Teacher emotional labor: examining teacher feeling rules in the college classroom

ABSTRACT

Teacher emotions are important yet understudied in the classroom. The current study explores how teachers manage their emotions in the classroom. More specifically, we apply the five feeling rules that describe how college instructors’ emotional labor performances shape their experiences in the classroom. Through a qualitative theoretical thematic analysis, we found support for the five rules: (1) having affection for students, (2) showing enthusiasm for subject matter, (3) handling “dark” emotions, (4) loving their work, and (5) having a sense of humor. In addition, a sixth feeling rule, using emotions as learning tools, is also prominent in the data. Overall, the study adds to conceptual and theoretical knowledge about how college teachers perform emotional labor while teaching.

KEYWORDS:

• teacher emotional labor
• teacher emotion management
• emotions in the classroom