The wolf is coming: how secondary teachers regulate emotional experiences when facing Chinese education reform

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore Chinese secondary teachers’ emotional patterns and regulation strategies from the perspective of social construction in the context of education reform, known as the new Gaokao in Zhejiang province. Through the analysis of qualitative data collected from nine participants’ interviews and reflective journals, this study summarises ascending and descending emotional patterns, and elicits three types of emotional regulation strategies, namely, collective silence, avoidance and self-deception, as well as outpouring in teaching research groups. In line with the social construction of teachers’ emotions, the influence of the centralisation of education, Chinese collectivism and testing traditions on teachers’ emotional patterns and emotional regulation strategies are also discussed. In addition, this study offers practical implications for facilitating Chinese secondary teachers’ adaption to the harsh education reforms of new Gaokao.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional pattern
• emotional regulation strategy
• cultural influence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Project of Humanities and Social Sciences of Ministry of Education of China “Strategy for Developing Humanities and Social Sciences in Chinese Universities towards 2035“[18JZD056].

Notes on contributors

Jian Xu

Jian Xu is an Assistant Professor at Sichuan International Studies University. He obtained his PhD degree from Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include L2 listening comprehension, teacher identity, and learning motivation. His work has appeared in several journals, such as Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Applied Linguistics Review, Higher Education Research & Development, Educational Studies, and Asia-Pacific Education Researcher.

Hao Liu

Hao Liu is a doctoral student at the College of Education, Zhejiang University. His research interests include teacher professional development and educational leadership and management. His work has appeared in Studies in Higher Education.

Ya-Ting Huang

Yating Huang is an Associate Professor at College of Education, Zhejiang University. Her research interests include academic work, teacher professional development and educational leadership and management. She has published in journals such as Studies in Higher Education, Compare, Higher Education Research & Development, and System.