Abstract
High-quality talk about issues that raise high-intensity emotions in the public sphere is timely needed. Still, researchers committed to the fostering of high-quality types of school talk generally disregard the role of emotions. We show that this disregard is not accidental and that it conveys a customary reluctance in schools to consider the handling of emotions as they pertain to cognition. We argue that helping students regulate emotions in social interactions and in discussions that raise high-intensity emotions is an important educational purpose, and we show that discussions about controversial issues provide a suitable context for this purpose. To support the emergence of high-quality talk that involves strong emotions, we adopted a design-based research approach and developed a new Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tool, the Hot Discussions Platform (HDP). The functionalities of HDP are crucial for the emergence and guidance of high-quality talk that involves strong emotions, and they describe a novel professional development (PD) approach to the enhancement and moderation of this kind of talk. In the in-service PD course, teachers are prepared to design, moderate, and analyze discussions about controversial issues. Group assignments in the course and personal interviews revealed that the teachers that underwent this program reported on a very rich list of practices and beliefs about the emotional labor involved in designing and moderating discussions about controversial issues. The study provides an existence proof of a kind of talk that combines compliance with argumentative-critical standards and an eagerness to express and regulate strong emotions. We call this general kind of talk deliberative emotional talk. We conclude by reflecting on future research and technological developments to be invested into studying forms of deliberative emotional talk and support its emergence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
see his later works Science of education and the psychology of the child (1970) and Intellectual evolution from adolescence to adulthood (1977)
The decision to take isolated turns as the unit of analysis is questionable since, especially in highly loaded discussions, moves follow each other as emotional reactions. The dialogic stance we adopt naturally appeals to other analytical methods, such as Conversation Analysis, which grasps the sequence of turns and considers the function of turns in relation to preceding and following turns. However, the theoretical developments presented, and the description of technologies did not leave enough room for a meticulous analysis of the discussions. The relative shallowness of content analysis helped us illustrate rather than analyze the characteristics of a new form of talk that emerged in the environment we elaborated.
References
Andriessen, J. E. B., Baker, M. J., & Suthers, D. (2003). Arguing to learn: Confronting cognitions in computer-supported collaborative learning environments. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Asterhan, C. S. C., & Schwarz, B. B. (2016). Argumentation for learning: Well-trodden paths and unexplored territories. Educational Psychologist, 51(2), 164–187.
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Blanchette, I., & Nougarou, F. (2017). Incidental emotions have a greater impact on the logicality of less proficient reasoners. Thinking & Reasoning, 23(1), 98–113.
Blanchette, I., & Richards, A. (2010). The influence of affect on higher level cognition: A review of research on interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning. Cognition & Emotion, 24(4), 561–595.
Boyd, D. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Burbules, N. C. (1993). Dialogue in teaching: Theory and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Butera, F., & Mugny, G. (1995). Conflict between incompetence and influence of a low-expertise source in hypothesis testing. European Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 457–462.
Caffi, C., & Janney, R. W. (1994). Toward a pragmatics of emotive communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 22(3–4), 325–373.
Calcagni, E., & Lago, L. (2018). The three domains for dialogue: A framework for analysing dialogic approaches to teaching and learning. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 18, 1–12.
Chinn, C. A., & Brewer, W. F. (1998). An empirical test of a taxonomy of responses to anomalous data in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35(6), 623–654.
Cress, U., Stahl, G., Ludvigsen, S., & Law, N. (2015). The core features of CSCL: Social situation, collaborative knowledge processes and their design. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10(2), 109–116.
Dahlberg, L. (2001). The internet and democratic discourse: Exploring the prospects of online deliberative forums extending the public sphere. Information, Communication & Society, 4(4), 615–633.
Damásio, A. R. (1994). Descartes' error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Grosset/Putnam.
De Wever, B., Schellens, T., Valcke, M., & Van Keer, H. (2006). Content analysis schemes to analyze transcripts of online asynchronous discussion groups: A review. Computers & Education, 46(1), 6–28.
Doise, W., Mugny, G., & Perret-Clermont, A. N. (1975). Social interaction and the development of logical operations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 6, 367–383.
