This book examines the emergence of psychologised discourses of the self in education and considers their effects on children and young people, on relationships both in and out of school and on educational practices. It undertakes a Foucauldian genealogy of the discourses of the self in education in order to scrutinise the ‘focal points of experience’ for children and young people. Part One of the book offers a critical analysis of the discourses of the self that operate within interventions of self esteem, self concept, self efficacy and self regulation and their incursions into education. Part Two provides counter-narratives of the self, drawn principally from the arts and politics and providing alternative, and potentially radical, ways of when and how the self might speak. It also articulates how teachers may support children and young people in giving voice to these counter-narratives as they move through school.
Author(s): Julie Allan, Valerie Harwood
Series: The Language of Mental Health
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 331
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Authors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction: The Psy-Self
The Distressed Self
In and Out of Love with the Self
To See Ourselves as the “Psy-Experts” See Us
A Profound Dissatisfaction with the Psy-Self
The Structure of the Book
References
Part I Tell Me My Self
2 Making Strange the History of Psychological Discourses of the Self in Education
The Bipolar Technology of Biopower (The Mode of Power in Operation)
The Conundrum of the Self—(The Primary Actor)
Psychological Self as Life (The Primary Target)
Considering Self-Regulation (The Primary Hinge)
The Neoliberal Self (The Primary Practice Whereby Saturation is Achieved)
Psychological Subjects (The Most Intense Form)
Self-Monitoring (The Desired Outcome)
The Teacher as Conveyor and Monitor (New Educational Demands or Challenges for Teachers)
References
3 Schooling the (Achieving) Self
Introduction
The School as the “Host” Institution for Biopower (The Mode of Power in Operation)
Believe-Able
Racialised Schooling
The Classed Classroom
Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Tautology and the Teacher (The Primary Actor)
On the Record (The Primary Target)
Conducting Children’s Selves (The Primary Hinge)
Norming the Self (The Primary Practice Whereby Saturation Is Achieved)
Correcting the Self (The Most Intense Form)
The Included Self (The Desired Outcome)
Expanding the Teacher’s Reach (New Educational Demands or Challenges for Teachers)
References
4 Mental Disorder in School and the Damaged Self
Psychiatrised Biopower in Schooling—The Mental Illness–Mental Health Dyad (The Mode of Power in Operation)
Diagnostic Categories: Psy-Knowledge of the Self (The Primary Actor)
Diagnosable Selves (The Primary Target)
Psychopathologisation (The Primary Hinge)
The Disordered Self (The Primary Practice Whereby Saturation Is Achieved)
Predicting, Identifying and Treating the Self (The Most Intense Form)
Prevalence and Prediction
Identification and Treatment
Psychopathology Under Control (The Desired Outcome)
Teaching Within the Diagnostic Repertoire (New Educational Demands or Challenges for Teachers)
References
5 Happiness and Wellbeing: For the Love of the Self
Science Makes You Happy (The Mode of Power in Operation)
Equipped for Happiness (The Primary Actor)
Living Well (The Primary Target)
That Way Madness Lies (The Primary Hinge)
The Best Possible Self (The Primary Practice Whereby Saturation is Achieved)
Going with the Flow (The Most Intense Form)
Entering the Factory of Unhappiness (The Desired Outcome)
Conditional Happiness (New Educational Demands or Challenges for Teachers)
Desiring the Self
References
Part II Counter-Narratives of the Self
6 The Pleasure(s) of the Self
A Framework for Listening to Counter-Narratives of the Self
Five Questions for Apprehending Counter-Narratives of the Self
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Describing Kindergarten, Describing School
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
References
7 The Capable Self
A Capable Self
Plural Disadvantage
Agency Freedom, Capabilities and Functionings
Secure Functionings and the Capable Self
A Capabilities List?
The Capable Self and Selfwork
Thelma Plum, Better in Blak
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
The Capable Self, Selfwork and the Challenge of Unfreedoms
References
8 Re-Presenting the Self
Writing the Self: Literature
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Playing the Self: Drama
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
The Self in Reel Time: Film
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Viewing the Self: Visual Art
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
The Art of the Self
References
9 Politicising the Self
Greta Thunberg: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Chris Sarra: Strong and Smart
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Malala Yousafzai: I Am Malala
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Achieving the Unimaginable: Stephanie Shirley
What Was the Point of Provocation?
Who Is the Prime Actor?
Who, or What, Is the Principal Object?
What Form Does the Resistance Take?
What Are the (Speculated) Effects?
Selfless Selfwork
References
10 A Manifesto for Selfwork
Introduction
Selfwork is Not…
Conceptualising Selfwork
Selfwork and Teachers
What Selfwork Might Teachers Do?
Resources for Teachers’ Selfwork
Capable Selfwork
Re-Presented Selfwork
Political Selfwork
Selfwork up Against the Psy-Discourses?
References
References
Index
