Compared with other professions, teachers in P-12 schools seem to experience the highest level of emotional exhaustion. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher emotions within the context of teachers’ appraisals and the ways they regulate and cope with their emotions. This was done by exploring novice teachers’ appraisals of classroom disruptive behavior situations and by investigating the adaptive coping and emotion regulation strategies that ease teacher burnout.
The underlying framework of this study is appraisal theory. Appraisal theory stresses a cognitive view of emotions: emotions are elicited by appraisals (evaluations/ judgments) of events and situations (Smith & Lazarus, 1990). Thus, judgments teachers make about the behaviors in the classroom underlie the emotions that are aroused. While appraisals are central to teachers’ emotional experiences in the classroom, emotion regulation and coping are considered as integral features of emotional process dynamics as well (Lazarus, 2002).
This study was conducted by an on-line survey which collected data from 555 novice teachers in Ohio. In order to examine the antecedents of teacher emotions and the coping strategies teacher employed, the survey includes two parts: general and context-specific measures. General measures were developed to capture teacher’s sense of efficacy, emotion regulation patterns, and teacher burnout. In the context-specific measure, the participants self-identified and described a recent classroom incident in which they felt emotionally challenged. After describing the incident, participants responded to the survey items to identify the intensity of the discrete emotions, their emotional appraisals and coping strategies to the incident.
Data were analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM, a method to build a model in explaining and exploring relations between variables). Two models were submitted to LISREL. The fit indices indicate an acceptable fit for both models (model 1: χ2=1195.26, df=678, RMSEA=0.04, SRMR=0.06, GFI=0.90, AGFI= 0.88 and CFI=0.96 and model 2: χ2=1367.06, df=693, RMSEA=0.04, SRMR=0.07, GFI=0.89, AGFI= 0.87 and CFI=0.96). Both models were able to explain how those antecedent judgments lead to teachers’ emotion and how the consequent emotions contribute to their feelings of burnout. Model two allows the researcher to examine the mediating effects of coping between teacher emotions and teacher burnout. Overall, model two explained 39% of the variance in unpleasant emotions, 41% in burnout, 13% in emotion-focused coping, and 9% in problem-focused coping reported by teachers.
This study reveals a strong correlation between the appraisals teachers made about the incident and the intensity of emotions. In addition, the more intense the discrete emotions (e.g. anger, frustration, disappointment, and challenge) teachers felt from the one episode, the more likely teachers would eventually feel burned out. Emotion regulation by suppression was found to contributing to teacher burnout. Lastly, teacher efficacy, proactive coping, and problem-focused coping strategies were found to be effective in easing burnout.
This study addresses the substantial need for empirically-driven attention to emotion management through the judgments teachers make in their classrooms. The findings will help teachers become resilient to the potential stress and emotional exhaustion of the teaching profession.