Accounts of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Case of Peruvian indigenous students

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35622/j.rie.2023.05.007

Keywords:

Home isolation, COVID-19, Schooling in Peru, Case Study

Abstract

Most of the literature that has emerged about the impacts of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests it causes mildly to acutely adverse psychosocial and physiological responses, particularly in children. Such responses relate to the separation children experience from their normal routine, including loneliness, anxiety, and depression, and adversities associated with school performance.

In this case study, we explore the intersection between three phenomena in Perú: (1) practice of Transcendental Meditation by school students at a (2) provincial school during (3) home isolation. The study conducted semi-structured interviews at a school in Puno with seven students, three parents, and two teachers. A proto-theoretical model of stress, the stress response, and outcomes in three psychosocial categories—cognitive, affective, and conative—guide the research. Findings suggest the practice had a salutary effect on student experience and academic achievement, including multifactorial benefits related to learning, calmness, anxiety, and grades.

Author Biographies

  • Lee Fergusson, University of Southern Queensland

    Program Director of the Master of Professional Studies (Research) program at University of Southern Queensland and Professor of Vedic Science, Education and Environment at Maharishi Vedic Research Institute in Australia. He is the author and editor of 13 books, including Living Peace: The Contribution of Maharishi Vedic Science to Global Security (2020), Redefining Sustainability (2019), What a Waste: Studies in Anthropogenic Sources of Pollution (2016), and Red Mud Futures: Repurposing One of the World’s Largest Industrial Waste By-products (2015). His research papers on education, psychology, health, systems science, sustainability and the environment have been published in many international journals,

  • Javier Ortiz-Cabrejos, Instituto Maharishi de Ciencia y Tecnología del Perú

    Independent researcher and Director, Instituto Maharishi de Ciencia y Tecnología del Perú in Lima. He is a Peruvian architect, urban planner, educator, poet, and lecturer in human development, and a consultant in Vedic Architecture at Maharishi Vāstu Alliance. Ortiz Cabrejos has lectured at universities and institutions in over 30 countries and developed educational projects in colleges and universities in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, and Medellin, as well as in schools and universities in Peruvian cities such as Lima, Callao, Cusco, Trujillo, Arequipa, Huancayo, Iquitos and Puno. In the last 15 years, he implemented Latin American projects in Consciousness-Based Education at 60 schools to more than 50,000 students.

  • Anna Bonshek, Maharishi Vedic Research Institute

    MahaGauri Professor of Vedic Science, Art and Vedic Architecture at Maharishi Vedic Research Institute in Australia, and a consultant in Vedic Architecture at Maharishi Vāstu Alliance. Dr Bonshek is the author and editor of several books, including The Big Fish: Consciousness as Structure, Body and Space (2007), and Mirror of Consciousness: Art, Creativity and Veda (2001), and has published research in international journals, including International Journal of Architecture and Urban Design, Open House International, Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, International Journal of Indian Psychology, New Art Examiner, and Artlink.

References

Ammar, A., Chtourou, H., Boukhris, O., Trabelsi, K., Masmoudi, L., Brach, M., ... & ECLB-COVID19 Consortium. (2020). COVID-19 home confinement negatively impacts social participation and life satisfaction: A worldwide multicenter study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6237.

Barnes, V. A., Treiber, F. A., & Davis, H. (2001). Impact of Transcendental Meditation on cardiovascular function at rest and during acute stress in adolescents with high normal blood pressure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 51(4), 597–605.

Benn, R. (2003). Transcendental Meditation (TM) and emotional functioning in fifth grade students. Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 8, 480–481.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology. Advance online publication, doi: 10.1037/qup0000196

Burns, J. L., Lee, R. M., & Brown, L. J. (2011). The effect of meditation on self-reported measures of stress, anxiety, depression and perfectionism in a college population. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 25, 132–144.

Calderon-Anyosa, R. J., & Kaufman, J. S. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 lockdown policy on homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle deaths in Peru. Preventive Medicine, 143, 106331.

Clemente-Suárez, V. J., Dalamitros, A. A., Beltran-Velasco, A. I., Mielgo-Ayuso, J., & Tornero-Aguilera, J. F. (2020). Social and psychophysiological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: An extensive literature review. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(Article 580225), 1–15.

