How do teachers conceive the role of emotions in teaching and learning? An analysis of the affective component of their beliefs

Abstract

The study below analyses the characteristics of the discourse of 32 primary school instructors who, according to the findings of a previous study, had different conceptions of emotions and their role in the teaching-learning process. The objective was to explore whether different affective characteristics emerged in their discourse when the teachers spoke about the emotions produced in the classroom within the context of an individual interview. A lexicometric analysis was performed of the complete transcriptions of the interviews in which a secondary analysis of the discourses was considered based on the following affective characteristics: predominant emotional valence, degree of empathy with the students' emotions, and the way of viewing emotional management in the classroom. Four profiles were identified: instructors uncomfortable with problematic and incomprehensible behaviours; teachers who experience their students' emotions as a problem; instructors primarily focused on themselves; empathetic and reflective teachers concerned with handling emotions in the classroom.