This article focuses on anxiety in teaching and learning. It argues that in essence the teacher's role is to contain anxiety for the sake of learning. The teacher's skill in setting up and maintaining a "containing space" is the keystone on which the various aspects of the art of good teaching rest. Within this space, learning can be experienced as the expansion of potential, not merely the mastery of content and predefined competencies. Despite the differences in aims, a strong "family resemblance" exists between teaching and psychoanalysis in terms of setting, role, transference, and underlying notions of human development.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abercrombie, M.L.J.
(1993). The human nature of learning: Selections from the work of M.L.J. Abercrombie. Buckingham, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
2.
Adorno, T.
(1971). Erziehung zur Müundigkeit [Education for Maturity]. In T. W. Adorno (Ed.), Erziehung zur Mündigkeit: Vorträge und Gespr äche mit Hellmut Becker 1959-1969 (pp. 133-147). Frankfurt, Germany: Suhrkamp Verlag.
3.
Argyris, C.
, & Schön, D. A. (1978). Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective. London: Addison-Wesley.
4.
Armstrong, D.
(1985). How do we help children learn from their experience in the school organisation? In P. Lang & M. Marland (Eds.), New directions in pastoral care (pp. 92-99). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
5.
Ball, S.
, Hull, R., Skelton, M., & Tudor, R. (1984). The tyranny of the "devil's mill": Time and task at school. In S. Delamont (Ed.), Readings on interaction in the classroom (pp. 41-57). London: Methuen.
6.
Bambrough, R.
(1968). Universals and family resemblances. In G. Pitcher (Ed.), Wittgenstein: The "philosophical investigations" (pp. 41-57). London: Macmillan.
7.
Bateson, G.
(1972). Steps to an ecology of mind. New York: Ballantine.
8.
Bateson, G.
(1985). Mind and nature: A necessary unity. London: Fontana.
9.
Bazalgette, J.
(1971). Freedom, authority and the young adult. London: Pitman.
10.
Bazalgette, J.
(1983). Taking up the pupil role: Learning to manage oneself in a hostile environment. Pastoral Care in Education, 1(3), 152-158.
11.
Bhave, V.
(1986). The intimate and the ultimate. Shaftesbury, England: Element Books.
12.
Bion, W. R.
(1967). Notes on memory and desire. Psychoanalytic Forum, 2, 271-280.
13.
Bion, W. R.
(1984). Attention and interpretation. London: Karnac Books.
14.
Bion, W. R.
(1990). Brazilian lectures: 1973 Sao Paulo; 1974 Rio de Janeiro/Sao Paulo. London: Karnac Books.
15.
Brull, F. H.
(1975). A reconsideration of some translations of Sigmund Freud. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 12(3), 273-279.
16.
Coren, A.
(1997). A psychoanalytic approach to education. London: Sheldon Press.
17.
de Maré, P.
, Piper, R., & Thompson, S. (1991). Koinonia: From hate, through dialogue to culture in the large group. London: Karnac Books.
18.
Denscombe, M.
(1984). "Keeping'em quiet": The significance of noise for the practical activity of teaching. In S. Delamont (Ed.), Readings on interaction in the classroom (pp. 134-159). London: Methuen.
19.
Dewey, J.
(1963). Experience and education. London: Collier-Macmillan.
20.
Eiles, C.
(1996). Managing schools: An analytic account of how local education authorities and school governing bodies run schools. Free Associations, 6(2), 192-204.
21.
Fineman, S.
(1993). Introduction. In S. Fineman (Ed.), Emotion in organizations (pp. 9-35). London: Sage.
22.
Foulkes, S. H.
(1964). Therapeutic group analysis. London: Allen and Unwin.
23.
Freire, P.
(1972). The pedagogy of the oppressed. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.
24.
Freire, P.
, & Shor, I. (1987). A pedagogy for liberation: Dialogues on transforming education. London: Macmillan.
25.
French, R.
, & Bazalgette, J. (1996). From "learning organization" to "teaching-learning organization"?Management Learning, 27(1), 113-128.
26.
Freud, S.
(1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. (Standard edition, Vol VII, pp. 125-243). London: Hogarth Press.
27.
Freud, S.
(1914). Some reflections on schoolboy psychology. (Standard edition, Vol. XIII, pp. 241-244). London: Hogarth Press.
28.
Gaddini, R.
(1981). Bion's "catastrophic change" and Winnicott's "breakdown."Revista di Psicoanalisi, 27(3-4), 610-621.
29.
Heimann, P.
(1950). On counter-transference. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 31, 81-84.
30.
Hellman, I.
(1987). Psycho-analysis and the teacher. In J. D. Sutherland (Ed.), Psychoanalysis and contemporary thought (pp. 58-76). London: Karnac (Maresfield Library).
31.
John, D.
