Attachment Awareness in Schools

There is a rich literature on attachment theory per se but a more limited discussion of its application in schools. There is a wider literature on associated elements such as trauma, mental health and wellbeing, emotions and relationships, as well as specific work on behaviour, learning, engagement and exclusion. These latter elements can be seen as relating to broader issues such as disadvantage, empowerment and agency, as well as the position of attachment theory in policy-making and the overall structure of social relationships in neoliberal society. These can also be related to the distinction between ‘traditional’ and ‘progressive’ approaches to education identified by Dewey (Experience and education. Simon and Shuster, 1938/1997). This chapter describes the ways in which the development of the English education system alongside the wider social polity has reflected these issues, from its philosophical origins in the work of Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan (C. B. Macpherson, Ed.). Penguin, 1651/1968) to the progressive elements of the Plowden (Children and Their Primary Schools: A Report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England). HMSO, 1967) and Warnock (1978) reports, as well as in contemporary political controversies and policy developments. Taking AAS as a model, it asks whether apparently ‘progressive’ or left-leaning policy initiatives do support more transformational approaches in schools, or if they are merely another form of neoliberal control.