ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author argues that educational researchers and teachers ought to pay more attention to the affective dimensions of learning and schooling. The prevalence and importance of affective dimensions of learning mean they deserve much more attention from educational researchers than they have received to date. The author suggests that researchers need to build upon but go beyond the limited work that has already been undertaken in this sphere, which is overwhelmingly dominated by quantitative, psychologically-informed research. She provides a brief overview of how affect and emotion are conceptualised in general, and then in educational research more specifically, and flag the difficulties of navigating a field in which there is a profusion of contested terms. Conceptualising and defining affect, emotion and other related terms are far from straightforward; conceptualisations vary between and within disciplines, as do the theoretical and methodological lenses through which they are examined.
