A Conceptualisation of Emotion within Art and Design Education: A Creative, Learning and ProductOrientated Triadic Schema

There is a resurgence of interest in the powerful concept of emotion in current educational policy and practice. This article calls for the recognition and conceptualisation of a triadic schema for theorising the location of emotion within a creative educational experience. The schema represents emotion within three domains within current practice: Person, Process and Product. The principal focus of the article is pupils aged 5–16 and consideration is given to the application of the conceptualised schema within art and design education as represented by the national curriculum statement of importance. The central hypothesis of the work is that greater recognition of an emotional dimension within a triadic schema – developing emotional capacity in students to engage in a creative process (person); stimulating emotional engagement through appropriate learning contexts (process) and facilitating the emotional interfacing with outcomes (product) – will help conceptualise the powerful interrelationship between emotion, creativity and learning. Based upon an extensive synthesised literature review a schema, developed through abductive reasoning and grounded theory, ultimately conceptualises the overarching theme of emotion within a creative, learning and product-orientated experience within the primary and secondary stages of England’s education system.