Revisiting emotional geographies: Implications for family engagement and education policy in the United States

From 2000 to 2001, Andy Hargreaves produced a series of publications introducing the concept of distinctive emotional geographies of teaching. The concept addressed how teacher emotions are situated within the context of their work and influence interactions with students, colleagues, administrators, and families. Hargreaves contended that understanding the emotional geographies of teachers would help build stronger relationships among stakeholders. He also predicted that educational policies centered on accountability that fail to develop commitments from families and communities threatened to exacerbate preexisting tensions. Ten years later, Hargreaves’ prescient observations provide important insights on the challenges encountered by the No Child Left Behind Act and implications for policy proposals being entertained during the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the United States. This article revisits the concept of emotional geographies, utilizes its conceptual framework to examine policy efforts focused on the issue of family engagement, and offers recommendations for new directions in educational policy.