Cultivating soul through education may be elusive

In his blog post "Finding Soul looking for curriculum", Frank Bird writes about soul in education with references to James Hillman, Thomas Moore, Carl Jung, James Kavanaugh and Mary Aswell Doll. Bird considers different associations with soul and includes

"Our rat race society where being John Wayne and never stopping and emailing till all hours of the night and working 24/7 and getting no sleep and pouring down energy drinks (I tend to like the five hour energy shots) is how we live...

Hillman sees our increase in depression as a response to our competitive society. That we are leaving behind something perhaps it is our soul. Hillman authored a best seller, The Soul's Code and Moore authored the best seller Care of the Soul. These two men are not just fly by nights. James Hillman studied under Carl Jung in the 1950’s and Moore, a former monk studying for the priesthood, has a doctorate in psychology and music. Interesting he is a pianist as well as therapist. Both men are concerned about this thing we call soul. In Doll’s article she emphasizes children learning literature in a manner that stirs the soul. By going back to Moore’s first definition, "First, soul refers to the deepening of events into experiences," John Dewey sought to pull experience into learning making it a crucial aspect of his philosophy. I have many times related to context and content being equal partners in learning."

Bird also touches on the ethics of politicians, hoop cheese and smoked turkey in this entry.