In today’s Europe there are numerous societal issues that comes across as controversial and are debated from different points of views. Generally, controversial issues are defined as topics or questions where there are opposing ideas about the nature of origin and preferred solutions. On a European level, educational policy stress the importance of teachers dealing with these issues, manifested by for example Council of Europe’s professional development programme to ‘support and promote the teaching of controversial issues in schools in Europe’ (Council of Europe, 2015, p 7). In research literature most definitions of controversial issues encompass emotional, cognitive and evaluative dimensions (e.g. Cooling 2012; Hand 2008; Ljunggren et al. 2015, Stradling 1984). Here, the focus is set on emotions and more specifically emotions in relation to social studies subject teaching in grade 7-9. The study is part of a larger research project about controversial issues in Social studies teaching in Swedish secondary school (e.g. Larsson & Larsson 2021; Larsson & Lindström 2021).  In Sweden the school subjects Civics, Geography, History and Religious education has a history of being grouped as Social studies subjects.

Teaching is largely an emotional practice (Denzin 1984; Hargreaves 1998) and we know that teachers find that it is challenging to deal with controversial issues and this can lead teachers to avoid addressing them (e.g Ojala 2019; Anker and von der Lippe 2018, Pollak et al 2018). Even though it is a challenge for the teachers, it is important to help students learn how to engage in democratic dialogue with those holding opposing views (cf Zembylas och Kambani 2012). Within social studies, pupils and teachers engage in topics that allows for controversies of different characters. In this paper, controversial issues in education are understood as situated. That is, situated in relations between teachers and pupils, inbetween students in a context of surrounding community and society, or situated in relation to other objects as material objects, statements, information etcetera (e.g. Blennow 2021). The purpose is to further understand what role emotions play in teachers’ didactical considerations and actions concerning controversial issues in social studies teaching. How does teachers reason concerning pupils emotional expressions? What considerations of the teachers own emotions comes to the fore? The ambition is to deepen the understanding of the teachers’ considerations as a knowing-in-action (Schön 1983) (compare Persson 2022).

The data analysed for this paper were collected through interviews with 18 teachers, both men and women, actively teaching social studies in secondary school. The teachers were between 25 and 55 years old and had taught for 1 up to 26 years. There were teachers in both small and large schools in small and large cities/villages from anywhere in Sweden and the informants were found via professional and personal networks (convenience sample). In semi structured interviews, the teachers were asked to elaborate on their experiences of occasions perceived as succeeding and failing in dealing with controversial issues in social studies teaching (Lantz 2007). That is, we did not specifically ask how the teachers experience and handle emotions in their teaching. The question concerning the role of emotions was instead formulated in relation to the empirical material, as we saw how emotions were addressed by the teachers in the narration of their practice. The process of analysis can thus best be described as inductive. In the next stage we set out to identify what the teachers expressed concerning their experiences of emotions in their pedagogical practice and didactical reasoning followed by a process of arranging the excerpts in themes. In the analysis, we focused on the statements made by the teachers and did not seek to analyse or categorise each teachers stance. Before the interviews, the teachers were informed of the project and how the information obtained would be stored and used. After having given opportunity to ask question, and to decline participation, they gave their consent. The interviews were transcribed verbatim. In the transcription the teachers were made anonymous and all references to school and the geographic location was removed.

When the teachers adress emotions during the interviews the teachers' focus is predominantly on their pupils Themes that reoccur are that emotions are a resource in social studies teaching as they serve as a vehicle for motivation and interest, and thereby learning, but; also that emotionally loaded views, stances and positions can and should be challenged by increased knowledge about the controversial issue, and finally; that if and how emotional a pedagogical situation becomes is related to the representations among the group of students and to the social context of surrounding local community. The teachers own emotions also plays out in the teachers’ didactical reasoning. The emotions experienced by the teachers are at times explicitly referred to when a teacher explains what he/she does or avoid doing. Being uneasy, or reluctant are emotions that at times makes the teachers avoid a certain content or teaching method. Several teachers describe the importance of being in control of ones’ own emotions and not get in a confrontational situation, which can further radicalise the student. Emotions seem to constitute an integrated and important part of the teachers pedagogic reasoning. However, emotions are also seen as standing in the way for knowledge and constructive situations of teaching and learning. Tentatively, it seems like the teachers find that the emotions can be altered and monitored through knowledge, in the terms of a scientific discourse of rationality that is opposed to emotions.

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