Teacher identities under stress: The emotions of separation and renewal

Abstract

During stress, teachers undergo an identity passage. In the first phase, many cherished aspects of the self are attacked and become separated from the personal identity until the individual becomes completely disorientated. During transition, rock bottom is reached, but also the beginnings of redemption appear through 'cocooning' and the influence of significant others. Self-renewal follows during which, for some, a new personal identity is constructed, mostly through relocating and modifying the teacher role, or through re-routeing out of teaching altogether. Using evidence derived from a series of detailed, longitudinal interviews with a group of 21 secondary school teachers, all clinically diagnosed as suffering from stress, the authors examine the structure and process of this identity passage and explore how the extreme emotions involved are socially structured.