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Understanding The Jungian Shadow PDF
Understanding The Jungian Shadow PDF
THE PSYCHE
A light falls upon a surface. We see the surface clearly. We can identify it, perceive its
texture, and get a sense of its characteristics. That which is behind the surface falls into shadow.
We have a hard time seeing what is in shadow. Surface is neither light nor shadow, but is,
dependent on light to bring its qualities to life. So it is with the nature of light, surface, and
shadow.
Light and Surface
Carl Jung used this as metaphor for the psyche. In all humans there are light, surface,
and shadow. Light is that to which we attend within the psyche. Shadow is that to which
attention is withheld. Our attention focused in a specific area turns shadow to light and light to
shadow. Surface contains our ego ideals. These are the standards of conduct or personal traits
that a person values and to which he or she aspires. These have been shaped by the development
of the ego or conscious personality and are derived in great part from one’s interaction with
society, peer groups, parents, and religious mores.
Most people’s ego ideals pertain, in varying degrees, traits or conduct that serves to care
for the self, others, and the environment. Often described as good, the Buddhist mystic, Thich
Nhat Hanh (1999) instead calls these the wholesome seeds within our store consciousness.
These seeds uplift, nurture, and help us transform our suffering. They are traits such as humility,
self-respect, non-craving, non-anger, compassion, patience, understanding, concentration,
diligence, equanimity, and non-violence.
Shadow
The shadow contains those traits within us that go against everything we stand for. It is
the unwanted or repressed part of one’s personality caused by on over-identification with one’s
ego ideals (Jung, 1933; Sanford, 1988). When we focus only on what we think we should be, we
ignore what we are. Parts of our self become engulfed in shadow.
There is also a part within each of us that also seeks to take and to destroy. Often
described as evil, Thich Nhat Hanh instead calls these the unwholesome seeds within our store
consciousness. These seeds are heavy, destructive, and seek to imprison us in our suffering.
These are traits such as anger, greed, hatred, selfishness, self-centeredness, need to control,
ignorance, and pride.
PETRI DISHES
We have a choice in every situation as to which seeds receive our attention and thus,
become watered. Seeds create emotional states from which thoughts arise. Thought precedes
action, thus, the fourth step of the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path, right action (good), is
dependent on our attention (right-mindedness and contemplation). Thus, focusing on internal
states is an important part of helping people to acquire the behaviors that nurture the self, others,
and the environment. Ignoring the inner dimensions serves only to create a petri dish that allows
the unwholesome seeds to fester.
Our educational systems are partially responsible for creating this fetid petri dish. Our
students are unable to attend to their inner dimensions and this creates shadow in which the
unwholesome seeds flourish. This is one of the byproducts of our schools’ preoccupation with
testing as a way of assigning worth to an educational experience. Standardized achievement and
ability texts focus on only two types of thinking: logical-mathematical intelligence and linguistic
intelligence (Gardner, 1995), neither of which are very predictive of success in real world
endeavors (Sternberg, 1996). Yet, these two ways of thinking have become the coin of the realm
in evaluating educational experiences, hence, the only “learning” that counts is that which can be
measured by standardized tests. This approach gives students an extremely limited sense of their
own potential and offers a very narrow view of the world. In this narrow, two-dimensional
educational world, there is little place for emotion, imagination, intuition, spirituality, and other
ways of thinking and being.
“Science and education, being too exclusively abstract, verbal, and bookish, don’t have
enough place for raw, concrete, esthetic experience, especially of the subjective
happening inside oneself” (Maslow, 1968, P. 229).
the conscious and unconscious parts of one’s personality (Russel-Chapin, Rybak, and Copilevitz,
1996; Smith, 1990; Sylwester, 2000).
Fourth, an examination of both light and shadow provides a context for understanding
and analyzing the forces that govern individuals, teachers, education, and society. That is, one
can more aptly judge the morality of the constraints that are imposed on people by understanding
the nature of light and shadow. Indeed, the study of social justice is based, in great part, upon
what is the right, just, or moral thing to do based on a set of moral principles.
And finally, having students wrestle with the nature of light and shadow and asking them
to make decisions related to right and wrong helps them in developing their moral reasoning
abilities. Our students are better able to make good decisions if they have had some practice and
experience in this endeavor.
