Pattern and Dynamics of Teacher Emotions during Teaching: A Case Study of a Senior Secondary Mathematics Teacher
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
2.1. Appraisal Theories and the Nature of Teacher Emotions
2.2. Teacher Emotions in Classrooms: Triggers and Appraisals
2.2.1. Triggers of Teacher Emotions
2.2.2. Teacher Appraisals
2.3. The Present Study
- (1)
- What emotions do the senior secondary mathematics teachers experience during classroom teaching?
- (2)
- What patterns are the senior secondary mathematics teachers’ emotions characterized by during classroom teaching?
- (3)
- How do the senior secondary mathematics teachers’ emotions change during classroom teaching?
3. Methodology
3.1. Sampling and Participants
3.2. Data Collection
3.3. Data Analysis Methods
3.4. Code Schemes
3.4.1. Teacher Perceptions
3.4.2. Teacher Appraisals
3.4.3. Emotional Responses: Emotion Categories
3.4.4. Emotional Responses: Expressive Displays
3.5. Validity and Reliability
4. Results
4.1. Emotion Categories Experienced in Classrooms
4.2. Emotional Pattern: Perceptions, Appraisals, and Emotional Responses
4.2.1. Happiness
T: Before I teach the property of operations, open page 64 of the textbook, page 64 … there are several exercises. We are going to invite students to answer them. The first one (23 = 8), S2.
S2: The first one is log, regarding 2 as the base, 8 as the antilogarithm ().
T: Yeah, just say it in a nutshell, base 2 logarithm of 8, right? What does it equal?
S2: 3.
T: 3. Good, very good. Sit down. Sit down. Okay, the desk mate, next one ()
…
T: It equals −1/3. It is very easy, right? Sit down, please. (E6.5_LT1)
Here, I was asking students to do exercises. I thought that the student’s language was standard. What he said was log, base logarithm of . I thought many things were related to teacher guidance … Regarding the accuracy and standardization of language, what I did for all these kids was much better than my previous teaching … I thought that boys are indolent. No matter writing or speaking, they often like omitting as much as possible. So, he based what he did on what I required, I thought it was good … As I told you before, in terms of language ability, they could acquire it when you train students gradually. I thought they were communicating with me in a rigorous way; hence, I felt pretty happy. (E6.5_1)
4.2.2. Shame
When I took a close look at [the graphs], oh, so ugly. Yeah, when I saw my drawing at that time, oh, I did not graph well again. However, I was too ashamed to revise them because it was difficult to draw five points and connect them via a line. Even if I erased them, I was not sure that I could graph better next time … As always mentioned by teachers in our subject group, if the teachers do not organize their blackboard writing and language well, what can they instruct the students, right? (E7.9_1)
4.3. Emotional Dynamics in Mathematics Classrooms
4.3.1. Hierarchy and Accumulation of Teacher Emotions during Teaching
T: Let’s consider what we learned about evenness and oddness of functions in the lesson before the holidays.
(Pause for students’ thinking)
T: In terms of evenness and oddness, what knowledge did we learn? Think about it! S1.
S1: .
T: Only .What is it (The teacher tries to smile, lips then compress)?
(Pause for students’ thinking)
T: Hmm? This notation, what does it mean by that you said? Do you remember it?
T: Do you have the impression we discussed this symbol , right?
T: Well. Let’s think about it. What does this symbol describe? This equation is used for what, for who? (Lips compress)
T: Okay. Sit down. Please think about it. Okay, S2.
(S2 stands up)
T: What did we use it to do?
S2: To describe the definition of even functions.
T: Even function definition, isn’t it? Okay, we gave the definition of an even function. So how did we define even functions?
S2: For the function , if for any in the domain, there existsT: This is the even function, isn’t it? That’s too complicated to say. And if we were to memorize every concept that way, it would be too tedious, right? Extract the key information from this. What does an even function need to satisfy?
(The whole class is going to answer, S2 is thinking)
SS: The domain is symmetric about the origin.
T: Okay, let him summarize it! Can you sum it up? It’s so simple. Just extract the key information from it, isn’t it? (Lips compress)
T: Okay. Let’s help him refine it. What is it?
SS: For.
T: Domain?
SS: Symmetric about the origin.
T: Yeah, we required that for any in the domain, isn’t it? Its function value is equal to the function value of its opposite number. Isn’t it? So here, we need to notice that any has a minus ; it requires the domain to be symmetric about the origin.
