Imaginal Transformation and Schooling

Abstract

In this chapter the authors seek to make conceptual connections between the quest of the creative imagination as elucidated by Ibn ‘Arabi and ordinary classroom work in a school in Melbourne, Australia. That the school is Islamic serves no other function than to cast into relief what the authors ultimately wish to achieve, which is two things. Firstly, they wish to show that imaginal formation and transformation are not only a significant part of humanities work in schools but, once identified, must be seen to be the proper substance of humanities studies. Secondly, they wish to set forth the idea that, even in western world contexts, the goals of a pedagogy sensitive to imaginal transformation retain powerful life-giving equivalence with the divine goal of the medieval Sufi master.