Teachersâ Emotion Management and Professional Agency
Our investigation drew upon emotion management theories and professional agency theories. Previous studies have shown that classroom teaching is not only an intellectual work but also filled with emotions (Emmer & Sabornie, 2014; Hagenauer & Volet, 2014; Lee et al., 2016; Saunders, 2013). Teachersâ emotion management capacity has been repeatedly confirmed as a key factor underpinning a psychologically secure learning environment for students (Harvey, Bimler, Evans, Kirkland, & Pechtel, 2012; Poulou, 2017). Understanding how teachers manage their emotions is essential for enhancing studentsâ emotional wellbeing and building teachersâ professional identity (Harvey, Evans, Hill, Henricksen, & Bimler, 2016; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009).
Two positive results of teachersâ emotion management are the creation of a calm and non-disruptive classroom climate and the improvement of studentsâ social, emotional and behavioural skills. Harvey and Evans (2003) discovered that emotion management took place on both personal and interpersonal level in the school. They illustrated the classroom emotional environment dimensions via a five-dimensional model which entailed emotional awareness and emotional intrapersonal beliefs on the personal level, emotional management and emotional interpersonal guidelines on the interpersonal level, and emotional relationships that bridged both personal and interpersonal levels. Harvey and Evansâ (2003) findings confirmed that teachersâ emotional competences can guide personal reflective practice in teaching, but not all the teachers were equally competent in all the emotion management areas.
Later, Harvey et al. (2012) further developed Harvey and Evansâ (2003) model by adding emotion contagion as the sixth dimension. Emotion contagion, measured by the items such as students mirroring teacher displays, students caring about teachersâ beliefs and student fulling teacherâ expectations, is positioned closely to emotion relationship. Emotion contagion is proven to have a strong correlation to both personal and interpersonal levels. Based on these two models, research further confirmed that teachersâ emotional skills can be associated with studentsâ emotional intelligence and emotional wellbeing (Harvey & Naus, 2015). Teachers possess distinct emotional profiles and tend to emphasize different emotion management strategies in practice. Moreover, such differences also seemed to be associated with teachersâ gender and cultural background (Harvey et al., 2012).
In addition to Harvey et al.âs (2003, 2012) model that examined teachersâ emotions on both personal and interpersonal levels, we considered that there was a social dimension to teachersâ emotions, too. Hence, teachersâ social emotional competence model was applied in this study. The definition of teachersâ social emotional competence contains five major emotional, cognitive and behavioural competencies, namely self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision making, self-management and relationship management (Zins, 2004; Zins, Bloodworth, Weissberg, & Walberg, 2007). Existing literature reveals that socially and emotionally competent teachers demonstrate the following characteristics (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Zins et al., 2007). Having a high self-awareness means that teachers are able to recognize their own emotional strengths and weaknesses so that they can motivate themselves at work. Likewise, having a high social awareness refers to teachers can identify other studentsâ emotional patterns, and then devise different student management strategies. Furthermore, socially and emotionally competent teachers can translate their awareness into actions. For example, they can make responsible decisions that exhibit prosocial values after weighing the impact of their decisions on themselves and on students. Lastly, emotionally competent teachers are not only able to actively regulate their own impulses and stress, but also to manage the relationship with students even in a stressful environment. These relationship management skills manifest in cooperating and negotiating with others, providing and seeking for help, and engaging in and building relationships (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Zins et al., 2007).
Professional Agency Studies and Teacher Emotion
When reviewing the above emotion management theories and models, we found many connections to teachersâ professional agency studies (e.g. Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Meyer, 2009; Zins et al., 2007). However, so far very few studies have connected these two research fields. One reason for the research division is that research on teachersâ emotion management has a long tradition in psychology, while research on teachersâ professional agency originates mainly from sociology.
Despite of the different research origins, we found shared research foci in these two research fields. For example, both emotion management and professional agency research examine teachersâ intentional efforts to affect other people or to make a deliberate influence (Harvey & Naus, 2015; HökkĂ€, VĂ€hĂ€santanen, & Mahlakaarto, 2017). Moreover, both emotion management and professional agency are associated with teachersâ professional identity, motivation and wellbeing (Harvey et al., 2012; VĂ€hĂ€santanen, 2015). They both manifest in a wide range of classroom activities from regulating teachersâ own emotions, motivating studentsâ learning, to resolving conflicts and building relationships (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Ruohotie-Lyhty & Moate, 2016).
In this study, we define teachersâ professional agency as teachers, with their professional identities, deliberately make choices, take stances, exercise control and exert impact on their teaching and students (EtelĂ€pelto, VĂ€hĂ€santanen, HökkĂ€, & Paloniemi, 2013; HökkĂ€ et al., 2017). According to VĂ€hĂ€santanen and EtelĂ€pelto (2015), emotion is one important dimension of professional agency that plays a key role in teachersâ decision making and affects teachersâ professional identity.
More importantly, previous studies on teachersâ professional agency appeared to shed light on emotion management strategies that can be used in classroom teaching. Sannino (2010) discovered that when teachers confronted conflicts and contradictions at work, it was possible to shift from resistance to self-initiative by expressing their emotions and engaging in externalized forms of experiencing. This implied that even negative emotions like resistance and low self-worthiness triggered by conflicts can be transformed into positive experience if teachers intentionally create a meaningful stimulus internally and seek for support externally from their immediate environment. VĂ€hĂ€santanen (2015) highlights that the emotional aspects in teachersâ work should not be ignored because in daily practice teachersâ decisions and actions are not entirely rational. Especially, when teachers face maj...