Harnessing emotions to deliberative argumentation in classroom discussions on historical issues in multi-cultural contexts
Main Article Content
Abstract
Abstract
This theoretical paper is about the role of emotions in historical reasoning in the context of classroom discussions. Peer deliberations around texts have become important practices in history education according to progressive pedagogies. However, in the context of issues involving emotions, such approaches may result in an obstacle for historical clairvoyance. The expression of strong emotions may bias the use of sources, compromise historical reasoning, and impede argumentative dialogue. Coping with emotions in the history classrooms is a new challenge in history education. In this paper, we suggest that rather than attempting to foster positive emotion only or to avoid emotions all together, we should look at ways of engaging with emotion in history teaching. We present examples of peer deliberations on charged historical topics according to three pedagogical approaches that address emotions in different ways. The protocols we present open numerous questions: (a) whether facilitating engagement with own and the other's emotions may lead to better processing of information and better deliberation of a historical question; (b) whether promoting national pride boosts reliance on collective narratives; and (c) whether adopting a critical teaching approach eliminates emotions and biases. Based on these examples and findings in social psychology, we bring forward working hypotheses according to which we suggest that instead of dodging emotional issues, teachers should harness emotions – not only positive but also negative ones, to critical and productive engagement in classroom activities.
Article Details
How to Cite
Goldberg, T., & Schwarz, B. B. (2016). Harnessing emotions to deliberative argumentation in classroom discussions on historical issues in multi-cultural contexts. Frontline Learning Research, 4(4), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v4i1.211
Section
Articles
FLR adopts the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Common License (BY-NC-ND). That is, Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors with, however, first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
References
References
Adwan, S., & Bar-On, D. (2004). Shared history project: A PRIME example of peace-building under fire. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 17(3), 513-521.
Baker, M. J., Andriessen, J. E., & Järvelä, S. (Eds.). (2013). Affective learning together. London: Routledge.
Bar-On, D., & Adwan, S. (2006). The psychology of better dialogue between two separate but interdependent narratives. Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix, 205-224.
Bar-Tal, D. (2007). Sociopsychological foundations of intractable conflicts. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(11), 1430-1453.
Barton, K. C., & Mccully, A. W. (2010). "You can form your own point of view": Internally persuasive discourse in Northern Ireland students' encounters with history. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 142-181.
Barton, K. C. (2009). The denial of desire: How to make history education meaningless. In L. Symcox, & A. Wilshcut (Eds.), National {history} {standards}: {The} problem of the canon and the future of teaching history (pp. 265-282). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Bless, H., & Fiedler, K. (2006). Mood and the regulation of information processing and behavior. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Affect in social thinking and behavior (pp. 65-84). New York: Psychology press.
Britzman, D. P. (2000). If the story cannot end: Deferred action, ambivalence, and diflicult knowledge. Between Hope and Despair: Pedagogy and the Remembrance of Historical Trauma, 27.
Davis, O. L., Yeager, E. A., & Foster, S. J. (2001). Historical empathy and perspective taking in the social studies. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Domke, E., Urbach, C., & Goldberg, T. (2009). Building a state in the middle east [Bonim medina baMizrach HaTichon]. Jerusalem, Israel: Zalman Shazar Center.
Eid, N. (2010). The inner conflict: How palestinian students in israel react to the dual narrative approach concerning the events of 1948. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 2(1), 55-77.
Evans, R. W., Avery, P. G., & Pederson, P. V. (1999). Taboo topics: Cultural restraint on teaching social issues. The Social Studies, 90(5), 218-224.
Ferro, M. (2004). The use and abuse of history: Or how the past is taught to children. London: Routledge.
Fogo, B. (2014). Core practices for teaching history: The results of a delphi panel survey. Theory & Research in Social Education, 42(2), 151-196.
Fox, E. (2008). Emotion science cognitive and neuroscientific approaches to understanding human emotions. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Goldberg, T., & Gerwin, D. (2013). Israeli history curriculum and the conservative - liberal pendulum. International Journal of Historical Teaching, Learning and Research, 11(2), 111-124.
Goldberg, T. (2013). “It's in my veins”: Identity and disciplinary practice in students' discussions of a historical issue. Theory & Research in Social Education, 41(1), 33-64.
Goldberg, T., & Ron, Y. (2014). ‘Look, each side says something different’: The impact of competing history teaching approaches on Jewish and Arab adolescents’ discussions of the Jewish–Arab conflict. Journal of Peace Education, 11(1), 1-29.
Goldberg, T., Porat, D., & Schwarz, B. B. (2006). “Here started the rift we see today”: Student and textbook narratives between official and counter memory Narrative Inquiry 16(2), 319–347.
