The Worldview Explorations™ Project
Imagining • Collaborating • Exploring • Creating • Experiencing
The Worldview Explorations Project is an educational initiative that has grown out of four decades of research by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). Our research to date suggests the most powerful step people can take toward achieving their highest potential is the willingness and ability to understand new perspectives.
IONS’ history of research gives evidence that tangible and life changing transformation is happening in the lives of many adults in respect to the ways in which they perceive the world. What if this capacity was fostered from early on in life, as an integral part of the education of our youth? This was the inspiration for the Worldview Explorations Program.
Students who participated in an early program pilot.
Motivation Behind the Project
The Worldview Explorations Project is built on the premise that when students learn about their own worldviews, they will be better able to make choices based on their own values and goals, thus enhancing a sense of integrity and well-being.
In addition, the more people encounter and engage with other worldviews, the more they develop compassion, empathy, and understanding.
Lastly, the more people recognize their essential inter-connectedness with the planet and those living on it, the more they will be motivated to engage in action and leadership for the greater good.
Vision
The Vision of the Worldview Explorations Project is a society in which the whole person and the context of a global society are seen as critical elements of education. The hope is that such a vision would form the basis of curriculum, not only in alternative schools, but in mainstream education as well.
Mission
The Mission of the Worldview Explorations Project is to develop and increase access to curricula and tools that help youth and lifelong learners contemplate and understand the fundamental role that worldview plays in the perceptions and behaviors of themselves and others.
Curriculum
Amidst ever-increasing cultural diversity and social complexity, it is clear that an educational curriculum that fosters the capacity and competency to understand a multitude of perspectives is necessary to navigate and thrive in a global society. Learn more about the Worldview Explorations Curriculum »
Students who participated in an early program pilot.
Worldview
Worldviews are the filters through which people see and sense the world and their place in it. A worldview is an organization of beliefs and perspectives that shapes how individuals perceive the world around them and what they accept as true.
Worldviews operate mostly outside of our awareness and are influenced by many factors such as family, politics, religion, and community, among others.
Worldviews are both individually held and culturally shared. They influence goals, desires, motivations, values, relationships, and the actions and reactions of every day encounters. Becoming aware of and exploring worldviews will give students tools to communicate, contribute and function more effectively in their lives.
Worldview Literacy
In the process of becoming worldview literate, students learn how to access their imagination and creativity to manifest great things in the world.
Worldview Literacy is about approaching new experiences with openness and a willingness to revise old beliefs when new ideas are presented. This is not simply a state that can be achieved; cultivation of Worldview Literacy is a life-long process.
See our tenets, curriculum, key themes, and supporting materials to learn more.