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The Learning Relationship: Psychoanalytic Thinking in Education

Author(s) : Biddy Youell

Reviews and Endorsements

'Parents will derive insight and understanding from this book and from the fine balance achieved between the anxieties and pressures of contemporary educational settings and the potential fulfilment of being part of an institution in which containing relationships promote and sustain the "growing up" that children are doing both emotionally and cognitively... "Learning Relationship" focuses on the true meaning of education and its vital developmental role, in contrast to the target-driven pressures of curriculum delivery that can so often reduce these vital years to ones of stressful, test-orientated training. In so doing the book includes reflections not only on the psychoanalytic understanding of what makes children want to learn, but also on the nature of play and playfulness. It is this and the vividly observed examples of children and their happy and unhappy worlds that make these pages a learning experience in itself.'
- Margot Waddell, from the Series Editor's Preface

'Teaching and learning are the twin processes at the heart of education. This excellent book, like the long established and much admired course from which it grew, views these as dynamic relationships, linking students, teachers, schools and curricula, which can be studied and understood. It provides a splendid overview of the everyday relevance of psychoanalytic concepts in exploring and enriching the teacher's role and task. The clarity of thought and freshness of tone make it a pleasure to read, and it offers a much needed and challenging and illuminating account of the vicissitudes of child and adolescent development which will make sense to teachers, parents, educationalists and others concerned with the larger aims of education.'
- Margaret Rustin, Head of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Tavistock Clinic

'This book is unusual because it combines a fascinating clinical account of therapeutic work in schools with wisdom gained from many years of thought and practice. It is essential reading for teachers and therapists as well as anyone interested in a deeper understanding of how children learn.'
- Philip Hewitt, School Counsellor, Westminster School