THE GUARDIAN: ‘We batter them with kindness’: schools that reject super-strict values

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The concept of “unconditional positive regard”, which also seems to be growing in popularity – and in mainstream schools as well as special ones like Springwell – dates back to the 1950s and the work of the psychologist Carl Rogers, when it was applied to therapists and counsellors in the treatment of their patients. It means treating every human as equal instead of “saying someone is good only if they behave a certain way, or if they fit in certain boxes,” explains Professor Laura Winter, an expert in educational psychology at the University of Manchester.