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Resisting images of the 'diminished self': The implications of emotional well-being and emotional engagement in education policy
Abstract
Developing people's emotional well-being and emotional engagement are official aims in social policy. A growing number of initiatives respond to diverse, often contradictory public, political and professional concerns about individuals' emotional needs. These concerns are a powerful discourse in 'personalised learning'. The article contributes to debates in critical policy research. It evaluates the subtle ways in which policy initiatives to develop emotional well-being and encourage emotional engagement with public services resonate with images of the 'diminished self' emerging in broader cultural discourses. Critical evaluation is necessary in order for researchers and educators committed to social justice to challenge the influential idea that emotional well-being should be a prominent educational goal and to resist the diminished images of human potential that underlie it.
... Kahn (1990), who had conceptualized and theoretically derived the dimensions of employee engagement in organizational studies, defines engagement as "the harnessing of organizational members to their work roles." The topic is diverse, and there is a need for personalized learning because developing emotional wellbeing through engagement is a part of social policy (Ecclestone, 2007). The discussion on emotional health and engagement falls under behavioral phenomena: weak emotional health can cause disengagement. ...
... A therapeutic version of personhood regards most forms of human experience as the source of emotional distress (Furedi 2004). Researchers have introduced the concept of the diminished self in order to illuminate the deeper cultural shift towards pessimistic images of people's resilience and agency (Ecclestone 2007). Images of the diminished pupil are reflected in the routine use of labels such as 'vulnerable learners', students with 'fragile identities', learners with 'complex needs' and 'low self-esteemers' (Ecclestone and Hayes 2009). ...
Educational discourses have embraced therapeutic discourse, a psychology-based system of assumptions about the self, its boundaries, development and social relations. While scholars have debated the virtues of this therapeutic turn, there has been little empirical study of therapeutic discourse in teacher pedagogical discourse. This article, using theoretical frameworks of teacher learning and the sociology of therapeutic discourse and employing linguistic ethnographic methods, features close analysis of therapeutic discourse in teacher workplace conversations. The focal case, in which a teacher consults with her colleagues regarding a non-compliant student, features four episodes of therapeutic reasoning (ETRs) in which various therapeutic logics are employed. Analysis uncovered three central manifestations of therapeutic discourse especially pertinent to education: the role of emotions; perceptions of the self; and temporality. Attending to these manifestations in each ETR reveals conditions under which they may enhance or impede potential for teacher learning and pedagogic action. When therapeutic modes of reasoning are deployed by teachers to discuss their problems of practice, they are found to be multifaceted, elastic, and to bear potential for agentive teacher action under certain conditions. This article calls for a more nuanced, temporally-sensitive perspective on therapeutic discourse in education, and addresses implications for theory and practice.
This chapter considers the contemporary outcomes-related curriculum model utilised in vocational education internationally, in terms of current understanding and research (e.g. Wheelahan, International Journal of Training Research, 14(3), 180–196, 2016; Bathmaker, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 65(1), 87–107, 2013, Ecclestone, International Studies in Sociology of Education, 21(2), 91–113, 2011), but also draws on seminal works such as, for example, those by Dewey (Democracy and education. Free Press, 1916) and Stenhouse (An introduction to curriculum research and development. Heinemann, 1975). In doing so, it addresses arguments about valuable knowledge, as well as critiques around ‘busy work’ in relation to the level 1 curriculum.
The new curriculum model responds to Bloomer’s (Education for studentship. In J. Avis et al. (Eds.), Knowledge and nationhood education, politics and work. Cassell, 1996; Curriculum making in post-16 education the social conditions of studentship. Routledge, 1997) critiques of the broader post-16 curriculum. Whilst made a generation ago, they remain relevant to the largely unchanged curriculum model used in the UK and Guernsey post-16, and indeed, to more global concerns about provision for low-attaining youth. Further, the extensive study which provided the empirical basis for these critiques remains the only work to have explored such issues in significant depth. We consider his critiques of a dependency culture in the light of more recent work on the therapisation of education (e.g. Ecclestone and Hayes, The dangerous rise of therapeutic education (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2019) and argue that whilst the traditional curriculum engenders dependency in ways which are contrary to social justice (Ecclestone, British Journal of Educational Studies, 52(2), 112–137, 2004, Atkins, Invisible students, impossible dreams: Experiencing vocational education 14-19. Trentham Books, 2009), the model developed in Guernsey goes some way to addressing these concerns.
This chapter is central to the book as it presents the Curriculum Model for Social Justice developed as part of the project (see Fig. 6.1). The Curriculum Model for Social Justice draws on contemporary research and the arguments presented in the preceding chapter in order to provide a comprehensive framework for pedagogic approaches which can be used both to engage the most marginalised students and to confer meaningful and valuable knowledge (e.g. see Bathmaker, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 65, 87–107, 2013; Ecclestone, 2011). The Model encompasses four key aspects of the curriculum: vocational studies, English and maths, Careers Education and Guidance, and work experience. Acknowledging the constraints faced by the students, most of whom have lives characterised by poverty and other forms of exclusion, the curriculum is ‘wrapped around’ by a fifth aspect—a comprehensive enrichment programme which offers opportunities to engage in leisure, as well as in learning activities. The chapter describes each aspect of the Curriculum Model, relating it to the theoretical frameworks outlined in earlier chapters, presenting it as a flexible approach with proven benefits, which has the potential to be more widely adopted.