Duncan, S., & Barrett, L. F. (2007). Affect is a form of cognition: A neurobiological analysis. Cognition and Emotion, 21(6), 1184–1211.
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. The Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25–32.
Gindi, S., & Erlich, R. R. (2018). High school teachers’ attitudes and reported behaviors towards controversial issues. Teaching and Teacher Education, 70, 58–66.
Grize, J. B. (1996). Logique Naturelle et Communications. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Grize, J. B. (1997). 1990. Ophrys: Logique et langage.
Halperin, E. (2015). Emotions in conflict: Inhibitors and facilitators of peace making (Vol. 2). New York & London: Routledge.
Hess, D. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. New York & London: Routledge.
Hess, D. E., & McAvoy, P. (2014). The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education. New York: Routledge.
Hochschild, A. R. (1979). Emotion work, feeling rules, and social structure. American Journal of Sociology, 85(3), 551–575.
Hochshild, A. R. (1983/2012). The managed heart. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California press.
Horn, I. S., & Little, J. W. (2010). Attending to problems of practice: Routines and resources for professional learning in teachers’ workplace interactions. American Educational Research Journal, 47(1), 181–217.
Howe, C., & Abedin, M. (2013). Classroom dialogue: A systematic review across four decades of research. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43(3), 325–356.
Israel’s Ministry of Education (2016). Meaningful Learning National Program: Educational Discourse on Controversial Issues. Retrieved from: http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Applications/Mankal/EtsMedorim/9/9-2/HoraotKeva/K-2016-4-2-9-2-3.htm. Accessed 17 April 2019
Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M., Cody, R., Stephenson, B. H., Horst, H., & Perkel, D. (2009). Hanging out, messing around, and Geeking out: Kids living and learning with new media. Cambridge & London: The MIT press.
Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 79(1), 491–525.
Kashti, O. (2014, January 22). ORT director general: IDF morality must not be challenged. Haaretz, retrieved from: https://www.haaretz.com. Accessed 17 April 2019
Kim, M. Y., & Wilkinson, I. A. (2019). What is dialogic teaching? Constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing a pedagogy of classroom talk. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 21, 70–86.
Law, N., Ludvigsen, S., Cress, U., & Rose, C. P. (2017). Fostering targeted group practices as a core focus for CSCL task and technology design. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 12(1), 1–7.
Lefstein, A., & Snell, J. (2013). Better than best practice: Developing teaching and learning through dialogue. New York & London: Routledge.
Lund, A., Rasmussen, I., & Smørdal, O. (2009). Joint designs for working in wikis: A case of practicing across settings and modes of work. In H. Daniels, A. Edwards, Y. Engeström, T. Gallagher, & S. Ludvigsen (Eds.), Activity theory in practice: Promoting learning across boundaries and agencies (pp. 207–230). Oxon and New York: Routledge.
Macklem, G. L. (2015). Boredom in the classroom. Switzerland: Springer.
Mancini, P. (2015). Why it is time to redesign our political system. European View, 14(1), 69–75.
Maturana, H. R., & Varela, F. J. (1987). The tree of knowledge: The biological roots of human understanding. Boston: New Science Library/Shambhala Publications.
McIntyre, L. (2018). Post-truth. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Mercer, N., & Dawes, L. (2014). The study of talk between teachers and students, from the 1970s until the 2010s. Oxford Review of Education, 40(4), 430–445.
Mercer, N., Wegerif, R., & Dawes, L. (1999). Children’s talk and the development of reasoning in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 25(1), 95–111.
Michaels, S., O’Connor, C., & Resnick, L. B. (2008). Deliberative discourse idealized and realized: Accountable talk in the classroom and in civic life. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 27(4), 283–297.
Mouffe, C. (2000). The democratic paradox. Verso.
Mugny, G., De Paolis, P., & Carugati, F. (1984). Social regulation in cognitive development. In W. Doise & A. Palmonari (Eds.), Social interaction in individual development (pp. 127–146). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Newton, D. P. (2018). Emotions: can’t think with them, can’t think without them. In L. Kerslake & R. Wegerif (Eds.), Theory of teaching thinking (pp. 38–52). London: Routledge.
