Transforming ourselves/transforming curriculum: spiritual education and Tarot symbolism

This paper is threefold. It is grounded in the philosophical work of two educational theorists: John Dewey and our contemporary Nel Noddings. It also brings into the conversation the ancient system of Tarot, arguing that its pictorial symbolism embodies intellectual, moral, and spiritual ‘lessons’ derived from collective human experiences across times, places, and cultures. For Dewey, to call somebody spiritual never meant to invoke some mysterious and non‐natural entity outside of the real world. As a system of communication and interpretation, Tarot is oriented toward the discovery of meanings in the real experience and performs two functions, existential and educational, focusing on the ethical and spiritual dimension of experience. The pictorial images create an adventure story of the journey through the school of life, each new life experience contributing to self‐understanding and, ultimately, spiritual rebirth. Tarot not only speaks in a different voice, therefore bringing forth the subtleties of Gilligan and Noddings’ relational ethics, but also enables a process of critical self‐reflection analogous to the ancient Socratic ‘Know thyself’ principle that makes life examined and thus meaningful. As a techne, it can and should become a valuable tool to complement an existing set of educational aids in the area of moral and spiritual education.     

诺丁斯的关怀伦理学与关怀教育思想

诺丁斯是关怀伦理学和关怀教育理论的代表人物。关怀伦理学是关怀教育思想的基础。它主张学校要以关心学生为首要任务 ,以培养学生成为关怀的人为目标 ,围绕不同的关怀中心组织了一套课程 ,并提出了实际工作中的重点。因此关怀教育思想可以视为关怀伦理学在学校教育中的应用。