EFL novice teachers’ emotions and professional development

Abstract

ABSTRACT The first years of teaching are often described as ‘emotionally challenging’ by English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in secondary schools in France because their professional identity and skills are still under construction. How, then, can novice teachers (NTs) be supported during this process? The present study focuses on 14 NTs (pre-service, Years 1 and 2 in-service teachers) who volunteered to be filmed in class and to take part in ‘self-confrontation interviews’. These followed the iterative EmoDERE model where the NTs reviewed their video-recorded classroom practice, focusing on motion(s) felt during action, Description of action, Evaluation of action, Reflective search for alternatives, and Emotion(s) felt at the end of the interview. This article analyses how this model helped participants reflect on their practice through the prism of emotion (Plutchik 1980). It shows how reflexivity led them to reverse the valence of initial emotions, encouraged them to continue new cycles of reflection and allowed them to develop their growth competence, thus building their sense of self-efficacy. Limitations to this approach were seen in pre-service teachers’ limited emotional granularity. The paper concludes with practical ideas for helping NTs build their emotional awareness and develop their professional reflexivity.