Colbert, R. D., & Nidich, S. (2013). Effect of the Transcendental Meditation program on graduation, college acceptance and dropout rates for students attending an urban public school. Education, 133, 495–501.

Cullen, W., Gulati, G., & Kelly, B. D. (2020). Mental health in the Covid-19 pandemic. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 113(5), 311–312.

Dillbeck, M. C., Barnes, V. A., Schneider, R. H., & Travis, F. T. (Eds.) (2020). Scientific research on Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program: Collected papers, volume 8. Maharishi Vedic University Press.

Dixon, C. A., Dillbeck, M. C., Travis, F., Msemaje, H. I., Clayborne, B. M., Dillbeck, S. L., & Alexander, C. N. (2005). Accelerating cognitive and self-development: Longitudinal studies with preschool and elementary school children. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 17, 65–91.

Emlen, N. Q. (2017). Perspectives on the Quechua–Aymara contact relationship and the lexicon and phonology of Pre-Proto-Aymara. International Journal of American Linguistics, 83(2), 307–340.

Fergusson, L., Harmes, M., Hayes, F., & Rahmann, C. (2019). Lines-of-inquiry and sources of evidence in work-based research. Work-Based Learning e-Journal International, 8(2), 85–104.

Fergusson, L., Ortiz Cabrejos, J., & Bonshek, A. (2020). Long-term meditation practice in Puno, Perú: A five-level exploratory model of theory and research. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 8(3), 755–777.

Fergusson, L., Ortiz Cabrejos, J., & Bonshek, A. (2021a). Aymara childrens’ practice of Transcendental Meditation in Perú: A learning history model of parent and teacher perceptions, Journal of Latinos and Education. Advance online publication, doi: 10.1080/15348431.2021.1876695.

Fergusson, L., Ortiz Cabrejos, J., & Bonshek, A. (2021b). Health and school performance: A preliminary quantitative study of school children in Huay-Huay, Perú. Educación, 30(59), 1-23.

Fergusson, L., Ortiz Cabrejos, J., & Bonshek, A. (2022). Examination of meditation practice by primary and secondary students in Perú: A confirmatory study of health and school performance. Revista Innova Educación, 4(1), 21-38.

Fitzgerald, D. A., Nunn, K., & Isaacs, D. (2021). What we have learnt about trauma, loss and grief for children in response to COVID-19. Pediatric Respiratory Reviews, Advance online publication, doi: 10.1016/j.prrv.2021.05.009.

Fontanesi, L., Marchetti, D., Mazza, C., Di Giandomenico, S., Roma, P., & Verrocchio, M. C. (2020). The effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on parents: A call to adopt urgent measures. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S79–S81.

Johns Hopkins University. (2021, August 30). COVID-19 data repository by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. CoronaLevel. https:// coronalevel.com/Peru/Puno.

Hillis, S. D., Unwin, H. J. T., Chen, Y., Cluver, L., Sherr, L., Goldman, P. S., Ratmann, O. … Flaxman, S. (2021). Global minimum estimates of children affected by COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of caregivers: A modelling study. Lancet, 398, 391–402.

Kar, N., Kar, B., & Kar, S. (2021). Stress and coping during COVID-19 pandemic: Result of an online survey. Psychiatry Research, 295, 113598.

Kruglanski, A. W., Molinario, E., & Lemay, E. P. (2021). Coping with COVID-19-induced threats to self. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24(2), 284–289.

Kumar, A., & Nayar, K. R. (2020). COVID 19 and its mental health consequences. Journal of Mental Health, 180(6), 817–818.

Kumari, S., & Mahla, R. S. (2021). Stay-at-home isolation modulates sleep pattern associating with depression and anxiety mood disorders. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 17(2), 343–344.

Mosanya, M. (2021). Buffering academic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic related social isolation: Grit and growth mindset as protective factors against the impact of loneliness. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 16, 159–174.

Narayanan, S. K. (2018). Are we one?: Quechua-Aymara contact and the challenges of boundary maintenance in Puno, Peru. Language & Communication, 62, 145–155.

