Resisting images of the ‘diminished self’: the implications of emotional well‐being and emotional engagement in education policy

Developing people’s emotional well‐being and emotional engagement are official aims in social policy. A growing number of initiatives respond to diverse, often contradictory public, political and professional concerns about individuals’ emotional needs. These concerns are a powerful discourse in ‘personalised learning’. The article contributes to debates in critical policy research. It evaluates the subtle ways in which policy initiatives to develop emotional well‐being and encourage emotional engagement with public services resonate with images of the ‘diminished self’ emerging in broader cultural discourses. Critical evaluation is necessary in order for researchers and educators committed to social justice to challenge the influential idea that emotional well‐being should be a prominent educational goal and to resist the diminished images of human potential that underlie it.