(The teacher is writing on the blackboard)
T: This is the first one. Okay. After this domain is symmetric about the origin, we need to make a further requirement. There are a lot of functions whose domain is symmetric about the origin, isn’t it? But some of these functions are even, not all of them. So what functions are even? What do they need to meet? . Isn’t it? Yes, please have a seat.(E2.1_LT1)
I experienced some emotional fluctuations here. Um, what were they? I felt very surprised at that time. When I asked a student Li, what surprised me? … I was asking what content we learned in the previous lesson. The first student stood up and only said a [formula]: . I said you gave me such abstract formula, what you wanted to express. She thought about it for a long time but said nothing. I was unsure whether she did not remember [the content] because of being shelved during the National Day holidays or she couldn’t express her ideas due to [poor] language organization ability. (E2.1_1)
Then, I asked another student … what we taught [using the formula] … after he finished stating the concept, I asked him to extract [key information]. But he unexpectedly could not extract them. I felt [confused and surprised] again. Was the concept too difficult to understand? Or was the key information really very difficult? (E2.1_2)
In fact, when I asked this question, I also had a bit of disappointment in addition to surprise. [I] felt, actually, we already taught this [i.e., even functions]. If he really internalized it as part of his own knowledge, there was no doubt that he could express his idea fluently in response to my question … so I felt a bit disappointed at that time. (E2.1_3)
Then, when I helped students to understand the information, most of the students did speak the two pieces of information out: the domain of functions and relational expression between two functional values (i.e., , ). Hence, I felt more confused at that time. (E2.1_4)
Actually, abstract things are challenging to accept … If I ask other students, the same may be true. Even though their language expression ability is good in daily life, I was also worried about the appearance of similar situations. (E2.1_5)
4.3.2. Emotional Changes in a New Semester
I also felt that I had smiled too many times in front of them recently [laughter]. I thought, previously, I had to spend a lot of energy dealing with their daily affairs, while recently, they caused me fewer troubles. Therefore, I think if a teacher spends a lot of time dealing with students’ problems every day, does he/she have enough energy to conduct classroom teaching with pleasure? I think it is challenging. Actually, I found that our class has gradually acquired a good learning atmosphere. In the beginning, it did not exist because the students were not used to the environment and probably paid less attention to learning … This is what I just observed recently. There is a sign of this, which I didn’t notice before. In addition, there is another thing. What is it? I got to know that there were some tests in some other subjects, and the teachers also informed me of the students’ grades. I found that their grades are good, and their performance is also good … I initially thought that students’ active performance was superficial, and they did not learn well in essence. However, they indeed learned well. I found that the phenomenon [active classroom performance] was identical to the learning outcome. (T2)
5. Discussion
5.1. What Types of Emotions Are Frequent for the Senior Secondary Mathematics Teacher?
5.2. What Pattern Is Extracted from the Emotional Experiences?
5.3. How Do Mathematics Teacher Emotions Change in Classrooms?
6. Conclusions and Implications
6.1. Theoretical Implications
6.2. Methodological Implications
6.3. Practical Implications
6.4. Limitations and Future Research
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Type | Topic | Video/Observation | Interview |
---|---|---|---|
Pilot | Monotonicity of functions | Pilot | Pilot |
Lesson 1 | Maximum and minimum of functions | Yes | Nil |
Lesson 2 | Odd functions | Yes | Interview 1 |
Lesson 3 | Functions and exponentiation | Yes | Nil |
Lesson 4 | Exponential functions and their properties I | Yes | Nil |
Lesson 5 | Exponential functions and their properties II | Yes | Nil |
Lesson 6 | Logarithm | Yes | Interview 2 |
Lesson 7 | Logarithmic functions and their properties | Yes | Interview 3 |
Code | Descriptions | Examples |
---|---|---|
Cognitive accuracy | Students’ ideas are correct, or their language is standard/fluent. | T2 I think this child’s language is relatively standard. |
Emotional engagement | Students’ positive or negative reactions to teachers: (1) students respond to the teacher quickly or in chorus; (2) students show their emotions. | T1 A lot of students responded quickly. T2 I didn’t know who said it, but I heard the sound, ‘Wow.’ |
Behavioural engagement | The act of taking part in academic activities. | T2 I saw the students nodding. |
Independence | Students do something on their own. | T3 He supplemented it by himself. |
Teaching effectiveness | Teaching makes students learn effectively or attains lesson objectives. | T3 Well, in this way, the composite functions were clear to all of us. |
Teaching appropriateness | Teaching behaviours are appropriate or obey some rules or requirements. | T3 I saw my drawing at that time; oh, I did not graph well again. |
Classroom environment | The physical environment of a classroom. | T2 The bell kept ringing until you pressed it. It was too loud to hear. |
Mathematics textbook | It usually refers to the arrangement of mathematics content. | T2 I had a look at the textbook. It didn’t provide the tables of common logarithms and natural logarithms. |
Code | Descriptions | Examples |
---|---|---|
Novelty | Classroom event is sudden, unfamiliar, unpredictable, or not. | T1 In my previous teaching, I didn’t see the students respond so quickly. |
Intrinsic pleasantness | The classroom event itself is (un)pleasant for the teacher. | T2 This child was actually very cute. |
Causal attribution | Classroom event is caused by the teacher or students’ behaviours and caused un/intentionally. | T1 The person who answered this question was the commissary in charge of studies in our class. |
Outcome probability | The consequences of the classroom event are predictable or not. | T1 I thought that it was not easy for the student to figure the problem out. |
Discrepancy from expectation | The classroom event is (in)consistent with the teacher’s expectations. | T3 They unexpectedly proposed these (properties) by themselves. |
Goal/need conduciveness/attainment | Consequences of the classroom event meet the teacher’s goal/need or not. | T1 He used appropriate language to remedy my embarrassment properly. |
Coping potential | The teacher can control or has power over the consequences of the classroom event. | T3 Even if I erased them, I was not sure that I could graph better next time. |
Internal standard | Classroom event is (in)congruent with the teacher’s standards and self-ideals. | T1 Doing exercises must be standardized, standardized. |
External standard | Classroom event violates or follows socially or professionally accepted teaching habits/norms. | T3 The supplementary descriptions should be after the definition. The textbook presents this here directly. |
English Code | Mandarin Terms | Examples |
---|---|---|
Satisfaction | manyi, tinghao, henhao, henbang | T3 On the whole, I was satisfied with it. |
A sense of fulfilment | chongshigan | T2 After this whole lesson, I had a sense of fulfilment that did not appear in my previous classes. |
A sense of accomplishment | chengjiugan | T2 I had a feeling of accomplishment. |
Happiness | kaixin, xiyue | T1 Right, I was a bit happy at this time. |
Amusement | haowan, lequ, xiaota, tingdou | T2 She used a word that amused me at that time. |
Astonishment | jingxi, qiguai, jingqi | T3 Much to my astonishment, the students unexpectedly and independently proposed as a boundary. |
Excitement | xingfen | T1 I felt excited now. |
Pride | dese | T3 I thought it was very good, and I was proud of it. |
Relaxation | qingsong | T2 So, I felt relatively relaxed in recent lessons. |
Empathy | lijie | T1 I fully understood this kind of student behaviour. |
Relief | bushi da wenti | T2 But when I thought about this thing again, actually, it was not a big problem. |
Surprise | yiwai, jingya | T1 I felt surprised at that time. |
Confusion | kunhuo, yihuo, yiwen | T1 I felt more confused at that time. |
Sadness | shangxin | T1 I felt a bit of sadness later. |
Disappointment | diluo, shiluo | T1 At this time … (I) felt very disappointed. |
Helplessness | wuzhu | T2 I also felt helpless when I was teaching this. |
Worry | danxin | T1 I was also worried about similar things occurring. |
Anger | fapiqi | T2 I had felt happy; so, I did not lose my temper. |
Annoyance | fan | T2 It was annoying; It was too loud to hear. |
Shame | buhao yisi | T3 I was too ashamed to revise them. |
Embarrassment | ganga | T1 He used proper words to remedy my embarrassment. |
Guilt | zize | T2 I felt a bit guilty at that time. |
Emotion | Facial Expressions or Spoken Language |
---|---|
Positive emotions | Eyes sparkle, mouth drawn back at corners, upper lip raised, laughing, smiling, grinning; praise, such as ‘very good’. |
Negative emotions | Corner mouth depressed, inner corner eyebrows raised (sadness); eyebrows raised, mouth open, eyes open (surprise); lips compressed, a furrowed brow, eyes wide open, head erect (anger); negative language, such as ‘What’s wrong with you guys, in your head?’ |
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Jiang, Z.; Mok, I.A.C.; Yang, X.; Liu, S.; Chen, M. Pattern and Dynamics of Teacher Emotions during Teaching: A Case Study of a Senior Secondary Mathematics Teacher. Sustainability 2022, 14, 9097. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159097
Jiang Z, Mok IAC, Yang X, Liu S, Chen M. Pattern and Dynamics of Teacher Emotions during Teaching: A Case Study of a Senior Secondary Mathematics Teacher. Sustainability. 2022; 14(15):9097. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159097
Chicago/Turabian StyleJiang, Zheng, Ida Ah Chee Mok, Xin Yang, Simiao Liu, and Mudan Chen. 2022. "Pattern and Dynamics of Teacher Emotions during Teaching: A Case Study of a Senior Secondary Mathematics Teacher" Sustainability 14, no. 15: 9097. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159097