eLibrary
  • Home
  • Sources
  • Search
  • About

Exploring the Emotional Labor Strategies of Pre-service EFL Teachers During Teaching Practicum: An Ecological Perspective

Xia Li, Xueting Wang
International Journal of Social Science and Education Research, (2024), Vol.7, No.12, pp.380-398
Published: November 12, 2024
DOI: 10.6918/IJOSSER.202412_7(12).0047
PDF: Download Full Text PDF
Abstract

Although research into teachers’ emotional labor has gained popularity in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teaching over the past few years, still little is known about the emotional labor strategies of pre-service EFL teachers during teaching practicum. With this gap in mind, the present study aims to investigate the emotional labor strategies that pre-service EFL teachers employ during teaching practicum and the complex factors influencing their use of emotional labor strategies from an ecological perspective. Six pre-service EFL teachers who had participated in teaching practicum were selected in this study. Drawing on data collected from reflective diaries and interviews, this qualitative study revealed that the most frequently used strategy was genuinely expressing, followed by surface acting, deep acting, and deliberative dissonance acting. Additionally, factors within the microsystem were the main factors that influenced pre-service EFL teachers’ use of emotional labor strategies. Factors within the macrosystem including the educational policy and emotional rules in the context of China were the main antecedents of the strategy deliberative dissonance acting. Several changes in pre-service EFL teachers’ use of emotional labor strategies throughout the teaching practicum were also discussed. This study provides practical implications for future pre-service EFL teachers, field schools, and teacher education programs.

Keywords: Teaching Practicum; Pre-service EFL Teachers; Teachers’ Emotional Labor; Emotional Labor Strategies.
APA Citation: Xia Li, Xueting Wang (2024). Exploring the Emotional Labor Strategies of Pre-service EFL Teachers During Teaching Practicum: An Ecological Perspective. International Journal of Social Science and Education Research, 7(12), 380-398. https://doi.org/10.6918/IJOSSER.202412_7(12).0047

