The Hero’s Journey as a Framework for Cultivating Resilience among Arts Educators in Turbulent Times

Creative Therapeutic

Research Article

The Hero’s Journey as a Framework for Cultivating Resilience among Arts Educators in Turbulent Times

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https://doi.org/10.54963/ct.v1i1.1578
Stanley, N. (2025). The Hero’s Journey as a Framework for Cultivating Resilience among Arts Educators in Turbulent Times. Creative Therapeutic, 1(1), 9–20. https://doi.org/10.54963/ct.v1i1.1578
Volume 1 Issue 1 (2025)
Copyright (c) 2025 Nile Stanley
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Authors

  • Nile Stanley

    Department of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA

Received: 4 April 2025; Revised: 18 May 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025; Published: 5 June 2025

This essay explores how the hero’s journey framework can foster resilience among arts educators and students facing political, social, and institutional challenges. Through autobiographical reflections and contextual analysis, it demonstrates how arts-based practices—such as storytelling, poetry, and bibliotherapy—serve as acts of resistance and sources of strength amid funding cuts, censorship, and policies restricting arts and social justice education. Personal vignettes, including visits to schools and encounters with bans on social justice literature, illustrate storytelling as an act of defiance and resilience. Drawing on literature in resilience, narrative psychology, and arts integration, the essay emphasizes that embracing the hero’s journey nurtures hope, agency, and collective resilience. It highlights how arts practices can transform trauma into resilience, empower marginalized voices, and sustain cultural resistance in turbulent times. The critique of traditional hero narratives reveals how they often reinforce gender, racial, and class stereotypes, underscoring the need for more inclusive, culturally responsive frameworks. Applying the hero’s journey as a pedagogical tool helps educators reframe challenges as transformative stages in their own hero’s narrative, fostering perseverance and collective empowerment. Ultimately, storytelling and arts engagement are vital tools for navigating adversity, inspiring activism, and maintaining cultural resilience in the face of ongoing turbulence.

Keywords:

Hero’s Journey Master Narratives Arts Educators Agency Resilience

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