Daring Emotions

In the project Daring Emotions pupils, artists, teacher students, teachers and educational scientists join to research feelings in educational and professionalization processes, particularly in schools and teacher training. Together, they investigate which practices – such as modes of perception and interpretation, forms of expression and ways of acting – are associated with feelings in different educational contexts.

Current research on emotions in schools primarily focuses on controlling emotions to optimize learning processes, however neglecting broader questions concerning emotions and education, which are central in our project. Specifically, we ask: Which learning content, experiences, encounters, and places in and around school evoke which feelings in pupils and teachers? What do pupils and teachers explicitly and implicitly learn about feelings at school? How do social and institutional power relations influence feelings and how can this connection be addressed in educational contexts?

Daring Emotions deals with feelings both as a relevant dimension in educational processes and as a possible subject of these processes, i. e. ‘emotions in educational processes’ as well as ‘education about emotions’ (often referred to as social and emotional learning in English speaking contexts). Emotions are explored particularly in their aesthetic and socio-political dimensions. Daring Emotions! employs a research and pedagogical approach that examines the role of (audio-)visual media in schools, considering their diverse meaning and impacts within educational processes.

The combination of artistic and scientific research approaches allows for a variety of expressive forms of emotional experiences through multimedia, addressing the challenges of articulating emotions verbally. The project involves citizen scientists of different ages, backgrounds, and life circumstances, collaborating with various school types such as secondary schools, primary schools, centers for inclusion and social education, and partners like Roma school mediation, the associaction gamayun, and the expert organization Selbstlaut working on the prevention of sexual violence against children and youth. Specifically, the citizen scientists, academics and artists work together in research studios, where they analyze the emotional cultures in schools, develop artistic-scientific portfolios on selected emotions and produce videos as educational material regarding emotions.

The project title Daring Emotions refers to the multidimensional objectives of the project: It is about daring to perceive and express feelings­ including those that are considered difficult or daring, and at the same time initiating their appreciative and critical examination, that can be made productive for schools and teacher training. Daring Emotions aims to conduct fundamental research into feelings and their social conditions, as well as to develop educational pedagogical material that reflects issues of discrimination for schools and teacher training programs.