In recent years, the landscape of moral education in the United Kingdom’s primary schools has undergone a substantial transformation influenced predominantly by therapeutic approaches. According to pioneering research conducted collaboratively by the Universities of Surrey, York, and Sheffield, there is a discernible paradigm shift from traditional religious instruction to frameworks grounded in psychology and therapy. This research reveals how therapeutic education methodologies, including mindfulness exercises and emotion regulation strategies, have started to occupy a central role in shaping young learners’ understanding of values and citizenship.
The research team embarked on an extensive observational study, spanning over a year and encompassing diverse schooling environments across England, Wales, and Scotland. Their findings spotlight the integration of wellbeing-focused initiatives such as “Zones of Regulation” charts, buddy schemes, and worry boxes into everyday classroom practices. These initiatives have increasingly become the vehicles through which schools impart lessons on emotional literacy, resilience, and empathy, effectively supplanting more conventional moral teachings traditionally associated with religious frameworks.
This emergence of therapeutic education within primary school curricula is, in many ways, a response to the evolving needs of young children in contemporary society, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators and parents generally express strong support for the emphasis on mental health and emotional wellbeing, recognizing the importance of these skills in fostering a resilient and empathetic generation. However, this growing focus has also inadvertently marginalized longstanding approaches to moral and values education, creating a moral curriculum that is less anchored in shared cultural or religious traditions.
Published in The Sociological Review, with funding from the Leverhulme Trust, this study emphasizes the nuanced implications of this educational shift. While therapeutic practices offer significant benefits — equipping children with tools to navigate their emotional landscapes and cultivating kindness within school communities — they also introduce complex challenges. Notably, by centering moral development around individual emotional regulation, there is a risk that the collective and societal dimensions of morality may be neglected, potentially placing undue responsibility for wellbeing on children themselves instead of addressing wider systemic or communal factors.
Dr. Peter Hemming, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey and co-investigator of the research, articulates this double-edged nature of therapeutic education. He explains that while psychology and therapy bolster emotional understanding and social care among young learners, they simultaneously shift the moral compass of education away from shared, communal values toward a focus on self-management and internal regulation. Intriguingly, these therapeutic values are filling a void once occupied by religious teachings, offering comfort, guidance, and belongingness in a secularized educational context.
This therapeutic turn in schooling constructs a form of “therapeutic citizenship” where personal wellbeing intersects closely with civic virtue. The emotional and character development lessons extend beyond individual growth to incorporate broader social themes, including equality, tolerance, and respect for diversity. Notably, religious ideas persist within certain schools, particularly those with an explicit faith-based ethos, yet these manifestations tend to be more pastoral and aligned with the gentle, caring values articulated in therapy-inspired frameworks, rather than overt doctrinal teachings.
Analytically, this shift calls into question traditional demarcations between spiritual, psychological, and moral education. As Hemming elaborates, the British educational system is not simply evolving toward secularism but rather adopting a hybrid moral ecosystem. Here, elements of spirituality coexist and intertwine with psychological theories and therapeutic practices, crafting a novel moral milieu that reflects broader societal transformations and secular pluralism. This hybridization demands deliberate and inclusive debates regarding the future direction of moral education and the normative values it should prioritize.
The comprehensive observational study also highlights how these therapeutic frameworks influence not just student interactions but teacher methodologies and institutional cultures. Educators are increasingly trained in psychological literacy and therapeutic techniques to effectively nurture emotional intelligence and self-regulation in their pupils. Consequently, schools become microcosms where emotional competencies are as heavily emphasized as academic achievement, reframing success to include mental and social wellbeing parameters.
Researchers caution, however, that while therapeutic education promotes empathy and emotional skills, it can also individualize moral responsibility. This potentially obscures structural inequalities and communal responsibilities, risking an educational focus that centers on managing individual challenges rather than fostering collective social change. The responsibility placed on children to regulate their own emotions and wellbeing may inadvertently sideline broader societal obligations that schools and communities ought to model and address.
The intricate interplay between therapeutic values and traditional moral education invites further critical scrutiny. As schools negotiate the coexistence of these sometimes competing paradigms, a pressing question emerges: who holds the authority to define the moral compass of future generations? The study urges policymakers, educators, parents, and communities to engage in open discourse about these evolving educational values and the implications for citizenship training in an increasingly complex and pluralistic society.
This investigation sits at the intersection of sociology, psychology, and education policy, revealing how educational institutions are more than just sites for knowledge transmission; they are also pivotal arenas where cultural norms and moral identities are constructed and negotiated. By illuminating the dynamics of therapeutic citizenship, the research opens pathways for reimagining educational approaches that integrate emotional wellbeing with shared moral frameworks to cultivate resilient, empathetic, and socially conscious young citizens.
Ultimately, this study casts a spotlight on the broader cultural shifts influencing educational morality, highlighting the subtle yet powerful ways psychological and therapeutic practices are reshaping childhood socialization. It underscores the transformative potential — and pitfalls — of this emergent educational model, advocating for careful reflection on the balance between individual emotional care and collective moral responsibility in the schools of tomorrow.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Schooling citizenship and character in a therapeutic society
News Publication Date: 30-Oct-2025
Web References:
– https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261251388719
References:
– The Sociological Review, Leverhulme Trust-funded observational study on therapeutic education in UK primary schools.
Keywords:
Education policy, Social sciences, Education administration, Education research, Learning, Education
