Abstract
This paper argues that the neo-liberal work of schooling includes a focus on producing subjectivities with a high level of well-being. This is done by drawing on evidence based therapeutic techniques that are adjusted to a school setting. These are termed ‘therapeutic socio-educational technologies. It is argued that these practices adhere to the neo-liberal logic of increased competition, standardization and testing, focusing on the individual child. There are a number of problems connected to these well-being enhancing technologies. These include the risk of producing passive and submissive subjectivities, that are understood as needing therapy by default; pathologizing the discomfort and struggles that are an inherent part of learning; the fragmentation of the child, focusing directly on the child rather than on the content matter at hand; producing an overly mechanic and technified pedagogy, focusing on output, as well as laying claim to much control in a risk-filled relational endeavor.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The term “technology” is used here in the sense that Nikolas Rose uses it:” “Human technologies are hybrid assemblages of knowledges, instruments, persons, systems of judgements, buildings and places, underpinned at the programmatic level by certain presuppositions and objectives about human beings” (Rose 1998, p. 26). It is thus practices that govern, i.e. shape or fashion, the conduct of human beings. Drawing on Foucault, Rose argues that psy technologies, i.e. the ideas and practices that evolve from psychology, are the most influential modes of ‘governmentality’ in western society.
References
Agamben, G. (1995). The idea of prose. New York: SUNY.
Arendt. H. (1964/2003). Responsibility and judgement. New York: Schoken Books.
Arnold, M. (1864/1964). The function of criticism at the present time. Essays in Criticism (pp. 9–34). London and New York: Dent.
Arthursen, K. (2015). Teaching Mindfulness to Year Sevens as Part of Health and Personal Development. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(5), 27–40.
Bartholdssona, Å., Gustafsson-Lundbergb, J., & Hultina, E. (2014). Cultivating the socially competent body: Bodies and risk in Swedish programmes for social emotional learning in preschools and schools. Critical Studies in Education, 55(2), 201–212.
Biesta, G. (2004). Mind the gap! Communication and the educational relation. In C. Bingham & A. M. Sidorkin (Eds.), No education without relation. NY: Peter Lang Pub. Inc..
Biesta, G. (2010). A new logic of Emanicpation. The methodology of Jaques Ranciere. Educational Theory, 60(1), 39–59.
Biesta, G. (2011). Learning democracy in school and society. In Education, lifelong learning and the politics of citizenship. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Biesta, B. J. J. (2014). The beautiful risk of education. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Brinkmann, S. (2010). Patologiseringstesen: Diagnoser og patologier før og nu. [the pathology theses: Diagnosis and pathologies before and now]. In S. Brinkmann (Ed.), Det diagnosticerede liv: Sygdom uden grænser. [the diagnosed life: Sickness without limits] (pp. 15–31). Klim: Aarhus.
Craig, C. (2007). The potential dangers of systematic, explicit approach to teaching social and emotional skills (SEAL). Glasgow: Center for Confidence and Well-Being.
Dreier, O. (2008). Psychotherapy in everyday life. New York: University Press.
Ecclestone, K., & Hayes, D. (2008). The dangerous rise of therapeutic education. New York: Routledge.
Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Developmental Psychology, 51(1), 44–51.
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Westminster: Vintage.
Furedi, F. (2004). Therapy culture: Cultivating vulnerability in an uncertain age. London: Routledge.
Gabrieli, C., Ansel, D., & Krachman, S. B. (2015). Ready to be counted: The Research Case for Education Policy Action on Non-Cognitive Skills. Boston: Transforming Education.
Galantino, M. L., Galbavy, R., & Quinn, L. (2008). Therapeutic effects of yoga for children: A systematic review of the literature. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 20(1), 66–80.
Hayes, D. (2004). The therapeutic turn in education. In D. Hayes (Ed.), The Routledge guide to key debates in education (pp. 180–185). London: Routledge.
Heckman, J. J. (2011). The economics of inequality: The value of early childhood education. American Educator, 35, 31–35.
Jones, M. J. (2010). When teachers must let education hurt: Nietzsche and Rouseau on compassion and the educational value of suffering. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 44(1), 45–60.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Mindfulness meditation for everyday life. London: Piatkus.
