Integral Theory is a philosophical meta-framework developed by Ken Wilber, drawing heavily from Spiral Dynamics based on the work of Clare Graves and Don Beck.
It was born of an extensive study of different frameworks and theories of the world and taking the approach that none of these is 100% wrong. What followed is a synthesis of what these various maps were mapping.
It is essentially a way to understand contexts.
Elements include:
- Quadrants – covering the individual subjective (the “I”), the collective subjective (the “We”), the individual objective (the “It”), and the collective objective (the “Its” aka systems)
- Developmental lines – e.g., cognitive, emotional, kinesthetic, artistic … Multiple Intelligences was a book that introduced me to this concept
- Curiously, some are interdependent; for example, one cannot be more ethically developed than they are cognitively developed, but one could be evolved cognitively and not evolved ethically
- Stages of development (like learning to crawl before walking) – worldviews, including archaic-survival, magical animistic, ego centric, mythic-membership or ethnocentric, rational, pluralistic, and integral
- States – which we might achieve temporarily, as through meditation
- Typing or categorizing systems – like per the Myers Briggs or the Enneagram
Applying the Integral Model is to apply the various lenses that the model offers. My amateur understanding is that the (ever-evolving) model attempts to incorporate whatever lenses would provide the most comprehensive view of a thing.
It’s like knowing that we have unseen tendencies (sometimes called blind spots, but that’s an ableist term), and so we sit in circle and ask for guidance, because we know that other people can see what we cannot – they can literally see behind us where we can’t see. That’s part of why circles or communities of learning are so valuable in our learning journeys!
Of course, we must remember that the map is never the territory — a framework or any representation can only give us a sense of what to look for. Our experience is the true teacher, and our reflection on our experience is how we learn.
Updated 9/3/21; I’ll continue updating this page over time