Jung in education: a review of historical and contemporary contributions from analytical psychology to the field of education

This article is a review of the influence of analytical psychology within the field of education. The influence of analytical psychology on the mainstream of educational thought and practice has never been great. However, Jung himself gave a number of lectures on education and post-Jungians have further explored the relevance of analytical thought in education. The article first outlines Jung’s own thoughts about education and their reception in primarily North-America and England. The second half of the article discusses the post-Jungian contributions. Six different strands of post-Jungian inspiration are identified: Mytho-historical education, holistic education, archetypal pedagogy, educating imagination, educating different personality types, and transformative education. Finally it is suggested, that while analytical psychology may never occupy a place in the mainstream of educational thought and practice it can provide important and unusual perspectives to the field of education.