More Than Instruction: Emotional Dimensions in Teachers' Perceptions of Their Role

• In Event: Reflective Practice in the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative study aimed to uncover teachers' perception on their role in three different educational environments. Two of these settings included in their declared philosophy mentoring relationships between teachers and students, while the third setting was a regular public school in which emphasis was put mainly on the subject-matter teaching function of the teachers. Twenty one teachers participated in the study, each teacher was asked to create a concept map, using the Concept Structuring Analysis Task (ConSAT) interview protocol. Our findings suggested that each group of teachers has a unique perception of their professional role and its emotional dimension, each prioritizing and balancing the mentoring and the teaching aspects of their role in a different way.

Authors

• Tali Aderet-German, University of Haifa

• Esther Dromi, Tel- Aviv University