Förnuft och känsla

Om emotioners roll i kunskapsprocessen i samhällskunskap

Abstract

Emotions have traditionally been considered the enemy of reason in Social Science. However, emotions can both enhance and hinder learning in Social Science. It is therefore important to reflect upon why and how emotions play a role, rather than shutting the emotions out or leaving them unreflected in the teaching. This paper draws on ethnographic data from Social Science teaching in four Swedish upper secondary schools, and is inspired by previous, predominantly German, research and theoretical reflections on emotions in Social Science teaching and learning. In this paper it is argued that emotions should be seen as a relevant didactical category in Social Science and that students’ emotions should be taken into account in the teaching. A conclusion is that emotions can have at least six different functions in the teaching and learning of Social Science. More specifically, it concerns learning for, from, with, and through emotions, as well as relationality of emotions and learning about emotions. Another important conclusion from the ethnographic data is that students of Social Science are more active than the teachers in managing the emotions in the classroom. By carefully examining the emotions in the classroom, as well as the role of emotions in politics and social life at large, the teacher could get more insight into and more influence on the learning potential of emotions.