and effective planning strategies
8.
Develop cultural awareness, empathy, and collaboration skills in working with others
9.
Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills
10.
Integrate personal experience (and work-based experience, where relevant) with theories and models developed through research and scholarship.
11.
Critically evaluate theoretical positions and models developed in the above topic areas in terms both of the quality of research underpinning them and also of their efficacy in contexts of applied professional practice and individual psycho-spiritual growth
12.
Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between psychology and other relevant disciplines (e.g., philosophy, anthropology, comparative religion, applied arts) in addressing the topics of interest on this programme
13.
Synthesise knowledge from diverse sources in order to express well-formulated and informed arguments on specific issues
14.
Synthesise knowledge in order to construct a research question that is fully contextualised in the chosen field and operationalised in ways that facilitate effective execution of the research
15.
Understand and apply the principles of data collection and data analysis as typically employed in transpersonal research methods
16.
Demonstrate skills of critical reasoning and deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively
17.
Demonstrate skills of targeted literature searching, and searching for sources on the internet using informed discrimination
18.
Creatively appraise and integrate information from a variety of sources

Teaching, Learning and Assessment

The CLE is employed to provide a range of formats through which learners are introduced to key areas of knowledge. This range includes core content written by module leaders, lecture videos, pod casts, live webinars, and key readings available as resources on the CLE. Key readings (book chapters, review articles, and primary research papers) are presented as ‘core’ or ‘in-depth’ for a given topic. Students are expected to further their in-depth understanding of key areas of knowledge through literature searches. Discussion, through which critical analysis, self-reflection, and wider reading is fostered, takes place both in asynchronous forums and in webinars designed to penetrate more deeply into issues aired in the forums. The two formats are employed to encourage both peer-to-peer, and student-to-tutor, dialogue. Students are placed in learning groups which run throughout the programme. In brief, year one learning groups focus on academic skills, and they support the teaching modules; in year two the groups similarly support teaching, but additionally take a more whole-person perspective, facilitating reflection on transpersonal goals. (See programme document for more details.) Learning groups will meet approximately once per month, although the frequency may vary according to assessment and other demands. Learning groups will meet live on the webinar platform; they will be scheduled taking student time zones into account and they will be led by personal tutors. Students’ progress in devising, and conducting, a programme of integrative practice is monitored through group supervision, reinforced by one-to-one supervision where required. Students are further offered experiential practice sessions that explore a broad range of embodied practices (e.g. mindfulness, movement and active imagination). Research skills will be taught and practiced through the student’s engagement in a group research project, involving individual and group work. These skills will be further honed through one-to-one supervision targeted at the student’s own research question for the research dissertation. Contact across year groups is fostered through extra-curricular community-wide events. These will include occasional guest online lectures given by leading researchers in relevant areas, and regular sessions in which practitioners applying whole-person, or transpersonal, skills in their specific professional field will run webinars. Assessment The assessment strategy aims to foster in-depth and active learning to achieve the stated learning outcomes, and has been designed to achieve an appropriate match between teaching and learning methods and assessment tasks. It includes the provision of summative and formative feedback, an appropriate balance of assessment tasks over the programme, and inclusivity of a range of student approaches to learning. A variety of assessment methods is therefore utilised across the programme. Forums and webinars provide opportunities for formative feedback from both peers and tutors. Specific sessions of the learning groups will be devoted to upcoming assessment tasks, enabling students to receive directed formative feedback. Each module will include one or more assessment forum, in which module leaders and/or their assistants will provide advice and guidance during the preparation of assignments. Coursework assessment is used to provide timely and detailed summative assessment. Most items of coursework are assessed by module leaders and/or their assistants. Assessment methods include essays, reports, reflective portfolios, posters, individual and group webinar presentations, research proposal, a blog post and dissertation.

Opportunities for work related learning

There is no formal work-based learning during this MSc, although students may conduct the research for their dissertation in a professional setting. In the past, a number of students have conducted research in contexts related to their professional activities. These have proved highly successful, both in terms of the research quality and also for the student’s advancement in their profession. Further, in this programme students may choose to explore applications of learning in work contexts in two modules: In 7503ALEFTP Learning through integrative practice students can opt to place a component of their integrative practice in a work context, beginning to explore what it means to apply transpersonal ideas within this specific context, e.g. in collaboration with colleagues or clients. In 7502ALEFTP Applied transformative psychology students are equally encouraged to engage practically with two approaches to psycho-spiritual transformation, beginning to apply one of the approaches in a professional or community context relevant to the student. From our past experience, these forms of experiential and applied learning are highly effective in facilitating the students’ lived engagement with theory, thereby expanding discernment, ethical maturity and critical thinking skills.

Programme Structure

Programme Structure Description

To exit the programme with a Postgraduate Certificate, the students must complete and pass any 60 credits (not including 7500ALEFTP Dissertation). To exit the programme with a Postgraduate Diploma, the students must complete and pass 120 credits (not including 7500ALEFTP Dissertation). Module Sequencing: Year 1: 7501ALEFTP Approaches to consciousness 7503ALEFTP … For more content click the Read More button below.

Approved variance from Academic Framework Regulations

May 2021: the Education Committee approved variances to the Academic Framework regulations as follows: Modules 7501ALEFTP Approaches to Consciousness and 7504ALEFTP Transpersonal Psychology run for 18 weeks. Modules 7503ALEFTP Learning through Integrative Practice and 7506ALEFTP Research Design both run for 31 weeks throughout two semesters.

Entry Requirements

A levels
Other international requirements

HECoS Code(s)

(CAH04-01) psychology