Goldberg, T., Schwarz, B. B., & Porat, D. (2008). Living and dormant collective memories as contexts of history learning. Learning and Instruction, 18(3), 223-237. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.04.005
Gottlieb, E., Wineburg, S., & Zakai, S. (2005). When history matters: Epistemic switching in the interpretation of culturally charged texts. Eleventh Biennial Meeting of the European Association of Learning and Instruction,
Haskell, T. L. (1990). Objectivity is not neutrality: Rhetoric vs. practice in peter novick's that noble dream. History and Theory, 29(2), 129-157.
Helmsing, M. (2014). Virtuous subjects: A critical analysis of the affective substance of social studies education. Theory and Research in Social Education, 42(1), 127-140.
Hilton, D. J., & Liu, J. H. (2008). Culture and intergroup relations: The role of social representations of history. In R. M. Sorrentino, & Y. Susumu (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition across cultures (pp. 343-368). London, UK: Academic Press.
History curriculum for the Jewish secular public schools, (2015).
Lee, P., & Ashby, R. (2000). Progression in historical understanding among students ages 7-14. In P. N. Stearns, P. Seixas & S. Wineburg (Eds.), Knowing, teaching, and learning history: {National} and international perspectives (pp. 199-222). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Levstik, L. S. (2000). Articulating the silences: Teachers' and adolescents' conceptions of historical significance. In P. N. Stearns, P. Seixas & S. Wineburg (Eds.), Knowing, teaching, and learning history: National and international perspectives (pp. 284-305). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Maier, R. (2011). How we lived together in georgia in the 20th century- external evaluation
EUROCLIO/MATRA project (2008—2011). Retrieved from http://www.euroclio.eu/new/index.php/component/docman/doc_download/1080-how-we-lived-together-in-georgia-in-the-20th-century-external-review
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1987). The tree of knowledge: The biological roots of human understanding. New Science Library/Shambhala Publications.
McCully, A. (2006). Practitioner perceptions of their role in facilitating the handling of controversial issues in contested societies: A Northern Irish experience. Educational Review, 58(1), 51-65.
Mingers, J. (1991). The cognitive theories of Maturana and Varela. Systems Practice, 4(4), 319-338.
Miron, A. M., Branscombe, N. R., & Biernat, M. (2010). Motivated shifting of justice standards. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(6), 768-779. doi:10.1177/0146167210370031 [doi]
Muller Mirza, N., Grossen, M., de Diesbach-Dolder, S., & Nicollin, L. (2014). Transforming personal experience and emotions through secondarisation in education for cultural diversity: An interplay between unicity and genericity. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 3(4), 263-273.
National Center for History in the Schools. (2010). Historical issues. Retrieved from http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/historical-thinking-standards/5.-historical-issues
Radford, L. (2015). Of love, frustration, and mathematics: A cultural-historical approach to emotions in mathematics teaching and learning. In B. Pepin, & B. Roesken-Winter (Eds.), From beliefs to dynamic affect systems in mathematics education (pp. 25-49). New York: Springer.
Reisman, A. (2012). Reading like a historian: A document-based history curriculum intervention in urban high schools. Cognition and Instruction, 30(1), 86-112.
Saye, J., & Social Studies Inquiry Research Collaborative (SSIRC). (2013). Authentic pedagogy: Its presence in social studies classrooms and relationship to student performance on state-mandated tests. Theory & Research in Social Education, 41(1), 89-132.
Schwarz, B. B., & Asterhan, C. S. (2010). Argumentation and reasoning. In K. Littleton, C. Wood & J. Kleine Staarman (Eds.), International handbook of psychology in education (pp. 137-176). London: Emerald Group Publishing.
Schwarz, B. B., & Goldberg, T. (2013). “Look who’s talking”: Identity and emotions as resources to historical peer reasoning. In M. J. Baker, J. E. Andriessen & S. Järvelä (Eds.), Affective learning together (Routledge Trans.). (pp. 272-292). London:
Sorek, T. (2011). The quest for victory: Collective memory and national identification among the arab-palestinian citizens of israel. Sociology, 45(3), 464-479.
Thompson, J. (2014). Engaging girls’ sociohistorical identities in science. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 23(3), 392-446.
Varelas, M. (2012). Identity construction and science education research: Learning, teaching, and being in multiple contexts Springer Science & Business Media.
Wineburg, S. S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts: Charting the future of teaching the past Temple University Press.
Wineburg, S. S., Mosborg, S., & Porat, D. (2001). What can Forrest Gump tell us about students' historical understanding? Social Education, 65(1), 55-58.
Wohl, M. J., Branscombe, N. R., & Klar, Y. (2006). Collective guilt: Emotional reactions when one's group has done wrong or been wronged. European Review of Social Psychology, 17(1), 1-37. doi:10.1080/10463280600574815
Yaron, M. (2009). In Goldberg T. (Ed.), History superintendent's Requested corrections to the textbook: Building a state in the middle east.
