Emotions, Development and Materiality at School: a Cultural-Historical Approach

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Sociocultural Studies
• Cultural Diversity Education

Background:

• Traditionally, emotions are viewed as hindrances to academic learning.
• Contemporary education increasingly incorporates complex topics like migration and diversity, blurring cognitive and emotional boundaries.
• This research investigates the role of emotions in learning within cultural diversity education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how students' emotions are evoked and transformed through social interactions in educational settings.
• To analyze the process of semiotization of emotions in primary and junior school classrooms.
• To understand the influence of these processes on students' psychological development.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of empirical data from 12 primary and junior school classrooms in Switzerland.
• Inclusion of 12 teachers and 232 students (aged 11-16).
• Application of a cultural-historical perspective and Valsiner's schema for analyzing emotion semiotization.

Main Results:

• Identified three modalities of emotion semiotization: simple verbalization, reframing with factual information, and integration with collective experiences.
• Observed that teacher interventions and material artifacts (photographs) significantly mediated the interactional processes.
• Demonstrated how emotions, through semiotization, influence students' psychological processes.

Conclusions:

• Emotions are integral to learning, especially in cultural diversity education, and can be constructively integrated.
• The process of semiotization, facilitated by teachers and materials, transforms emotions and impacts learning.
• Educational practices should acknowledge and leverage the interplay between emotions and cognition for effective teaching and learning.