What happens to the “social” in psychosocial? Exploring epistemic practices and therapeutic culture in teacher education

This paper examines the role of the psychosocial as an influential epistemic category in the context of a globalised therapeutic culture. Drawing on empirical data from fieldwork conducted at a teacher education institution in Norway, we conceptualise the psychosocial as epistemic practice and analyse three interrelated social levels: the individual level, concerned with teachers’ performance as social caretakers; the community level, characterised by a diagnosing gaze on individual pupils; and the societal level, understood as structural threats to well-being. Our study suggests that these epistemic practices favour psychological diagnosis and individual protection over shared knowledge and broader social awareness. • The psychosocial as an epistemic category is characterised by its therapeutic emotional style. • The emotional style blends therapeutic care with instrumental reasoning and popular psychology. • Emotional epistemologies in teacher education are seen as a response to the challenges and risks of late modern society. • Psychosocial practices favour psychological diagnosis and individual protection over open negotiation and knowledge sharing. • Psychosocial practices prioritise internal resilience and disregard social knowledge as central to well-being.