Nursery School Teachers' Emotional Regulation Goals and Emotional Expression in Front of Children

• In Event: 29.054 - Right From the Start: Teachers Engaging Young Children as Thinkers and Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the emotional experiences, expression patterns, and emotional regulation goals of high-quality nursery school teachers in interacting with children. I conducted semi-structured interviews individually with 12 high-quality Japanese nursery school teachers. My qualitative analysis of the transcribed data revealed many emotional experiences and expression patterns similar to those reported elsewhere by elementary school teachers. However, fear that children might be injured and representation of “emotions” in non-human beings/entities by direct staging appeared to be characteristic of nursery school teachers. My results also identified teachers’ various emotional regulation goals, revealing that high-quality teachers consciously use strategies to manage their emotions toward their goal of benefitting children.

Author

• Rika Hosotani, Shiga University