Abstract
This research examines the emotional themes and discourse of emotion of early childhood educators using a post-structuralist theoretical framework of emotion. The data selected and analyzed is taken from 4 two-hour discussion groups that were conducted over an eight-week period with four female early childhood educators. The emotional themes and patterns that emerged from the discussion groups and artifacts, teacher journals, and follow-up interviews were analyzed and then followed with a micro-level analysis. The findings revealed that the three most common emotion words discussed were ‘stress’, ‘worry’, and ‘frustration’, which were linked to surveillance and a discourse around persecutory guilt through institutional and relational systems, fostering implicit resistance among participants. I really struggle with teaching first and second grade … I don't have my early childhood degree … I feel like I'm always balancing what's appropriate for them but then, at the same time, what they're gonna be tested on in third grade. (Mary, field notes, March 2008)
Highlights
This research examines the emotional themes and discourse of emotion of early childhood educators using a post-structuralist theoretical framework of emotion
Persecutory Guilt, Surveillance and Resistance definition of teacher emotion, moving from the dominant assumption that emotion is an internal psychological construct to unpacking how emotion is socially constructed through language and discourse
The purpose of this study is to uncover teachers’ emotional themes and analyze how they are related to the discourse of emotion for early childhood educators using a post-structuralist definition of emotion
Summary
This research examines the emotional themes and discourse of emotion of early childhood educators using a post-structuralist theoretical framework of emotion. Persecutory Guilt, Surveillance and Resistance definition of teacher emotion, moving from the dominant assumption that emotion is an internal psychological construct to unpacking how emotion is socially constructed through language and discourse This framework suggests that teacher emotions are not separate and stable constructs but rather are fluid constructions that are constantly in flux, with the central argument that ‘emotion is a discursive practice’ and ‘provides a useful theoretical tool in analyzing the place of emotion in the construction of teacher identity’ This framework suggests that teacher emotions are not separate and stable constructs but rather are fluid constructions that are constantly in flux, with the central argument that ‘emotion is a discursive practice’ and ‘provides a useful theoretical tool in analyzing the place of emotion in the construction of teacher identity’ (Zembylas, 2005, p. 937)
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