There is no such thing as a value free education. However, the inclusion of shadow and
light into a curriculum should be as value-free as possible. That is, given an objective definition
and description of these two concepts, students should not be lead to a particular conclusion, but
allowed to come to their own. Also, the introduction of shadow and light must be
developmentally appropriate. There are many topics that are appropriate for middle and high
school students that should not be covered in elementary schools. Common sense and
knowledge of developmental levels should be used here.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SHADOW
Shadow rarely announces itself clearly, instead, it can be seen only peripherally by
sensing
its characteristics. The eight characteristics of shadow examined below are based on M. Scott
Peck’s book, People of the Lie (1983). A psychiatrist by training, Peck uses the word evil to
point to shadow and in so doing, he describes as a specific form of mental illness. Whether it
pertains to people, groups, or institutions, shadow has some or all of the following eight
characteristics:
1. Shadow seeks to dominate or control. Domination and control is present whenever
more powerful groups tries to manage the affairs of a lesser group and this management is
unasked or unwanted. The opposite of domination and control is autonomy and self-
determination. Sometimes the use of control is justified as a way to avoid chaos. While chaos
can be just as detrimental as control, there is a very large continuum from control to chaos. The
midway point between these two is a supportive structure.
Structure in education takes the form of goals and some sort of defining principles.
Schools and teachers are then allowed the freedom to reach those goals in ways that best
accommodates their talents and resources. Teachers, like students, need the least restrictive
environment if they are perform at their best. In the same way, well functioning classrooms
provide students with a basic set of rules and structure. Students are then given freedom within
that structure. However, classrooms, just like students, are not the same. Some need more
regulation structure and less freedom, while others need less regulation and more freedom.
2. Shadow prevents the realization of one’s full potential. Schools are kept from
reaching their full potential by stringent curricular mandates that do not allow teachers to bring
their passions, interests, and art into the classroom. Having to endure a standardized “teacher
proof” curriculum, professional educators are not able to adapt their instruction to meet the
particular needs of their students or to tap into their own strengths as teachers. This top-down
approach inhibits teacher empowerment and lessens the effectiveness of schools (Book, 1996).
Educational experiences and pedagogical approaches should be as unique and varied as the
personalities and philosophies of our teachers. When teachers are allowed to take risks and
make changes related to teaching and learning, student achievement is enhanced (Marks, and
Louis, 1997; Sweetland and Hoy, 2002), and schools become more effective learning
communities (Detert, Louis, and Schroeder, 2001).
In the same way, for students to realize their full potential, they need the freedom to find
and follow their interests and passions. This means having a differentiated curriculum where
students have choices about what they study, how they learn, and how they demonstrate their
learning. Sadly, it is the assembly line approach to education that still predominates. Here,
students are seen as standardized products that are all put on the same conveyer belt in
kindergarten. They move along through the grades in lock-step formation, all at the same speed
with the same parts being put into each. This approach is effective if you are making Dodge
Neon automobiles, but very ineffective if you are trying to develop thinking, compassionate,
self-actualized humans.
3. Shadow seeks fragmentation and separation versus wholeness. In education
fragmentation can be seen most prominently in the over-reliance on positivist views of reality
that exclude all other views. Positivism has its roots in the scientific tradition and states that
knowledge exists outside the self and thus, truth can only be derived through objective
observations which are proven through reliable tests and predictions (Alkove and McCarty,
1992). That is, only by collecting empirical data, isolating variables, testing, and retesting can
we arrive at truth or say that a thing exists. In describing this limited view, Abraham Maslow
(1970) states,
Indeed, the pure positivist rejects any inner experiences of any kind as being
“unscientific” as not in the realm of human knowledge, as not susceptible of students by
a scientific method, because such data are not objective, that is to say, public and shared
(p.6)
Positivism excludes the view of reality put forth by indigenous peoples, holistic
educators, and others that see the world as a series of interconnecting entities in which a thing
cannot be understood outside the context of which it is found (Miller, 1996; Nakagawa, 2000).
