The Trickster archetype: education to stupefy.

This article examines the potential of incorporating the Trickster archetype—characterized by generativity, playfulness, and critical disruption—into Education Studies (ES) within UK Higher Education (HE) to foster enhanced critical thinking and metacognition. Contrasting with the dominant Hero archetype focused on linear progress and measurable outcomes, the Trickster ethic encourages questioning normative discourses and embracing uncertainty, thereby challenging neoliberal, outcome-driven educational practices. Drawing on examples from teaching and theoretical frameworks such as Perry's stages of contextual reasoning, the article argues that Trickster-informed approaches can provoke deeper student reflection and imaginative engagement, though they pose ethical and practical challenges within regulated, metric-focused HE environments. Ultimately, the Trickster ethic is presented as a paradoxical, resistant mode of educational practice that unsettles fixed assumptions and cultivates a "labour of the negative" rather than straightforward instrumental success.