A Narrative Case Study of Chinese Senior High School English Teachers’ Emotions: An Ecological Perspective

Teacher emotions are essential for teaching effectiveness and teachers’ professional development. Studying teacher emotions during a program in today’s world is crucial, where teachers are commonly involved in professional development programs. From an ecological perspective, this study employed a case study method to examine the emotions of two Chinese high school mathematics teachers in a 4-year teaching improvement program. Semi-structured interviews, teacher emotion logs, researcher memos, and informal dialogues were all used to collect data. This study aimed to better understand the emotions that Chinese high school mathematics teachers developed and the processes that generated them in their interactions with various ecosystems within a specific professional development program overlay. The study’s findings revealed that the two teachers triggered 65 emotions in their interactions with the various ecosystems over 4 years—A describing 51 and B describing 46—with an overall predominance of positive emotions. They triggered the broadest range of emotions in the mesosystem, particularly during interactions with program companions. During the early, medium, and late stages, their internal psychological factors and interactions with each system changed, resulting in significant changes in their emotions. They all went through phases of mixed sadness and happiness, ending in a state of delight and calmness. Finally, we recommended teachers’ professional development based on the study’s findings.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ecological examination of the emotions of Chinese high school mathematics teachers in a long-term teaching improvement program

Lei

Kong

et al. 2022

“…This further supports the findings of Bloomfeld (2010) that the process of learning and teaching for pre-service teachers is changing, full of excitement, joy, and even confusion, and it is the process of teacher professional development. Sun and Yang (2021) revealed that the emotions of Chinese English teachers changed significantly over time. They evolved from positive to negative, and finally, mainly positive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Qualitative and quantitative data suggest that high-intensity emotions are present at the micro-system level. Sun and Yang (2021) explored the dynamic emotional development process and characteristics of Chinese high school English teachers in their interaction with the ecosystem and the ecological factors that may affect their emotional development. The results showed that 68 emotions emerged from the two participants: 39 positive emotions and 29 negative emotions.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-service teachers’ emotional experience: Characteristics, dynamics and sources amid the teaching practicum

Oubibi

Chen

et al. 2022

Recently, teacher emotions have become the focus of research in teacher education. Teacher emotions not only affect teachers themselves but also have an impact on their students. However, pre-service teachers’ emotions have been neglected. This study is based on a qualitative analysis of online emotional diaries related to emotional experience expression by 120 Chinese pre-service teachers before, during, and after teaching practice. The results in this study show three characteristics of pre-service teachers’ emotional experiences: the overall positive emotions are higher than negative emotions; “caring” and “nervous” are the most typical emotions and variability in emotional experience across gender and internship schools. Then, it is surprising that pre-service teachers’ emotional trajectories are complex and dynamic, positive emotions are decreasing, and negative emotions increase as time goes by. Finally, from the perspective of emotional experience sources, organizational factors affect the emotional experience, personal factors, and background factors.

“…Emotions are increasingly recognized as integral to engagement in teaching and learning, and to teachers’ experience of agency when contentious situations arise ( Benesch, 2018 ). Research into the role of emotions in workplaces has been limited compared to more general contexts ( Hökkä et al, 2019 ), with education settings forming a subset of such research, and a still smaller body of work specifically focused on teachers’ rather than students’ emotions (e.g., Hannula, 2012 ; Frenzel, 2014 ; Xu, 2018 ; Henritius et al, 2019 ; Sun and Yang, 2021 ). Relations between teachers’ and students’ emotions have been investigated in both directions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teachers’ emotions in the time of COVID: Thematic analysis of interview data reveals drivers of professional agency

Porter

Miles²,

Donaldson³

2022

PurposeWe explored two complex phenomena associated with effective education. First, teachers’ professional agency, the volitional actions they take in response to perceived opportunities, was examined to consider individual differences in its enactment. Second, “strong” emotions have been proposed as important in teaching and learning, and we wished to clarify which basic emotions might be involved, besides curiosity, which is a known emotional factor in engagement in teaching. We also explored how agency and basic emotions might be related.ApproachThirteen teachers working in Scottish secondary schools were interviewed at the start of the covid pandemic in 2020 to discuss relevant feelings, thoughts and actions arising from unprecedented changes in their lives and professional practices. Thematic analysis was used to identify aspects of agentic behavior and basic emotions expressed.FindingsTeacher agency was expressed through adaptability, collective agency, constrained agency, and non-action. Four basic emotion percepts were identified, which we label as “CARE”, “CURIOSITY”, “COOPERATION”, and “CHALLENGE”.OriginalityWe extend the definition of agency to include volitional non-action as a response to opportunity. In contrast to prior research emphasizing emotions as an outcome of volitional behavior, we explore emotions preceding agency. We develop four theoretical propositions related to teacher emotions. (1) Four emotion percepts substantially influence teachers’ voluntary motivated behavior. (2) The amount and proportion of emotions experienced varies between individual teachers. (3) The four percepts are experienced concurrently or in rapid succession in engaged teaching contexts. (4) Professional experience and specific situational factors also influence teachers’ behavioral choices. For future consideration, we suggest that awareness of emotion percepts may encourage both teachers’ engagement and their professional agency for the benefit of their pedagogical practice and outcomes for their students.