Skip to main content

The Therapeutic Turn in Education

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mindfulness and Learning

Part of the book series: Lifelong Learning Book Series ((LLLB,volume 17))

  • 2601 Accesses

Abstract

This first chapter provides an overview of the arguments about the so-called therapeutic turn in education. The key arguments are criticised against the background of recent developments in education generally and post-school education and training in particular. It is concluded that the main thrust of the challenge is misleading and incomplete. Not only has there not been a significant therapeutic return to affective goals in education, but recent policy trends concentrating on skills, competences and employability objectives urgently require such a transformation. Critics of the therapeutic turn offer a severely diminished conception of learning and education by overly emphasising cognitive ends at the expense of emotional, social and personal development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ainley, P. (1999). Learning policy. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, M., & Ainley, P. (2007). Education make you fick, innit? What’s gone wrong in England’s schools, colleges and universities and how to start putting it right. London: Tuffnell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avis, J., Bloomer, M., Gleeson, D., & Hodkinson, P. (1996). Knowledge and nationhood. London: Cassell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avis, J., Fisher, R., & Simmons, R. (Eds.). (2009). Issues in post-compulsory education and training: Critical perspectives. Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, D. P., & Wiseman, A. W. (2005). Global trends in educational policy (Vol. 6). London: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. J. (2001). Labour, learning and the economy: A policy sociology perspective. In M. Fielding (Ed.), Taking education really seriously (pp. 57–70). London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. J. (2007) Globalised, commodified and privatised: International trends in education and education policy. Paper presented to the PRESAM network, Berlin, October 2007. http://www.raumplanung.unidomund.de/irpud/presom/fileadmin/docs/presom/external/WS_Berlin,October_2007/Ball.pdf. Accessed February 9, 2011.

  • Barnett, R. (1990). The idea of higher education. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, R. (2007). A will to learn: Being a student in an age of uncertainty. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BBC (2010b). Plan to measure happiness ‘Not Woolly’–Cameron. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11833241. Accessed February 9, 2011.

  • Brighouse, H. (2006). On education. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cigman, R. (2008). Enhancing children. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3/4), 539–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cripps, S. (2002). Further education, government’s discourse: Policy and practice. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • DCSF. (2005). Excellence and learning: Social and emotional aspects of learning. London: Department for Children, Schools and Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • DCSF. (2007a). Social and emotional aspects of learning for secondary schools. Nottingham: Department for Children, Schools and Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • DCSF. (2007b). The children’s plan: Executive summary. London: Department for Children, Schools and Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • DFE. (2010). The importance of teaching. London: Department for Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ecclestone, K. (2004a). Developing self-esteem and emotional well-being – Inclusion or intrusion. Adults Learning, 16(3), 11–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ecclestone, K. (2004b). Learning or therapy? The demoralisation of education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 52(2), 112–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ecclestone, K., & Hayes, D. (2009). The dangerous rise of therapeutic education. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ecclestone, K., Hayes, D., & Furedi, F. (2005). Knowing me, knowing you: The rise of therapeutic professionalism in the education of adults. Studies in the Education of Adults, 37(2), 182–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fawbert, F. (2008). Teaching in post-compulsory education. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fielding, M. (Ed.). (2001). Taking education really seriously. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furedi, F. (2003). Therapy culture: Creating vulnerability in an uncertain age. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerhardt, S. (2010). The selfish society. London: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, D. (2003). The changed nexus between work and education. In J. Lea, D. Hayes, A. Armitage, L. Lomas, & S. Markless (Eds.), Working in post-compulsory education (pp. 87–100). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepburn, R. A. (1972). The arts and the education of feeling and emotion. In R. F. Dearden, P. H. Hirst, & R. S. Peters (Eds.), Education and the development of reason (pp. 484–500). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrey, N., Lendrum, A., & Wigelsworth, M. (2010). Social and emotional aspects of learning (SEAL) programme in secondary schools: National evaluation. London: Department for Education Research Brief.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, C., & West, L. (2006). Learning in a border country: Using psychodynamic ideas in teaching and research. Studies in the Education of Adults, 38(2), 160–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T. (1999). Vocational studies, lifelong learning and social values. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T. (2005). Learning and therapy – Oppositional or complementary processes. Adults Learning, 16(5), 15–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T. (2008). Reductionist trends in education and training for work: Skills, competences and work-based learning. In P. Gonon, K. Kraus, S. Stolz, & J. Oelkers (Eds.), Work, education and employability (pp. 129–146). Bern: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T. (2009). Mindfulness and the therapeutic function of education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 43(1), 119–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T. (2010). Mindfulness, adult learning and therapeutic education: Integrating the cognitive and affective aspects of learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 29(5), 517–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T., & Merrill, B. (2003). The changing face of further education. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hyland, T., & Winch, C. (2007). A guide to vocational education and training. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, O. (2008). The selfish capitalist. London: Vermilion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jarvis, P. (2000). The corporate university. In J. Field & M. Leicester (Eds.), Lifelong learning: Education across the lifespan (pp. 43–55). London: Routledge-Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinman, G. (2008). Step outside the Rogerian circle. Times Higher Education, Aug 28–Sept 3, 50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lea, J., Hayes, D., Armitage, A., Lomas, L., & Markless, S. (2003). Working in post-compulsory education. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010). Trends shaping education 2010. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, R. S. (1972). The education of the emotions. In R. F. Dearden, P. H. Hirst, & R. S. Peters (Eds.), Education and the development of reason (pp. 466–483). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheffler, I. (1991). In praise of the cognitive emotions and other essays in the philosophy of education. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smeyers, P., Smith, R., & Standish, P. (2007). The therapy of education. London: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. (2008). The long slide to happiness. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3/4), 559–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sommers, C. H., & Satel, S. (2005). One nation under therapy. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Standish, P. (2007). Editorial. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(2), iii–iv.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suissa, J. (2008). Lessons from a new science? On teaching happiness in schools. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3/4), 575–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. (2007). Changing ideas and beliefs in lifelong learning? In D. Aspin (Ed.), Philosophical perspectives on lifelong learning (pp. 293–309). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Warwick, I., Maxwell, C., Statham, J., Aggleton, P., & Simon, A. (2008). Supporting mental health and emotional well-being among younger students in further education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 32(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weare, K. (2010). Mental health and social and emotional learning: Evidence, principles, tensions, balances. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 3, 5–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, J. (2010). The coalition and the curriculum. Forum, 12(3), 299–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Terry Hyland .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Hyland, T. (2011). The Therapeutic Turn in Education. In: Mindfulness and Learning. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1911-8_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics