Value Misalignment Within Public Primary Teaching Contexts: A Teacher’s Experience with Emotion Regulation and Self-Efficacy When Navigating Between Demands and Beliefs

Within the emotional practice of teaching, there are many situations that can affect a teacher’s sense of efficacy as a public school teacher. Much of the literature that focuses on teacher emotion outlines the relationships and stressors that evoke emotional responses. However, it is not well understood why some situations and relationships are stressful for teachers and others are not. This qualitative study provides details of the lived experience of a 4th year primary school teacher in the Western United States in the Fall of 2022. Emotional episodes were recorded and reflected on daily. These episodes were initially coded then re-storied into a narrative using a three-dimensional space structure (as reported by Clandinin & Connelly (in D. A. Schön (ed), The reflective turn, Teachers College Press, New York, 1991)). This process revealed the contextual factors that affected the teacher’s sense of self-efficacy. A second coding of emotion regulation practices in the stories was then conducted. Findings indicate that the most troubling emotions came from a context where there was misalignment of values. Conflict between the ideals of what the teacher believed to be good teaching and demands made by administrators, parents of students, and state-mandated curriculum were often the greatest cause of dissonance for the teacher. Emotion regulation, typically of the surface acting variety, was used to deal with the dissonance and lowered efficacy. Implications for teacher preparation programs include incorporating emotional intelligence and communication skills into programs. Also, school administrators should be clear in expectations when hiring and provide mentors who can support the professional and personal transition into the career.