From SEL to SPEL: Teachers integrating political emotions in lessons during times of crisis

This article explores teachers' experiences and perceptions of emotions in political education during crises. Through analysis of two focus groups and in-depth interviews with 36 politically engaged teachers in Israel during war and recent crisis, we examine how teachers navigate social political emotions in their lessons. Building on these findings, we propose extending Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to Social-Political Emotions Lessons (SPEL) to better support teachers in addressing classroom emotions, power relations, and event complexity. The research reveals teachers' strategies and challenges in fostering critical thinking while managing political emotions during crisis periods, offering insights for political education practice. • Study examines how 36 Israeli teachers navigate political emotions in their classrooms during crisis. • Proposes SPEL framework extending SEL to help teachers address classroom emotions, power relations, and event complexity. • Findings show emotional factors enabling or hindering teachers' critical thinking while managing political emotions in crisis. • Teachers transform emotional responses into political learning while balancing emotional validation with critical analysis. • Crisis periods offer unique opportunities for developing students' political consciousness and civic engagement.