We need to talk about well-being

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the enhancement agenda, which aims to enhance well-being nationwide and particularly among young people. Although it is said by its proponents to embody the ideas of Aristotle, I argue that its true theoretical underpinning is the polarised thinking of positive psychology. The sharp distinction between positive and negative emotion at the heart of this psychology is alien both to Aristotle and William James, another alleged ‘ancestor’ of positive psychology. It is supplemented by further polarised thinking about the ‘point’ of education, which according to enhancement thinkers is well-being as opposed to knowledge. This leads to a radical but untenable position that sees school subjects as answerable to a well-being test, and asks for those that fail the test to be consigned to the curricular scrap heap. To counter this, we need to restore the idea of mastery, supporting this with a robust but not necessarily traditionalist concept of value that gives teachers the confidence to teach, and pupils the confidence to learn.

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