Radical Education Reading Forum ‘The role of psychological care in radical pedagogy’

In this session we’d like to reflect on the role that psychic care has in our pedagogical practices and on the philosophical and ultimately political implications of the different approaches to the psyche.

In the teaching and learning process, so much depends upon the quality of the relationships of those involved, and yet educators often find themselves responding to challenging situations with their ‘guts’, relying on layman ideas around what motivates positive conducts or trigger harmful behaviors. While teachers might be introduced to some elements of psychology during their training, it is important to reflect on the fact that the field of psychology is not a unified one, but it is segmented into a plethora of different schools of thought that offer diverse – at times contrasting – understandings of mental health, the self and human conduct, which can result in very different ways to offer care and support within a pedagogical process.

The suggested readings in preparation for this session are two short talks by British social materialist psychologist David Smail: “Social Power and Psychological Distress” (2002) http://www.davidsmail.info/talk02b.htm

 “Psychology and Power: Understanding Human Action” (2001) http://www.davidsmail.info/talk01.htm

 David Smail, who has died aged 76, was a leading clinical psychologist and an influential writer, whose work exposed the damaging psychological effects of an increasingly competitive and unequal society. His book Illusion and Reality: The Meaning of Anxiety (1984) was an early analysis of how inequality spawns chronic insecurity, especially among those with the least power and control. In Taking Care: An Alternative to Therapy (1987) David analysed psychological expertise, showing how the mythology of “the talking cure” reflects a society obsessed with imputations of personal blame and responsibility, and how this benefits the powerful.

David wrote that Margaret Thatcher taught him more than anyone else about the misuse of political power as the basis of personal suffering. In The Origins of Unhappiness (1993) he described how, during the 1980s, he found himself working more and more with individuals afflicted by distress that they attributed to their own failures to adjust to the changing times. David saw that their malaise was in fact produced by the toxic social and economic policies of Thatcherism. (From the Guardian obituary 17/08/2014)

Monthly reading group, discussing texts or practices on radical education. All welcome!

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