Doctoral Degrees (Educational Psychology)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Educational Psychology) by browse.metadata.advisor "Lancaster, B. L."

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    The application of ancient Greek myth and music in personal, professional and transpersonal development
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) McMullin, Lindy; Lancaster, B. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Self-actualization and self-transcendence are both areas of Maslow’s Hierarchy that remain elusive to the majority of humankind, largely due to the lack of education about the self. To know the self is also to care about the self, and this study aims at investigating how the use of myth in sacred text with music may contribute to this process of self-knowledge. The objective of the study is to investigate the effects that myth in sacred text may have on personal, professional and transpersonal development. To ensure maximum impact in terms of imagery-enhancing properties, Greek myth was read, accompanied by lyre music, in a therapeutic setting. The study included a focus on personal epiphanies that, it is argued, have the potential to change perceptions and contribute to a healing process. Seventeen participants were read Homer’s Hymn to Demeter over five sessions. Interviews before and after each session focused on participants’ imagery in dreams and waking fantasy, together with their reflections and interpretations. An Interpretive Interactionist methodology was used with a post structuralism critical approach, capturing the ways in which participants experienced the hymn and the relations with the epiphanies that have taken place in their lives. Results show that the Hymn facilitated participants in working through relationship issues and birth and death traumas, both major aspects of the myth. The extent to which the myth may have facilitated positive outcomes is discussed. Results also highlight the role dreams played in between sessions, in enriching reflection and understanding of problems that arose across the five sessions. It is concluded that the exposure to myth in the imagery-encouraging setting used in the study has the potential to impact poignantly on personal, professional and transpersonal development.