UK government statistics illustrate that children’s mental health problems are rising. Schools are positioned as central to identifying and responding to children’s mental health problems, and teachers are seen to play a crucial role in fostering positive relationships, developing supportive environments, and implementing targeted interventions. This exploratory research considered how primary teachers in the UK conceptualise mental health, specifically children’s mental health, how they view and make sense of their role in relation to this, and approach working with children based on these understandings. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), semi-structured interviews were conducted with four primary school teachers. Four master themes were identified: environmental factors; relational approach; the impact of, and on, teachers; mental health as a personal and individual experience. The implications for teachers, schools and EPs are considered, with recommendations including developing support for teachers, creating relational primary school communities, and considering the “real-world” action EPs could take.
The silent ascendancy of a therapeutic ethos across the education system and into the workplace demands a book that serves as a wake up call to everyone. Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes' controversial and compelling book uses a wealth of examples across the education system, from primary schools to university, and the workplace to show how therapeutic education is turning children, young people and adults into anxious and self-preoccupied individuals rather than aspiring, optimistic and resilient learners who want to know everything about the world. The chapters address a variety of thought-provoking themes, including how therapeutic ideas from popular culture dominate social thought and social policies and offer a diminished view of human potential how schools undermine parental confidence and authority by fostering dependence and compulsory participation in therapeutic activities based on disclosing emotions to others how higher education has adopted therapeutic forms of teacher training because many academics have lost faith in the pursuit of knowledge how such developments are propelled by a deluge of political initiatives in areas such as emotional literacy, emotional well-being and the 'soft outcomes' of learning The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education is eye-opening reading for every teacher, student teacher and parent who retains any belief in the power of knowledge to transform people's lives. Its insistent call for a serious public debate about the emotional state of education should also be at the forefront of the minds of every agent of change in society from parent to policy maker. © 2009 Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes. All rights reserved.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the most widely discussed topics in current psychology. Although first mentioned in the professional literature nearly two decades ago, in the past five years it has received extensive media attention. The term "emotional intelligence" refers to the ability to identify, express, and understand emotions; to assimilate emotions into thought; and to regulate both positive and negative emotions in oneself and others. Yet despite the flourishing research programs and broad popular interest, scientific evidence for a clearly identified construct of EI is sparse. It remains to be seen whether there is anything to EI that researchers in the fields of personality, intelligence, and applied psychology do not already know.
This book offers a comprehensive critical review of EI. It examines current thinking on the nature, components, determinants, and consequences of EI, and evaluates the state of the art in EI theory, research, assessment, and applications. It highlights the extent to which empirical evidence supports EI as a valid construct and debunks some of the more extravagant claims that appear in the popular media. Finally, it examines the potential use of EI to guide practical interventions in various clinical, occupational, and educational settings.
Bradford Books imprint
Foreword Acknowledgements Unreasonable Subjects Strangers to Ourselves? Conflict, Difference and Dialogue A Place for Experience Building Castles in the Sand: Racial and Ethnic Identities in Civil Society Finding Your Voice Mobilising Fictions The Internal Establishment Hatred of Dependency Ethical Foundations of Welfare Universalism Bibliography Index
The principle of personalised learning was launched by the UK Prime Minister in his speech to the Labour Party Conference on 30 September 2003 and developed in a major speech on public services on 29 January 2004. What precisely are the Government's objectives for its agenda in relation to the personalisation of learning and how far does it represent continuity or change of policy direction? Where do these ideas sit within current policy, on public services in general and schools in particular? And to what extent do they have the power to generate better practice at school level?.
The book is a practical and up-to-date account of ways in which schools can use emotional literacy to realize their goals of school improvement and effectiveness, increased learning, more efficient management of teaching and learning and improved relationships.
Assessment dominates our lives but its good intentions often produce negative consequences. An example that is central to this book is how current forms of assessment encourage shallow 'for-the-test' learning. It is true to say that as the volume of assessment increases, confidence in what it represents is diminishing. This book seeks to reclaim assessment as a constructive activity which can encourage deeper learning. To do this the purpose, and fitness-for-purpose, of assessments have to be clear. Gordon Stobart critically examines five issues that currently have high-profile status: intelligence testing; learning skills; accountability; the 'diploma disease'; formative assessment. Stobart explains that these form the basis for the argument that we must generate assessments which, in turn, encourage deep and lifelong learning. This book raises controversial questions about current uses of assessment and provides a framework for understanding them. It will be of great interest to teaching professionals involved in further study, and to academics and researchers in the field.
What is emotional literacy? checking out your emotional literacy nurturing your emotional literacy emotional literacy for teachers and learners emotional literacy for parents and carers emotional literacy for local authorities emotional literacy for the individual, the group, for education, and for society.