Zembylas, M. (2004). Emotion metaphors and emotional labor in science teaching. Science Education, 88(3), 301-324.
Zembylas, M. (2013). Critical pedagogy and emotion: Working through ‘troubled knowledge’in posttraumatic contexts. Critical Studies in Education, 54(2), 176-189.
Zembylas, M., & Kambani, F. (2012). The teaching of controversial issues during elementary-level history instruction: Greek-Cypriot teachers' perceptions and emotions. Theory & Research in Social Education, 40(2), 107-133.
Zembylas, M., & McGlynn, C. (2012). Discomforting pedagogies: Emotional tensions, ethical dilemmas and transformative possibilities. British Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 41-59.
Adwan, S., & Bar-On, D. (2004). Shared history project: A PRIME example of peace-building under fire. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 17(3), 513-521.
Baker, M. J., Andriessen, J. E., & Järvelä, S. (Eds.). (2013). Affective learning together. London: Routledge.
Bar-On, D., & Adwan, S. (2006). The psychology of better dialogue between two separate but interdependent narratives. Israeli and Palestinian Narratives of Conflict: History’s Double Helix, 205-224.
Bar-Tal, D. (2007). Sociopsychological foundations of intractable conflicts. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(11), 1430-1453.
Barton, K. C., & Mccully, A. W. (2010). "You can form your own point of view": Internally persuasive discourse in Northern Ireland students' encounters with history. Teachers College Record, 112(1), 142-181.
Barton, K. C. (2009). The denial of desire: How to make history education meaningless. In L. Symcox, & A. Wilshcut (Eds.), National {history} {standards}: {The} problem of the canon and the future of teaching history (pp. 265-282). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Bless, H., & Fiedler, K. (2006). Mood and the regulation of information processing and behavior. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Affect in social thinking and behavior (pp. 65-84). New York: Psychology press.
Britzman, D. P. (2000). If the story cannot end: Deferred action, ambivalence, and diflicult knowledge. Between Hope and Despair: Pedagogy and the Remembrance of Historical Trauma, 27.
Davis, O. L., Yeager, E. A., & Foster, S. J. (2001). Historical empathy and perspective taking in the social studies. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Domke, E., Urbach, C., & Goldberg, T. (2009). Building a state in the middle east [Bonim medina baMizrach HaTichon]. Jerusalem, Israel: Zalman Shazar Center.
Eid, N. (2010). The inner conflict: How palestinian students in israel react to the dual narrative approach concerning the events of 1948. Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society, 2(1), 55-77.
Evans, R. W., Avery, P. G., & Pederson, P. V. (1999). Taboo topics: Cultural restraint on teaching social issues. The Social Studies, 90(5), 218-224.
Ferro, M. (2004). The use and abuse of history: Or how the past is taught to children. London: Routledge.
Fogo, B. (2014). Core practices for teaching history: The results of a delphi panel survey. Theory & Research in Social Education, 42(2), 151-196.
Fox, E. (2008). Emotion science cognitive and neuroscientific approaches to understanding human emotions. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Goldberg, T., & Gerwin, D. (2013). Israeli history curriculum and the conservative - liberal pendulum. International Journal of Historical Teaching, Learning and Research, 11(2), 111-124.
Goldberg, T. (2013). “It's in my veins”: Identity and disciplinary practice in students' discussions of a historical issue. Theory & Research in Social Education, 41(1), 33-64.
Goldberg, T., & Ron, Y. (2014). ‘Look, each side says something different’: The impact of competing history teaching approaches on Jewish and Arab adolescents’ discussions of the Jewish–Arab conflict. Journal of Peace Education, 11(1), 1-29.
Goldberg, T., Porat, D., & Schwarz, B. B. (2006). “Here started the rift we see today”: Student and textbook narratives between official and counter memory Narrative Inquiry 16(2), 319–347.
Goldberg, T., Schwarz, B. B., & Porat, D. (2008). Living and dormant collective memories as contexts of history learning. Learning and Instruction, 18(3), 223-237. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.04.005
Gottlieb, E., Wineburg, S., & Zakai, S. (2005). When history matters: Epistemic switching in the interpretation of culturally charged texts. Eleventh Biennial Meeting of the European Association of Learning and Instruction,
Haskell, T. L. (1990). Objectivity is not neutrality: Rhetoric vs. practice in peter novick's that noble dream. History and Theory, 29(2), 129-157.
Helmsing, M. (2014). Virtuous subjects: A critical analysis of the affective substance of social studies education. Theory and Research in Social Education, 42(1), 127-140.
Hilton, D. J., & Liu, J. H. (2008). Culture and intergroup relations: The role of social representations of history. In R. M. Sorrentino, & Y. Susumu (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition across cultures (pp. 343-368). London, UK: Academic Press.
