"There's No Crying in Teaching!" Understanding the Role of Emotion in the Teaching of Literature

• In Event: 72.049 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 72.049-8 - Innovative Approaches to Writing and Instruction

Abstract

This paper presents part of a larger study on the role of emotion in four high school English teachers classrooms. In particular, this paper looks at how the four teachers define and conceptualize the role of emotion in the high school English classroom related to the teaching of literature. Using a voice-centered analysis of pre and post interviews, four I-poems were developed that demonstrate through the participants’ words how they viewed emotion in their classrooms. Additionally, this paper will explore similarities and differences in themes across and trough their I-poems. The paper will highlight the tensions these four teachers felt related to doing “emotion work” in the high school literature classroom.

Author

• Michelle Falter, North Carolina State University