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Apologies for cross posting. This has previously gone out under the wrong title. Dear Colleagues You may find this of interest: http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQremo4jrVdUKFxwc4G_UeuWwVKQ Book slams 'therapeutic education' 7 hours ago Schools and universities are being undermined by a craze for encouraging students to talk about their feelings at the expense of intellectual rigour, the authors of a new book claim. Times Higher Education reports that the book says a "therapy culture" is creating a generation of "hapless" students and lecturers. In The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education, published next month, Dennis Hayes and Kathryn Ecclestone of Oxford Brookes University argue that institutions presume that students and staff are at emotional risk. The book says "infantilised" students are declaring themselves dyslexic so they can get more support and that expressions of emotion are valued as highly as expressions of ideas. Dr Hayes told Times Higher Education: "Turning teaching into therapy is destroying the minds of children, young people and adults. "Therapeutic education promotes the idea that we are emotional, vulnerable and hapless individuals. It is an attack on human potential." The book says: "The infantilisation of students reveals itself in the increased presence of parents on campus. "Everyone looks for a difficulty to declare, like the hundreds of students who register themselves as 'dyslexic'." The book describes a situation where a primary school pupil was asked by an emotional learning assistant why he was so happy. When he replied that he was excited about a forthcoming trip to McDonald's, she asked: "Are you sure there is nothing worrying you?" Primary schools are increasingly introducing "circle time", which is described on teachers' website Teachernet as individuals "sitting down together with the purpose of furthering understanding of themselves and of one another". -----Original Message----- From: A private list for NADP members. on behalf of John Conway Sent: Thu 12/06/2008 09:01 To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Subject: DSA-QAG / SLC news ............ Do take a look at the following NEWS page on their website……………….. http://www.dsa-qag.org.uk/content.asp?ContentID=71 Dr John S Conway FGS FRGS MNADP FHEA Disability Officer / Principal Lecturer in Soil Science / Chair, Research Committee Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Glos GL7 6JS 01285 652531 ext 2234 fax 01285 650219 http://www.rac.ac.uk/index.php?_id=590 <http://www.rac.ac.uk/index.php?_id=590> email [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> This e-mail is confidential to the intended recipients. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and unlawful. The recipient acknowledges that the Royal Agricultural College cannot control the content of information received in transmissions made via the Internet. Royal Agricultural College (Registered in England No: 99168) & Royal Agricultural College Enterprises Ltd (Registered in England No: 2752048) are the trading names of the Royal Agricultural College Registered Office: Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6JS