Education Embraced: Substantiating the Educational Foundations of Landmark Education’s Transformative Learning Model

In 2011, Renee Lockwood offered a “dissection of the religio-spiritual dimensions of Landmark Education.” Dissecting her argument suggested a narrow categorization of basic human experiences as religio-spiritual; literature cited was from religious studies absent teaching and learning research. Key distinctions of NRMs (New Religious Movements) and the brief mention of shifting boundaries of secular and sacred generally speaking in western culture were overlooked. Most critiques were of the est training (est) – last offered in 1984, while The Landmark Forum (the Forum) was first offered in 1991. This critique employed instead research of both classic and contemporary scholars who study teaching and learning. Lockwood’s dissection scalpel was ultimately a means to verify the educational substance of Landmark Education’s (Landmark) self-described “breakthrough technology” (2015). Rather, Landmark’s holistic, transformational approach to education is not only appropriate for a culture shaped by the aforementioned shifting boundaries, but also valuable for those concerned about 21st century problems facing humanity.