(1980). Leadership in schools. London: Heinemann Educational Books.
32.
Joseph, B.
(1978). Different types of anxiety and their handling in the analytic situation. In E. Bott Spillius & M. Feldman (Eds.), Psychic equilibrium and psychic change: Selected papers of Betty Joseph (pp. 106-115). London: Tavistock/Routledge.
33.
Kirman, W. J.
(1977). Modern psychoanalysis in the schools. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
34.
Klein, M.
(1980). Envy and gratitude. In M. Klein (Ed.), The writings of Melanie Klein, vol. 3, Envy and gratitude and other works (pp. 176-235). London: Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
35.
Lacan, J.
(1979). The four fundamental concepts of psycho-analysis. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.
36.
Lyotard, J. F.
(1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge (G. Bennington & B. Massumi, Trans.). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
37.
Malcolm, R. R.
(1992). As if: The phenomenon of not learning. In R. Anderson (Ed.), Clinical lectures on Klein and Bion (pp. 114-125). London: Routledge.
38.
Meltzer, D.
(1967). The psycho-analytical process. Perthshire, Scotland: Clunie Press.
39.
Menzies Lyth, I.
(1988). Staff support systems: Task and anti-task in adolescent institutions. In I. Menzies Lyth (Ed.), Containing anxiety in institutions: Selected essays, Vol. I (pp. 222-235). London: Free Association Books.
40.
Miller, E. J.
(1990). The development of the Leicester model. In E. Trist & H. Murray (Eds), The social engagement of social science: Vol. I (pp. 165-185). London: Free Association Books.
41.
Moore, B. E.
, & Fine, B. D. (Eds.). (1990). Pscychoanalytic terms and concepts. New Haven, CT: American Psychoanalytic Association and Yale University Press.
42.
Phillips, A.
(1988). Winnicott. London: Fontana.
43.
Piaget, J.
(1929). The child's conception of the world. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
44.
Richard of St Victor
. (1964). The four degrees of passionate love. In F. C. Happold (Ed.), Mysticism: A study and an anthology (pp. 210-217). Harmondsworth, England: Penguin.
45.
Richardson, E.
(1967a). The environment of learning. London: Nelson.
46.
Richardson, E.
(1967b). Group study for teachers. London: Routledge Kegan Paul.
47.
Richardson, E.
(1975). Authority and organization in the secondary school. London: Macmillan Education.
48.
Ritzer, G.
(1993). The McDonaldization of society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
49.
Rogers, C.
(1983). Freedom to learn for the 80's. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
50.
Rosenthal, R.
, & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation and pupils' intellectual development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
51.
Rycroft, C.
(1972). A critical dictionary of psychoanalysis. Harnondsworth, England: Penguin.
52.
Salmon, P.
(1988). Psychology for teachers: An alternative approach. London: Hutchinson.
53.
Salzberger-Wittenberg, I.
, Henry, G., & Osborne, E. (1983), The emotional experience of learning and teaching. London: Routledge.
Sandler, J.
(1993). On communication from patient to analyst: Not everything is projective identification. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 74(6), 1097-1107.
56.
Sandler, J.
, Dare, C., & Holder, A. (1992). The patient and the analyst: The basis of the psychoanalytic process (2nd ed., revised and expanded by J. Sandler & A. U. Dreher). London: Karnac Books.
57.
Schön, D. A.
(1979). Generative metaphor: A perspective on problem-setting in social policy. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 254-283). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
58.
Stein, M.
(1996). Unconscious phenomena in work groups. In M. A. West (Ed.), Handbook of work group psychology (pp. 143-158). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
59.
Tillich, P.
(1962). The courage to be. London: Collins.
60.
Turquet, P.
(1975). Threats to identity in the large group. In L. Krieger (Ed.), The large group: Dynamics and therapy (pp. 87-144). London: Karnac Books.
61.
Vince, R.
(1996). Managing change: Reflections on equality and management learning. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.
62.
Winnicott, D. W.
(1971). Playing and reality. London: Tavistock Publications.
63.
Winnicott, D. W.
(1986). Fear of breakdown. In G. Kohon (Ed.), The British School of psychoanalysis: The independent tradition (pp. 173-182). London: Free Association Books.
64.
Winnicott, D. W.
(1990a). The capacity to be alone. In D. W. Winnicott (Ed.), The maturational processes and the facilitating environment (pp. 29-36). London: Karnac Books. (Original work published in 1958)
65.
Winnicott, D. W.
(1990b). Ego distortion in terms of the true and false self. In D. W. Winnicott (Ed.), The maturational processes and the facilitating environment (pp. 140-152). London: Karnac Books. (Original work published in 1960)
Woods, P.
(1984). Teaching for survival. In A. Hargreaves & P. Woods (Eds.), Classrooms and staffrooms (pp. 48-63). Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press.
