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The Unexamined Rise of Therapeutic Education: How Social-Emotional Learning Extends K-12 Education's Reach into Students' Lives and Expands Teachers' Roles

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Unexamined Rise of Therapeutic Education: How Social-Emotional Learning Extends K-12 Education's Reach into Students' Lives and Expands Teachers' Roles
Language: English
Authors: Pondiscio, Robert, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Conservative Education Reform Network (CERN)
Source: American Enterprise Institute. 2021.
Availability: American Enterprise Institute. 1150 Seventeenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-862-5800; Fax: 202-862-7177; Web site: http://www.aei.org
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 11
Publication Date: 2021
Document Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: Social Emotional Learning, Elementary Secondary Education, Educational Benefits, Role of Education, Family Role, Teacher Role, Therapy
Abstract: In K-12 education, the increased focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) is viewed as an unambiguously positive development--a welcome course correction after more than two decades of focus on academic standards, testing, and accountability. But SEL, which is typically presented as an academic enhancement, not a distraction, carries more cause for concern than is commonly acknowledged. It represents a different vision for public education. To many, SEL is an unwelcome intrusion into what is traditionally the work of families, faith, culture, and other institutions and relationships in American life. Ideas and techniques borrowed from popular psychology have aggressively inserted themselves into classroom practice, resulting in the rise of therapeutic education. The unexamined rise of SEL has led to schools assuming powers and responsibilities far beyond their brief and educators working beyond their training and expertise. The rise of SEL has become a largely unquestioned feature of mainstream education thought and practice, with insufficient discussion and debate about its effect on schools' missions.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2022
Accession Number: ED616706
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In K-12 education, the increased focus on social and emotional learning (SEL) is viewed as an unambiguously positive development--a welcome course correction after more than two decades of focus on academic standards, testing, and accountability. But SEL, which is typically presented as an academic enhancement, not a distraction, carries more cause for concern than is commonly acknowledged. It represents a different vision for public education. To many, SEL is an unwelcome intrusion into what is traditionally the work of families, faith, culture, and other institutions and relationships in American life. Ideas and techniques borrowed from popular psychology have aggressively inserted themselves into classroom practice, resulting in the rise of therapeutic education. The unexamined rise of SEL has led to schools assuming powers and responsibilities far beyond their brief and educators working beyond their training and expertise. The rise of SEL has become a largely unquestioned feature of mainstream education thought and practice, with insufficient discussion and debate about its effect on schools' missions.