Emotions, Transformation, and Redemption: Dirkx's “Soul Work” in Christian Higher Education.

Institutions of Christian higher education are charged with helping students steward their current callings and prepare for future callings (Plantinga, 2002). Subjective knowledge, or knowledge of self, plays an important role in this sort of vocational discernment. John Dirkx's “soul work” can help educators lead their students to a deeper understanding of themselves. Soul work does not require additional course content but rather heightened attentiveness to the emotional reactions of students as they engage both course material and their colleagues in a learning environment. This article introduces faculty in Christian higher education to soul work and equips them to apply relevant concepts to their pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]