The job of 'educator' is no exception to this 'rule' and it is probable that an experienced, professional educator, like any other professional who has accumulated years of experience, is aware, at a certain point, of the important role that stereotypes, or more appropriately archetypes, play in his or her job, using this term in the meaning of Carl Gustav Jung's Ar­chetypal Psychology and, more particularly, James Hillman's more up-to-date version of the same.

In accordance with the general theoretical project of Educational Enlight­enment, developed by Giovanni Pampanini over the last few years, this volume tries to answer questions such as the following: in what way do today's professional educators 'echo' appropriately, or not, their arche­typal inspirers? Are these archetypes appropriate to modern times? What indications can we obtain from a comparative study on educational ar­chetypes in different societies/cultures with reference to what the educa­tor should be, and do, in the society in which he/she operates today? Is a Confucius or a Socrates still necessary? Or an Aristotle? A Jesus, a Bud­dha or a Lao-Tsu? What 'echo' is incorporated in a Dewey, or a Freire? Or in all the educators and teachers who at the present moment, all over the world, are practising the same profession?