This Work We Do: Teachers, Intellectuals, Activists

Virtuous Subjects: A Critical Analysis of the Affective Substance of Social Studies Education

“…Similar to how content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge are two falsely distinct sides of the same coin (Segall, 2004), the affective and emotional life is not necessarily distinct from the cognitive nature of learning. From the environment (Cotton, 2006) to Hurricane Katrina (Garrett, 2011), terrorism (Hess & Stoddard, 2007) to Japanese American internment camps (Camicia, 2007), topics that elicit controversy and strong political feelings often define and structure the curriculum of social studies education (Biesta, 2011;Cary, 2001;Helfenbein, 2005;Shinew, 2001). Such topics animate the epistemological bearings of social studies as a field and require a critical perspective that deconstructs the types of affects circulating through social studies classrooms and curriculum.…”