Teachers’ and Students’ Sense of Teachers’ Emotional and Professional Identity

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Teachers’ and Students’ Sense of Teachers’ Emotional and Professional Identity

Journal Title: International Journal of Langauges' Education and Teaching - Year 2017, Vol 5, Issue 3

Abstract

Emotions are integrated into every sphere of people’s lives since they are one of the core elements of human beings. Being in a profession wherein human being is at the very center, teachers experience various feelings at different phases of their practice like happiness, anger, anxiety, satisfaction, shame, pride or love (Hargraves, 2000). Since motivation, performance anxiety and moral development are closely related to teaching context as emotional concepts, the role of emotions in pupils’ learning must be kept in mind if we are to understand the complexities that affect our job as educators and to prevent the 'dehumanization' of teaching practice at the extant sociopolitical context (Shapiro, 2010). With these in mind, the aim was to explore teachers’ and students’ perceptions of teachers’ emotional identities and how they are reflected in their practices. The significance of this study lies in associating teachers’ emotions with their professional identities, and linking them with students’ expectations from teachers. Four teachers and twelve students participated in this qualitative design which elicited data based on semi-structured interviews. Findings were categorized under teachers’ perceptions and students’ views of their teachers. Generally, teachers were found to be aware of their personal and professional identities and reflected them in their own teaching practices. They could understand that their emotional and professional identity is affected and shaped according to the social and cultural context they work in. Student participants, on the other hand, were aware of their expectations from their teachers and the kind of relationship they must establish with them. In particular, they want academic help from their teachers, but they also appreciate the support of their teachers whenever they need since they have respect in the knowledge and life experience of their teachers. A number of pedagogical implications were drawn which would shed light on teaching practices to make them compatible with students’ needs.

Authors and Affiliations

Burcu VAROL

Keywords

emotional identity professional identity teacher emotions

EP ID EP318540
DOI 10.18298/ijlet.2044
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