Mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion: Illuminating the dynamics of affect in practices of artful teaching and learning in social education in Denmark

Abstract

This article maps affective operations in artful teaching practices in Social Education at a University College in Denmark to make visible the ways affect shapes experience, behavior, and forms of social connection. The article contributes to the fields of playful learning and aesthetic learning in higher education through its application of a relational and situated approach to affectivity as a new line of inquiry illuminating the dynamics of affect in artful educational practices. We argue that bringing considerations of affectivity to the study of artful educational practices utilized as a catalyst for playful learning in Social Education has: (1) important implications for how we might leverage the affective power of bodies learning together (Harris, Jones, 2021) for designing and developing inclusive playful learning encounters; (2) important implications for how we might better understand the exclusive dynamics and micropolitical dimensions of aesthetic practices in order to better respond to the inherent power structures and nuanced nature of privilege.