Nosek, B. A., & Hansen, J. J. (2008). The associations in our heads belong to us: Searching for attitudes and knowledge in implicit evaluation. Cognition & Emotion, 22(4), 553–594.
Pain, S. (1989). La fonction de l'ignorance. Bern, Frankfurt/M., New York, Paris: Peter Lang.
Perret-Clermont, A. N. (1980). Social interaction and cognitive development in children. London: Academic.
Piaget, J. (1954/1981). Intelligence and affectivity: Their relationship during child development. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews.
Plantin, C. (2004). On the inseparability of emotion and reason in argumentation. In E. Weigand (Ed.), Emotion in dialogic interaction: Advances in the complex (pp. 265–276). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Plantin, C. (2011). Les bonnes raisons des émotions. Principes et méthode pour l’étude du discours émotionné [the good reasons of emotions: Principles and method for the study of emotional discourse]. Berne: Peter Lang.
Plantin C. (2017). L’émotion communiquée. In N. Tersis and P. Boyeldieu (eds), Le langage de l'émotion: variations linguistiques et culturelles. Paris, Peeters.
Polo, C., Lund, K., Plantin, C., & Niccolai, G. P. (2016). Group emotions: The social and cognitive functions of emotions in argumentation. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 11(2), 123–156.
Price, V. (2009). Citizens deliberating online: Theory and some evidence. In T. Davies & P. Gangadharan (Eds.), Online deliberation: Design, research, and practice (pp. 37–58). Stanford: CSLI publications.
Radford, L. (2015). Of love, frustration, and mathematics: A Cultural-historical approach to emotions in mathematics teaching and learning. In B. Pepin & B. Rösken-Winter (Eds.), From beliefs and affect to dynamic systems: (exploring) a mosaic of relationships and interactions (pp. 25–49). NY: Springer. Advances in Mathematics Education Series.
Ratcliffe, M., & Grace, M. (2003). Science Education for Citizenship: Teaching Socio-Scientific Issues. UK: McGraw-hill education.
Resnick, L. B., Asterhan, C. S., & Clarke, S. N. (2018). Accountable talk: Instructional dialogue that builds the mind. In Geneva, Switzerland: The international academy of education (IAE) and the International Bureau of Education (IBE) of the United Nations educational. Scientific and: Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Roth, W. M. (2007). The ethico-moral nature of identity: Prolegomena to the development of third generation cultural-historical activity theory. International Journal of Educational Research, 46(1–2), 83–93.
Rummel, N. (2018). One framework to rule them all? Carrying forward the conversation started by Wise and Schwarz. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 13(1), 123–129.
Sadler, T. D. (2011). Situating socio-scientific issues in classrooms as a means of achieving goals of science education. In T. D. Sadler (Ed.), Socio-scientific issues in the classroom: Teaching, learning and research (pp. 1–9). Dordrecht: Springer.
Schwarz, B. B., & Asterhan, C. S. C. (2011). E-moderation of synchronous discussions in educational settings: A nascent practice. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 20(3), 395–442.
Schwarz, B. B., & Baker, M. J. (2016). Dialogue, argumentation and education: History, theory and practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Schwarz, B. B., & de Groot, R. (2007). Argumentation in a changing world. The International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 2(2–3), 297–313.
Schwarz, B. B., Prusak, N., Swidan, O., Livny, A., & Gal, K. (2018). Orchestrating the emergence of conceptual learning: A case study in a geometry class. International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, 13(2), 189–211.
Skop, Y. (2014, May 26). Controversial Teacher Adam Verete Fired Due to Budget Cuts. Haaretz, retrieved from: https://www.haaretz.com. Accessed 17 April 2019
Skop, Y., & Kashti, O. (2014, Jan 30). Israeli teacher Won't be fired for expressing ‘leftist’ opinions, School Rules. Haaretz, retrieved from: https://www.haaretz.com. 17 April 2019
Slakmon, B., & Schwarz, B. B. (2017). “Wherever you go, you will be a polis”: Spatial practices and political education in CSCL discussions. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 26(2), 184–225.