History curriculum for the Jewish secular public schools, (2015).
Lee, P., & Ashby, R. (2000). Progression in historical understanding among students ages 7-14. In P. N. Stearns, P. Seixas & S. Wineburg (Eds.), Knowing, teaching, and learning history: {National} and international perspectives (pp. 199-222). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Levstik, L. S. (2000). Articulating the silences: Teachers' and adolescents' conceptions of historical significance. In P. N. Stearns, P. Seixas & S. Wineburg (Eds.), Knowing, teaching, and learning history: National and international perspectives (pp. 284-305). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Maier, R. (2011). How we lived together in georgia in the 20th century- external evaluation
EUROCLIO/MATRA project (2008—2011). Retrieved from http://www.euroclio.eu/new/index.php/component/docman/doc_download/1080-how-we-lived-together-in-georgia-in-the-20th-century-external-review
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1987). The tree of knowledge: The biological roots of human understanding. New Science Library/Shambhala Publications.
McCully, A. (2006). Practitioner perceptions of their role in facilitating the handling of controversial issues in contested societies: A Northern Irish experience. Educational Review, 58(1), 51-65.
Mingers, J. (1991). The cognitive theories of Maturana and Varela. Systems Practice, 4(4), 319-338.
Miron, A. M., Branscombe, N. R., & Biernat, M. (2010). Motivated shifting of justice standards. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(6), 768-779. doi:10.1177/0146167210370031 [doi]
Muller Mirza, N., Grossen, M., de Diesbach-Dolder, S., & Nicollin, L. (2014). Transforming personal experience and emotions through secondarisation in education for cultural diversity: An interplay between unicity and genericity. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 3(4), 263-273.
National Center for History in the Schools. (2010). Historical issues. Retrieved from http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/history-standards/historical-thinking-standards/5.-historical-issues
Radford, L. (2015). Of love, frustration, and mathematics: A cultural-historical approach to emotions in mathematics teaching and learning. In B. Pepin, & B. Roesken-Winter (Eds.), From beliefs to dynamic affect systems in mathematics education (pp. 25-49). New York: Springer.
Reisman, A. (2012). Reading like a historian: A document-based history curriculum intervention in urban high schools. Cognition and Instruction, 30(1), 86-112.
Saye, J., & Social Studies Inquiry Research Collaborative (SSIRC). (2013). Authentic pedagogy: Its presence in social studies classrooms and relationship to student performance on state-mandated tests. Theory & Research in Social Education, 41(1), 89-132.
Schwarz, B. B., & Asterhan, C. S. (2010). Argumentation and reasoning. In K. Littleton, C. Wood & J. Kleine Staarman (Eds.), International handbook of psychology in education (pp. 137-176). London: Emerald Group Publishing.
Schwarz, B. B., & Goldberg, T. (2013). “Look who’s talking”: Identity and emotions as resources to historical peer reasoning. In M. J. Baker, J. E. Andriessen & S. Järvelä (Eds.), Affective learning together (Routledge Trans.). (pp. 272-292). London:
Sorek, T. (2011). The quest for victory: Collective memory and national identification among the arab-palestinian citizens of israel. Sociology, 45(3), 464-479.
Thompson, J. (2014). Engaging girls’ sociohistorical identities in science. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 23(3), 392-446.
Varelas, M. (2012). Identity construction and science education research: Learning, teaching, and being in multiple contexts Springer Science & Business Media.
Wineburg, S. S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts: Charting the future of teaching the past Temple University Press.
Wineburg, S. S., Mosborg, S., & Porat, D. (2001). What can Forrest Gump tell us about students' historical understanding? Social Education, 65(1), 55-58.
Wohl, M. J., Branscombe, N. R., & Klar, Y. (2006). Collective guilt: Emotional reactions when one's group has done wrong or been wronged. European Review of Social Psychology, 17(1), 1-37. doi:10.1080/10463280600574815
Yaron, M. (2009). In Goldberg T. (Ed.), History superintendent's Requested corrections to the textbook: Building a state in the middle east.
Zembylas, M. (2004). Emotion metaphors and emotional labor in science teaching. Science Education, 88(3), 301-324.
Zembylas, M. (2013). Critical pedagogy and emotion: Working through ‘troubled knowledge’in posttraumatic contexts. Critical Studies in Education, 54(2), 176-189.
Zembylas, M., & Kambani, F. (2012). The teaching of controversial issues during elementary-level history instruction: Greek-Cypriot teachers' perceptions and emotions. Theory & Research in Social Education, 40(2), 107-133.
Zembylas, M., & McGlynn, C. (2012). Discomforting pedagogies: Emotional tensions, ethical dilemmas and transformative possibilities. British Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 41-59.