Clifford Mayes

Clifford Mayes (born 1953) is an American professor of educational psychology and multicultural theory in the Brigham Young University McKay School of Education.

A Jungian scholar, Mayes has produced the first book-length studies in English on the pedagogical applications of Jungian and neo-Jungian psychology, which is based on the work of Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961). Jungian psychology is also called analytical psychology. His work, based in humanities and depth psychology, is thought to offer an alternative to the social sciences paradigm that is generally used in educational research.

Mayes has developed what he has termed archetypal pedagogy. Mayes' work also aims at promoting what he calls archetypal reflectivity in teachers; this is a means of encouraging teachers to examine and work with psychodynamic issues, images, and assumptions as those factors affect their pedagogical practices. Archetypal reflectivity, which draws not only upon Jungian psychology but transpersonal psychology generally, offers an avenue for teachers to probe the spiritual dimensions of teaching and learning in non-dogmatic terms.

Two of Mayes' most recent works, Inside Education: Depth Psychology in Teaching and Learning (2007) and The Archetypal Hero's Journey in Teaching and Learning: A Study in Jungian Pedagogy (2010), incorporate 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. Some of Mayes' work in curriculum theory, especially Seven Curricular Landscapes: An Approach to the Holistic Curriculum (2003) and Understanding the Whole Student: Holistic Multicultural Education (2007), is concerned with holistic education. The latter text is one of the first to extend the holistic approach into the area of multicultural education. His most recent book, Psyche as Spirit: Foundations of Jungian Psychology, will appear in mid-2013 through Atwood Publishing. Dr. Mayes is also a therapist and Director of Research at the Sacred Hoop Healing Center in Provo, Utah. Mayes has written on various topics in Jungian Sand Tray Therapy. Additionally, he has examined parallels between Mormon theology and classical Jungian psychology.

See also Wikipedia article on Archetype.

Mayes holds a doctorate in the cultural foundations of education from the University of Utah and a doctorate in psychology from Southern California University for Professional Studies.

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    Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed.
    —Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972)