Solli, A., Mäkitalo, Å., & Hillman, T. (2018). Rendering controversial socioscientific issues legible through digital mapping tools. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 13, 391–418.
Stahl, G. (2015). Conceptualizing the intersubjective group. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 10(3), 209–217.
Stahl, G., Cress, U., Ludvigsen, S., & Law, N. (2014). Dialogic foundations of CSCL. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 9(2), 117–125.
Towne, W. B., & Herbsleb, J. D. (2012). Design considerations for online deliberation systems. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 9(1), 97–115.
Valdesolo, P., & DeSteno, D. (2006). Manipulations of emotional context shape moral judgment. Psychological Science-Cambridge, 17(6), 476.
Van Amelsvoort, M., Andriessen, J. & Kanselaar, G. (2007). Representational tools in computer-supported collaborative argumentation-based learning: how dyads work with constructed and inspected argumentative diagrams. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16, 485–521.
Venturini, T., & Latour, B. (2010). The social fabric: Digital traces and qual-quantatitive methods. Retrieved from www.medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/Venturini_LatourThe_Social_Fabric.pdf. Accessed 17 April 2019
Ward, A., Ross, L., Reed, E., Turiel, E., & Brown, T. (1997). Naive realism in everyday life: Implications for social conflict and misunderstanding. Values and Knowledge, 103–135.
Wegerif, R. (2007). Dialogic Education and Technology: Expanding the Space of Learning (Vol. 7). Springer Science & Business Media.
Wegerif, R. (2017). Introduction. Education, technology and democracy: Can internet-mediated education prepare the ground for a future global democracy? Civitas educationis. Education, Politics, and Culture, 6(1), 17–35.
Wells, C. (2015). The civic organization and the digital citizen: Communicating engagement in a networked age. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wise, A. F., & Schwarz, B. B. (2017). Visions of CSCL: Eight provocations for the future of the field. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 12(4), 423–467.
Zapf, D. (2002). Emotion work and psychological well-being: A review of the literature and some conceptual considerations. Human Resource Management Review, 12(2), 237–268.
Zeidler, D. L. (2014). Socioscientific issues as a curriculum emphasis. Theory, research and practice. In S. Abell & N. Lederman (Eds.), Handbook on research in science education (Vol. 1-II, pp. 697–726). New York: Routledge.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Carolyn P. Rose, Kobi Gal, Adam Lefstein, Gidi Dishon, Efrat Firer, Avi Segal, Michael Sronim, Gal Benedek, Barak Menachem, and Noa Shapira for their invaluable support in developing the project. The authors would also like to deeply thank the anonymous reviewers. Your contributions and sensitive reading helped us refine our ideas and improve the manuscript.
Funding
This study was partially supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 26992017) and the NSF (grant no. 033909).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Translations of the figured discussions
Utterance Number | User | Text |
|---|---|---|
#516 | Moderator | OK, Itay goes offline, but the conversation remains open, in a student mode, and it will go on, you are welcome to continue… (The text is continued in the “expand” mode—not visible in the screenshot.) |
#518 | Itay Pollak (hosted expert) | Thank you! I will be happy to continue corresponding with you on this matter. Itay |
New Thread | ||
#491 | Moderator | Pollak_Findings: “The actual name of the study program undermines its ideas. The classroom discourse is directed at the consensus, characterizing…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen in the screenshot.) |
#494 | Student 1 | Or perhaps there is also moving away from disagreement, for fear that the temporary state of peace will be disrupted, that a stormy discussion will occur, the end of which can’t be estimated. |
#495 | Itay | I will try to explain and illustrate the matter somewhat, in detail—the students’ lesson about argumentative writing…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen in the screenshot.) |
#497 | Itay | On two separate occasions, this consensus was broken. In the first case, one of the students expresses hesitation. She…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen in the screenshot.) |
#498 | Student 2 | Has the study returned to the same classroom throughout a period of time? Pedagogically speaking, in the beginning of the process I might “sacrifice”… (Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen on the screenshot.) |