Nidich, S., Mjasiri, S., Nidich, R. Rainforth, M., Grant, J., Valosek, L., … & Zigler, R. L. (2011). Academic achievement and Transcendental Meditation: A study with at-risk urban middle school students. Education, 131, 556–564.

Nidich, S., Schneider, R. H., Nidich, R., Foster, G., Sharma, H., Salerno, J., Goodman, R., & Alexander, C. N. (2005). Effect of the Transcendental Meditation program on intellectual development in community-dwelling older adults. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 17, 217–226.

Orgilés, M., Morales, A., Delvecchio, E., Francisco, R., Mazzeschi, C., Pedro, M., & Espada, J. P. (2021). Coping behaviors and psychological disturbances in youth affected by the COVID-19 health crisis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 845.

Orgilés, M., Morales, A., Delvecchio, E., Mazzeschi, C., & Espada, J. P. (2020). Immediate psychological effects of the COVID-19 quarantine in youth from Italy and Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 579038.

Radhika, G., Rajendran, R., & Sankar, R. (2020). Systems thinking approach for the promotion of mental health among adolescents: The role of food, sports, music, yoga and spirituality need for a paradigm shift towards a post-COVID-19 India. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(4), 331–337.

Rani, H. J., & Rao, P. V. K. (2000). Effects of meditation and attention processes. Journal of Indian Psychology, 18, 52–60.

Reinders, S., Alva, A., Huicho, L., & Blas, M. M. (2021). Indigenous communities’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and consequences for maternal and neonatal health in remote Peruvian Amazon: A qualitative study based on routine programme supervision. BMJ Open, 10, e044197.

Rosaen, C. & Benn, R. (2006). The experience of Transcendental Meditation in middle school students: A qualitative report. Explore, 2, 422–425.

Salas-Provance, M. B., Arriola, M. E., & Arrunátegui, P. M. T. (2020). Managing in a crisis: American and Peruvian professionals’ experiences during COVID-19. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5, 1785–1788.

Schwalb, A., & Seas, C. (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic in Peru: What went wrong? The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 104(4), 1176.

Sridevi, K., & Rao, P. V. K. (1998). Temporal effects of meditation and personality. Psychological Studies, 43, 95–105.

Vargas, D., & Pérez, K. (2019). El sistema educativo peruano y la pérdida de identidad cultural andina en la región Puno. Revista Innova Educación, 1(2), 244–251.

Verger, N. B., Urbanowicz, A., Shankland, R., & McAloney-Kocaman, K. (2021). Coping in isolation: Predictors of individual and household risks and resilience against the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 3(1), 100123.

Warner, T. Q. (2005). Awareness and cognition: The role of awareness training in child development. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 17, 47–64.

Wendt, S., Hipps, J., Abrams, A., Grant, J., Valosek, L., & Nidich, S. (2015). Practicing Transcendental Meditation in high schools: Relationship to well-being and academic achievement among students. Contemporary School Psychology, 19(4), 312–319.

Xie, B. A., Qi Xue, M. P. H., Yu Zhou, B. A., Kaiheng Zhu, B. A., Qi Liu, M. S., Jiajia Zhang, M. S., & Song, R. (2020). Mental health status among children in home confinement during the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in Hubei Province, China. JAMA Pediatrics, 174, 898–900.

Yáñez, J. A., Jahanshahi, A. A., Alvarez-Risco, A., Li, J., & Zhang, S. X. (2020). Anxiety, distress, and turnover intention of healthcare workers in Peru by their distance to the epicenter during the COVID-19 crisis. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103(4), 1614–1620.

Yin, R. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. SAGE Publications.

Yoshimura, M., Kurokawa, E., Noda, T., Hineno, K., Tanaka, Y., Kawai, Y., & Dillbeck, M. C. (2015). Disaster relief for the Japanese earthquake-tsunami of 2011: Stress reduction through the Transcendental

Downloads

Published

2022-10-05

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Artículos originales

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz-Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Accounts of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Case of Peruvian indigenous students. (2022). Revista Innova Educación, 5(1), 100-119. https://doi.org/10.35622/j.rie.2023.05.007

Similar Articles

1-10 of 97

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.