In education, this positivistic, one-sided view of reality manifests in three ways: First, the
overemphasis on testing as a way of assigning worth or value to an educational experience
(Popham, 2001; Sternberg, 1996). These tests measure only a small part of what intelligence
might be and hence, offer a very incomplete view of learners and learning. Second, the lesser
status given to the arts when compared to the sciences and other curricular areas. The arts give
form and expression to our inner experiences and thus, are an integral component of an
educational experience that seeks to address the whole student. And third, intelligence is largely
determined and described only in terms of numbers (Richert, 1997). That is, intelligence is
thought to exist only if it can be quantified and compared to a normative scale.
On the level of individual students, fragmentation occurs in three ways: First, as students
are labeled and shuffled off to specialist to have their special learning needs met, their
educational experience becomes more fragmented and thus, more confusing (Allington, 2001).
Holistic educators would instead strive to create an inclusive classroom where all students’
special needs are met within the context of their regular classroom by means of a differentiated
curriculum (Miller, 1996). This perspective would recognize the need to provide smaller class
sizes and professional development resources for teachers so that they are able to learn the skills
necessary for classroom inclusion. Second, fragmentation occurs also as students’ educational
days are separated into 50 to 60 minute slots. Block scheduling and thematic instruction are two
ways to circumvent this kind of fragmentation. Finally, fragmentation occurs when specific
skills related to reading, writing, math, social studies, and science are taught in isolation, apart
from a meaningful context. A non-fragmented, holistic approach is exemplified in the whole
language philosophy that advocates creating authentic literacy experiences first, then teaching
the skills students are ready for within the context of that authentic experience (Goodman,
1986).
4. Shadow is narcissistic. Narcissism is an inability or incapacity to see things from
another’s point of view. Educational narcissism occurs whenever the system or those operating
within the system become more important than those being served. Here, the needs of
politicians who want to get elected, administrators who want to stay in power, or schools that
want to look good supercedes the needs of students. Instead of using research-based practices
and validated strategies, educational narcissism leads to simplistic solutions for complex
problems that are validated only by popularity and perception (Spiegel, 1998). And when these
simplistic solutions fail to reach their desired affect, as they inevitably do, blame is focused on
teachers, parents, students, and the media.
5. Shadow takes and destroys. In education, the most cruel sort of confiscation and
destruction occurs in schools when children’s natural curiosity, aspirations, and self worth are
taken from them. Young children come to school eager to discover the world around them,
ready to learn new things, but something happens early on to take away this natural love of
learning (Holt, 1983). Learning then becomes, not something children do; but something that is
done to them. Instead of addressing what children are most interested in, schools insist they
learn those things deemed important by a curriculum director or publishing company. The scope
and sequence chart becomes sacred scripture as children are made to learn certain things in a
certain order so that they will not get out of order and will instead be ready for the next thing at
the next level.
Schools tend to ask young children to learn in ways that are not natural to them (Holt,
1983). Instead of using their natural need to move, touch, and explore, young children are asked
to sit quietly in rows and not to talk to their neighbors as they are taught abstract concepts and
skills that are outside their experience. And when elementary and middle schools want learning
to go up, they often cut the most important learning experience for any elementary student:
recess. Children need this time, apart from adult supervision, to make their rules, play their
games, and solve their own interpersonal problems. In this way they grow as human beings and
come to understand each other.
Adolescents need curriculums that incorporate social, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and
emotional skills. They need classroom activities that invite them to make personal connections
between the subject matter and their lives. Adolescence is a time of experimenting and
experiencing as children begin to define themselves as a young adult, as such, students need the
freedom to experiment with a variety of new ideas. They also need activities that provide them
opportunities to share feelings, insights, and life situations. These things can be easily inserted
into most current curriculums. Instead, middle and high schools become institutions, not of
learning, but of measurement, concerned only with documenting how much knowledge students
can burp up or what skills they can demonstrate.
students are not learning than they do exploring new research-based strategies or finding ways to
implement validated approaches to teaching and learning. Berliner and Biddle (1995), describe
this trait in The Manufactured Crisis (Berliner and Biddle, 1995). Instead of taking
responsibility for flawed federal policies, poor planning in manufacturing, corporate greed, and
limited vision in the business sector, our nation is described to be at risk (National Commission
on Excellence in Education, 1983), schools are blamed for everything from poor workers to
declining values and a breakdown of American society.
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