Archetypal pedagogy /ˈpɛdəɡɒdʒi/ is a theory of education developed by Clifford Mayes that aims at enhancing psycho-spiritual growth in both the teacher and student.
The idea of archetypal pedagogy stems from the Jungian tradition and is directly related to analytical psychology.
Clifford Mayes, professor in the Brigham Young University McKay School of Education, has developed what he has termed archetypal pedagogy.
Mayes' most recent work, Teaching and Learning for Wholeness: The Role of Archetypes in Educational Processes (2017), develops his ongoing project of incorporating into Jungian pedagogy the psychoanalytic theories of Heinz Kohut (particularly Kohut's notion of the selfobject) and the object relations theory of Ronald Fairbairn and D.W. Winnicott.
Archetypes are, according to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, innate universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic themes of human life emerge.
Archetypes are components of the collective unconscious and serve to organize, direct and inform human thought and behaviour.
Pedagogy comes from the ancient Greek παιδαγωγία, of παιδός ([paiˈdos]) "child" and ἄγω ([ˈaɡɔː) "to drive, to raise, to take the way".
Jung treated the archetypes as psychological organs, analogous to physical ones in that both are morphological constructs that arose through evolution.
[4] Archetypes can help educators become more deeply self-aware and recognize themselves in the collective unconscious or "soul of the world" through images of not only 'the teacher' but also "healers, great mothers, warriors, visionaries, tricksters, and so on".
Jung also said they have a sort of "second puberty" that occurs between 35 and 40 – outlook shifts from emphasis on materialism, sexuality, and having children to concerns about community and spirituality.
A common theme is for young rebels to "search" for their true selves and realize that a contribution to humanity is essentially a necessity for a whole self.
Jung proposes that the ultimate goal of the collective unconscious and self-realization is to pull humans to the highest experience.