Kohler-Evans, P., & Barnes, C. D. (2015). Compassion: How do you teach it? Journal of Education and Practice, 6(11), 33–37.
Kraft, G. (2011). Er ‘ren’ pædagogik en ren absurditet? [Is ‘pure’ pedagogy an absurdity?] In: T.A. Rømer, L. Tanggaard & S. Brinkmann (red.). Uren Pædagogik. [Unpure Pedagogy] (pp. 187-205). Aarhus: Klim.
Leland, M. (2015). Mindfulness and student success. Journal of Adult Education, 44(1), 19–24.
Lewis, T. E. (2011). Rethinking the learning society: Giorgio Agamben on studying, stupidity, and impotence. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 30, 589–599.
Madsen, B.K. (2014): “Løgstrup og skolen i dag. Urørlighedszone, kompetencer og evalueringskultur”. I Bugge, D. (red.): Løgstrup og skolen. [Løgstrup and the school]. Aarhus: Klim.
Martin, J., & McLellan, A. (2013). The education of selves: How psychology transformed students. New York: Oxford University Press.
Morgan, B., Gulliford, L., & Carr, D. (2015). Educating gratitude. Some conceptual and moral misgivings. Journal of Moral Education, 44(1), 97–111.
Nielsen, K., Dalgaard, S., & Senger, S. (2010). Selvbekendelsesstrategier i pædagogisk praksis. [Selfconfessional strategies in educational practice]. Nordic Studies in Education, 30, 73–86.
Nordenbo, S.E. (2014): “Hvad ved vi “med evidens” om klasseledelse?” [What do we mean by “evidens” in classroom management?]. I Krejsler, J.D. og Moos, L. (red): Klasseledelsens dilemmaer – fortsatte magtkampe i praksis, pædagogik og politik. [Classroom management dillemas – power struggles in practice, education and policy.] Frederikshavn: Dafolo.
Nussbaum, M. (1986). The fragility of goodness. Luck and ethics in Greek tragedy and philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
O’Donnell, A. (2015). Contemplative pedagogy and mindfulness: Developing attention in an age of distraction. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 49(2), 187–202.
Omi, Y. (2015). The potential of globalization of education in Japan. The Japanese style of school sports activities (Bukutsu). In G. Marsico, V. Dazzani, M. Ristum, & A. C. de Souza Bastos (Eds.), Educational Contexts and Borders Through a Cultural Lens. Looking inside, Viewing outside. London: Springer.
Pellegrino, J. W., & Hilton, M. L. (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century. Washington DC: The National Academics Press.
Rose, N. (1998). Inventing ourselves. Psychology, power and personhood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rousseau, J. J. (1824/1979). Emilie or on education. New York: Basic Books.
Schonert-Reichl, K., & Lowler, M. (2010). The effects of a mindfulness-based education program on pre- and early adolescents’ ell-being and social and emotional competence. Mindfulness, 1(3), 137–151.
Sharp, P. (2003). Emotional literacy: A practical guide for teachers, parents and those in the caring professions. London: Kogan Page.
Szulevicz, T. (2018). Psychologists in (neoliberal) schools – What kind of marriage? Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, (this issue)
Tateo, L. (2018). Education as “dilemmatic field.” Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, (this issue)
Watson, D. Emery, C., Bayliss, P, Boushel, M. & McInnes, K. (2012). Children’s social and emotional wellbeing in schools. A critical perspective. Chicago: The Policy Press.
Weare, K. (2010). Mental health and social emotional learning: Evidence, principles, tensions, balances. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 3(1), 5–17.
Welford, M., & Langmead, K. (2015). Compassion-based initiatives in edcuational settings. Educational & Child Psychology, 23(1), 71–80.
White, B. (2015). Scapegoat: John Dewey and the character education crisis. Journal of Moral Education, 44(2), 127–144.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matthiesen, N. Control and Responsibility: Taking a Closer Look at the Work of Ensuring Well-Being in Neoliberal Schools. Integr. psych. behav. 52, 438–448 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-018-9418-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-018-9418-x