| Abstract: | This paper argues that recent developments in the curriculum and in administrative structures for pupils with special educational needs have fended to marginalise the term ‘emotional’ or to combine it loosely with ‘behavioural’. It looks at the influence of forty years of behavioural psychology on the UK Code of Practice for children with SEN and related government circulars and suggests an alternative model for conceptualising emotional difficulties. This is not only current with mainstream psychology but can be fraced back to pre-Christian thinking. If the term ‘emotional’ is to be used in statements and IEPs in the future, the paper suggests, then appropriate ways of defining, assessing and providing for these will have to be found. |
