I Just Feel So Guilty: Teacher Leavers and the Emotional Labor of Leaving the Classroom

• In Event: 66.058 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 66.058-14 - Lives of Teachers: The Challenges of Teachers Who Leave and Those That Stay

Abstract

This presentation explores the dynamic structures of teacher emotion, and how former teachers negotiated the challenges of the profession through the theoretical construct of Hochschild’s (1983) emotional labor. Using data from a national qualitative study looking at former teachers, this presentation focuses on the lives of four teachers whom taught in the same urban district. Specifically, the piece captures the emotional aftermath of leaving the field and identifies two themes: (1) guilt of leaving the classroom; (2) mission to continue working toward change in the educational system. We found that even when teachers have left the profession years ago, many still emotionally struggle with their choice, while also being driven by mission to affect the educational system in larger ways.

Authors

• Lynnette K. Mawhinney, The College of New Jersey

• Carol R. Rinke, Marist College