The pedagogy of the Whirling Dervishes: forming and unforming the self

Abstract Education is almost always imagined as a process of forming, strengthening, or expanding the self. But what if education could also de-form, rather than only form, the self? This article explores that unsettling possibility through the Sufi ritual of the Whirling Dervishes, asking whether the dissolution of the self can be understood and even guided as a pedagogical event. Drawing on concepts such as didactic transposition and pedagogical reduction, it considers how intensely personal spiritual experiences, like self-transcendence and union with the Divine, can be given shape within structured, repeatable practices. Whirling becomes the focal case: a ritual that translates mystical aspiration into physical, sensory movement. The mentor–disciple (murshid–murid) relationship anchors this pedagogy, not through direct instruction but through presence and rhythm, creating the conditions in which the ego can loosen and re-form. The article argues that while self-dissolution resists neat definition—and may seem impossible to teach—it can unfold pedagogically: not through explanation, but through form, repetition, and shared commitment. In doing so, it challenges assumptions about what education is for and invites a broader question for philosophy of education: how far pedagogy’s frame can stretch and what might come into view once we reconsider what pedagogy is really for?