Affect, Communication and ‘Absence’

In this chapter I want to explore in a little more depth how psychoanalytically informed perspectives might, in addition to and perhaps as a consequence of developing fuller, more nuanced understandings of the roots and causes of our own feelings, help teachers better to understand and support their students. Staying with Primary One, the structure for the chapter is provided by a specific incident regarding one young learner whom I have pseudonymed Archie ¹ – a Year 6 student in one of the few classes I got to know reasonably well, having been allowed to sit in for three half days by Primary One’s headteacher Miriam and the class teacher Susan. By the time of the incident, I had already formed something of an opinion about Archie, whose visibility in the class was high despite the fact that his engagement in it and with other students was very low. Though not officially designated as having special needs ² – a fact which puzzled me at the time – Archie came across very much as a loner, taking no active part in pair or group work regardless of which other children were involved in the activity, and spending a great deal of his time scribbling on paper or in his exercise book, walking about the room for no clear reason, tapping a ruler on the desk, humming or whistling tunelessly, silently staring into space for long periods or putting his head down on the table as if asleep.