References

  1. M. Çakmak and M. Gunduz (Eds.): Dimensions and Emerging Themes in Teaching Practicum: A Global Perspective (Routledge, US 2018)
  2. G. Zhu, J. Mena and C. Johnson: Chinese student teachers’ teaching practicum experiences: Insights from transformative learning, third space, and dialogical-self theory, International Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 103 (2020), 101638.
  3. R. Yuan and I. Lee: Pre-service teachers’ changing beliefs in the teaching practicum: Three cases in an EFL context, System, Vol. 44 (2014), p. 1-12.
  4. G. Zhu and M. Chen: Positioning preservice teachers’ reflections and I-positions in the context of teaching practicum: A dialogical-self theory approach, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 117 (2022), 103734.
  5. A. Hargreaves: The emotional practice of teaching, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 14 (1998), p. 835-854.
  6. M. Zembylas: Constructing genealogies of teachers’ emotions in science teaching, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 39 (2002) No. 1, p. 79-103.
  7. A. R. Hochschild: The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling (University of California Press, US 1983)
  8. J. M. Dewaele and A. Wu: Predicting the emotional labor strategies of Chinese English Foreign Language teachers, System, Vol. 103 (2021), 102660.
  9. L. Isenbarger and M. Zembylas: The emotional labour of caring in teaching, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 22 (2006), p. 120-134.
  10. C. Gkonou, J.-M. Dewaele and J. King: “What psychological, linguistic and sociobiographical variables power EFL/ESL teachers’ motivation?,” In C. Gkonou, J.M. Dewaele and J. King (Eds.), The Emotional Rollercoaster of Language Teaching (Multilingual Matters, UK 2020). pp. 1-12.
  11. S. Benesch and M. T. Prior: Rescuing “emotion labor” from (and for) language teacher emotion research, System, Vol. 113 (2023), 102995.
  12. H. Yin and J. C. K. Lee: Be passionate, but be rational as well: Emotional rules for Chinese teachers' work, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 28 (2012), p. 56-65.
  13. H. Yin: Adaptation and validation of the teacher emotional labour strategy scale in China, Educational Psychology, Vol. 32 (2012) No. 4, p. 451-465.
  14. B. E. Ashforth and R. H. Humphrey: Emotional labor in service roles: The influence of identity, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 18 (1993), p. 88-115.
  15. H. Yin: Knife-like mouth and tofu-like heart: Emotion regulation by Chinese teachers in classroom teaching, Social Psychology of Education, Vol. 19 (2016), p. 1-22.
  16. D. Zapf: Emotion work and psychological well-being: A review of the literature and some conceptual considerations, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 12 (2002), p. 237-268.
  17. R. Zaretsky and Y. J. Katz: The relationship between teachers’ perceptions of emotional labor and teacher burnout and teachers’ educational level, Athens Journal of Education, Vol. 6 (2019) No. 2, p. 127-144.
  18. A. Holappa, E. T. Lassila, S. Lutovac and M. Uitto: Vulnerability as an emotional dimension in student teachers’ narrative identities told with self-portraits, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 66 (2022) No. 5, p. 893-906.
  19. R. Yuan and I. Lee: ‘I need to be strong and competent’: A narrative inquiry of a student-teacher’s emotions and identities in teaching practicum, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, Vol. 22 (2016) No. 7, p. 819-841.
  20. G. Zhu: Chinese student teachers’ perspectives on becoming a teacher in the practicum: Emotional and ethical dimensions of identity shaping, Journal of Education for Teaching, Vol. 43 (2017) No. 4, p. 491-495.
  21. T. Hascher and L. Wepf: Lerntagebücher im Praktikum von Lehramtsstudierenden [learning diaries in student teaching], Empirische Pädagogik, Vol. 21 (2007) No. 2, p. 101-118.
  22. J. Waber, G. Hagenauer, T. Hascher and L. De Zordo: Emotions in social interactions in pre-service teachers’ team practica, Teachers and Teaching, Vol. 27 (2021) No. 6, p. 520-541.
  23. J. D. D. Martínez Agudo and G. Azzaro: Emotions in learning to teach EFL in the practicum setting: Facing the emotional dilemmas and challenges associated with professional practice, In J. Martínez Agudo (Eds.), Emotions in Second Language Teaching (Springer, Switzerland 2018)
  24. Y. L. Ji, M. Oubibi, S. Y. Chen, Y. X. Yin and Y. L. Zhou: Pre-service teachers’ emotional experience: Characteristics, dynamics and sources amid the teaching practicum, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 13 (2022), 968513.
  25. J. Song: Emotional labour and professional development in ELT, ELT Journal, Vol. 75 (2021) No. 4, p. 482-491.
  26. Z. Chen, Y. Sun and Z. Jia: A study of student-teachers’ emotional experiences and their development of professional identities, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 12 (2022), 810146.
  27. D. I. Cross and J. Y. Hong: An ecological examination of teachers’ emotions in the school context, Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol. 28 (2012) No. 7, p. 957-967.
  28. U. Bronfenbrenner: Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human Development (Sage Publications, US 2005)
  29. Y. Tao and Z. Jiang: An investigation into career development contexts of university Russian language teachers in China (1949-2019) from the perspective of ecological theory. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 44 (2021) No. 2, p. 166-186.
  30. J. Chen: Exploring primary teacher emotions in Hong Kong and China's mainland: A qualitative perspective, Educational Practice and Theory, Vol. 39 (2017), p. 17-37.
  31. X.Sun and L. Yang: A narrative case study of Chinese senior high school English teachers’ emotions: An ecological perspective, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 12 (2021), 792400.
  32. M. Q. Patton: Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods (Sage Publications, US 1990).
  33. Y. Liu: The emotional geographies of language teaching, Teacher Development, Vol. 20 (2016) No. 4, p. 482-497.
  34. U. Akin, et al.: Emotional labor and burnout among Turkish primary school teachers, Australian Educational Researcher, Vol. 41 (2014) No. 2, p. 155-169.
  35. A. Ghanizadeh and N. Royaei: Emotional facet of language teaching: Emotion regulation and emotional labor strategies as predictors of teacher burnout, International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, Vol. 10 (2015) No. 2, p. 139-150.
  36. S. Zhu and M. Zhou: High school English-as-a-foreign-language teachers’ emotional labor and job satisfaction: A latent profile analytical approach, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 13 (2022), 950229.
  37. S. Benesch: Emotions and English Language Teaching: Exploring Teachers’ Emotion Labor (Routledge, US 2017)
  38. S. Benesch: Emotions and activism: English language teachers’ emotion labor as responses to institutional power, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, Vol. 17 (2020) No. 1, p. 26-41.
  39. S. Benesch: Emotions as agency: Feeling rules, emotion labor, and English language teachers’ decision-making, System, Vol. 79 (2018), p. 60-69.
  40. E. R. Miller and C. Gkonou: Language teacher agency, emotion labor and emotional rewards in tertiary-level English language programs, System, Vol. 79 (2018), p. 49-59.
  41. J. Chen: Teacher emotions in their professional lives: Implications for teacher development, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 48 (2019) No. 5, p. 491-507.
  42. X. Yao, et al.: How school climate influences teachers’ emotional exhaustion: The mediating role of emotional labor, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 12 (2015) No. 10, p. 12505-12517.
  43. P. I. De Costa, W. Li and H. Rawal: Should I stay or leave? Exploring L2 teachers’ profession from an emotionally-inflected framework. In C. Gkonou, J.M. Dewaele and J. King (Eds.), The Emotional Rollercoaster of Language Teaching (Multilingual Matters, UK 2020). pp. 221-227.
  44. D. Bloomfeld: Emotions and ‘getting by’: A pre-service teacher navigating professional experience, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 38 (2010), p. 221-234.
© 2026 eLibrary · Stand on the shoulders of giants