The unexpected subject

When an emotionally heated discussion erupts in the social science classroom, it can bring the teachers and students into a topic or question that none of them had foreseen. Within the research field of social science education there is a growing interest for these unexpected teaching situations. The aim of this theoretical article is to further develop didactical theory of the unexpected in social science education with an emphasis on the didactical why-question. By drawing on Hannah Arendt’s theory of the subject and action, the article outlines a perspective on the unexpected in social science teaching. This perspective highlights how students’ actions can be understood as a distinct revealing of the individual that is unique, risky, and unexpected. The article puts this Arendtian perspective in relation to the citizenship ideal of the “the reflective spectator” that has been formulated within the research field. The article ends with a discussion on how to understand the conflict between different ideals of citizenship in the research field of social science education.