#500 | Itay | This may have happened. But it is unlikely that throughout the entire collection of data, we would not encounter these material events…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen on the screenshot.) |
#506 | Student 2 | What in your opinion are the teacher’s main didactic and pedagogical tools in the classroom, to raise a political discussion? Which climate and which…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen on the screenshot.) |
#507 | Student 2 | What in your opinion are the teacher’s main didactic and pedagogical tools in the classroom, to raise a political discussion? Which climate and which…a (Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen on the screenshot.) |
#509 | Itay | I think that the foundation is there. We have found a lot of openness in the classroom discourse in terms of participation structure—students…(Text is continued in the “expand” mode, not seen on the screenshot.) |
#513 | Student 3 | Do you think teachers should introduce ideas themselves? |
#515 | Itay | I think that the ability to think about the subject from different points of view isn’t simple or natural to most students… |
New Thread | ||
#510 | Itay | And here are some of the sources that I talked about: |
#511 | Itay | D. (2001). Teaching with and for discussion. Teaching and teacher education, 17(3), 273–289. |
#512 | Itay | Parker, W. C. (2005). Teaching against idiocy. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(5), 344–351. I see… |
Discussion title: Conversation with Itay Pollak
Appendix 2
The Hot Discussion Platform (HDP): “Post Discussion (Retrospect) reflection” mode
Discussion Title: Conversation 207, Group 2000 (on) Curriculum
Utterance Number | User | Text |
|---|---|---|
#1221 | Moderator | Should the Palestinian narrative be taught in Jewish classrooms? |
#1229 | Student 1 | This is a very complex question, and I think this question connects to a larger topic of teaching history in general. I think… |
#1244 | Student 2 | I have already written in the first discussion that the question about what a teacher can teach in the classroom and what is inappropriate to talk about in the classroom depends… |
#1245 | Student 3 | Certainly, but not equally to the Zionist narrative. I always teach the other’s narrative (Nazi, Maximillian…). |
#1246 | Student 2 | You have expressed well what I have written. |
#1332 | Student 1 | I agree that the Zionist narrative should be emphasized more—this is the main part of learning. |
#1334 | Student 4 | Personally, this question and the fact that it is asked at all is very difficult for me. It is clear to me that the students should be taught how to be… |
#1439 | Student 5 | The Palestinian students in the classrooms learn the Palestinian narrative from their own sources and different places…if there had been an orderly program… |
#1442 | Student 5 | If the Jewish students…continue not to study the Palestinian narrative…they will get it from all of the extreme sides… |
Reflection Mode (yellow thread) | ||
#1554 | Student 6 | On the surface, there is one principal position here: most of the group members believe that it is correct to teach the Palestinian narrative… |
#1566 | Student 7 | A very charged discussion on the part of Student 5. According to him, there is no orderly program to present the Palestinian narrative and actually the teachers… |
#1577 | Student 6 | I think that this puts the narrative in a very judgmental place, which is the tendency in any case…why already introduce… |
#1585 | Student 7 | I would try to go towards a discussion about sedition versus freedom of speech, because I’m not knowledgeable enough about the facts. I would like… |
#1587 | Moderator | Let’s work like we are teaching to speak, and at the same time dealing with arguing about the conflict. Student 7, address the class and… |
#1596 | Student 7 | I totally accept that I am the responsible adult. On the other hand, my students are very ignorant, and I would not be able… |
#1607 | Student 6 | This is how I understood the moderator’s question in the first place…This is why I would like to bring the discussion back in that direction… |
#1594 | Student 6 | Why their fate? If you like, our fate…and this is why we have to continue discussing the existing possibilities… |
#1603 | Student 7 | I accept the question that you suggested and add to it: what are the advantages and the disadvantages of the option… |
#1617 | Student 6 | If so, can we end with an agreement on the question? |
Appendix 3
The Hot Discussion Platform (HDP): “Online Discussion (Fishbowl) Reflection” mode. Title: Additional Check
Appendix 4
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slakmon, B., Schwarz, B.B. Deliberative emotional talk. Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn 14, 185–217 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-019-09304-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-019-09304-3