Preparing Future Special Educators to Navigate Professional Emotions (Poster 17)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 3:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Lives of Teachers Poster Session

Abstract

Special educators’ daily work requires the regulation of a variety of emotions. To prepare future special educators, teacher educators need to understand the contexts and interactions in which special educators may experience emotional labor in their daily lives, and the strategies they use in response. In this qualitative study, we explore nine types of emotional labor experienced by special educators, drawing on in-depth interviews with 15 special educators. We illustrate how teachers use their own emotional labor as a professional tool across interactions and contexts. We discuss ways that teacher educators can integrate emotional labor into teacher education programs to support future educators in their roles. We conclude with implications for research, professional learning, and teachers' day-to-day well-being.

Authors

• Kristabel Stark, University of Vermont

• Elizabeth F. Levine-Brown, George Mason University

• Colleen Vesely, George Mason University