Revising Emotional Labor in Teaching: When Marxist Alienation Meets Internationalist Agency

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Emotional Landscapes of Teaching: Resilience, Labor, and Support

Abstract

The Marxist perspective asserts that teachers’ emotional labor is alienated because it is prescribed by institutional forces such as external accountability, leading to burnout. However, the interactionist perspective disagrees with this perspective; it posits that teachers possess subjectivity, such as a sense of calling, which enables them to intentionally manage their emotions to achieve self-actualization. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the debate by examining the relationships among teachers’ emotional labor, accountability, sense of calling, and burnout in China. The findings generally support the internationalist perspective but show that the Marxist perspective may be applicable in explaining emotional labor among teachers with a weak sense of calling.

Authors

• Kwok Kuen Tsang, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Ying Zhang, Purdue University

• Guanyu Li, Center for Teacher Education Research

• Huan Song, Beijing Normal University