The Emotional Practice of Becoming a Classroom Teacher: A Self-Study

• In Event: Centering Care, Healing, and Representation: A Response to the Emotional Experiences of Learning (to Teach)

Abstract

Becoming and being a teacher is an emotional practice. This self-study dives into the author’s first year of classroom teaching with a guiding focus on the socio-emotional aspects to teaching. The primary data includes personal journaling, classroom observations of veteran teachers, and memos on interactions within the teacher community. The author presents the results in four meditations that pull theory and experience together. These meditations explore the inner reflections on teacher identity and challenges, the emotional labor of teaching, and emotionally-informed teaching practices observed in veteran teachers. Understanding teacher emotions, emotionally-informed pedagogy, and the lived experiences of first-year teachers can unlock important insights for supporting and retaining impactful educators.

Author

• Peter Levin, Albuquerque Academy Middle School