Abstract:
Educating for social justice, particularly pedagogical approaches that may be effective in achieving feminist aims, can involve ‘uncomfortable moments’ in which students and teachers respond to issues that can prompt feelings of discomfort, such as sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia. Rather than shying away from this discomfort, the ‘affective turn’ in education research has provided new perspectives on what bodies can do, the pedagogical potential of affect, and why affect matters in the classroom. Classrooms are charged spaces, complex assemblages of bodies, feelings and material spaces; accordingly, realising the pedagogical power of affective intensities helps us to see how to know differently, we need to feel differently (Hemmings 2012). This is important, because, if we want classrooms to be places in which social justice aims can be realised, this might involve turning our attention to the ways in which affective shifts can occur as a result of uncomfortable moments in the classroom, including change borne from affective dissonance.
However, within the high school classroom, discomfort can sometimes be seen as a form of disorder and an affront to the idea of the ‘safe space’. While the literature makes clear the pedagogical possibilities of affect in the university classroom, the high school classroom is an entirely different assemblage that needs further attention to explore how affect operates in charged moments. Why might lessons featuring content aligning with feminist aims provoke affective responses? How do teachers manage affective intensities? And if affect is considered as something that flows between rather than from within, how do we conceive of responsibility in terms of making the classroom a ‘safe space’ – and for whom is this space ‘safe’?
While the impacts of pedagogies of affect cannot be predicted (Niccolini 2016), for teachers wishing to utilise pedagogy for feminist aims, considering the power of affect is useful. Therefore, this paper asks: how can affect illuminate the possibilities and barriers for high school teachers trying to teach for social justice, particularly for feminist aims? The presentation is based on the findings of a review of the literature on affective intensities in the classroom, undertaken as part of a current PhD study. The paper’s argument is that to teach for social justice, particularly for feminist aims, we need to consider the affective intensities of doing so. Ultimately, high school classrooms are unique assemblages through which to explore how what moves us can move us.
However, within the high school classroom, discomfort can sometimes be seen as a form of disorder and an affront to the idea of the ‘safe space’. While the literature makes clear the pedagogical possibilities of affect in the university classroom, the high school classroom is an entirely different assemblage that needs further attention to explore how affect operates in charged moments. Why might lessons featuring content aligning with feminist aims provoke affective responses? How do teachers manage affective intensities? And if affect is considered as something that flows between rather than from within, how do we conceive of responsibility in terms of making the classroom a ‘safe space’ – and for whom is this space ‘safe’?
While the impacts of pedagogies of affect cannot be predicted (Niccolini 2016), for teachers wishing to utilise pedagogy for feminist aims, considering the power of affect is useful. Therefore, this paper asks: how can affect illuminate the possibilities and barriers for high school teachers trying to teach for social justice, particularly for feminist aims? The presentation is based on the findings of a review of the literature on affective intensities in the classroom, undertaken as part of a current PhD study. The paper’s argument is that to teach for social justice, particularly for feminist aims, we need to consider the affective intensities of doing so. Ultimately, high school classrooms are unique assemblages through which to explore how what moves us can move us.