Emotional Labor

Teachers, you may not know it, but you do emotional labor

all the time.

Emotional labor being masking your true feelings so as to conform to professional norms that limit what emotions you’re allowed to show.

Emotional labor being one of the topics I cover in the latest podcast episode, an interview with a researcher and Special Ed teacher, Kristabel Stark.

Emotional labor being hard enough for any teacher every day.

But then, when you blow it and yell at a student, you have

emotion work

to do.

Which is a whole nuther ball o’ wax.

Check out what Kristabel has learned about teachers’ emotions: how important they are, how omnipresent they are, and how to manage them. Contact her if you have an experience you’d like to share or if you want to get involved in some of her research. And take a look at some of the fantastic articles she has written on the topic!

And, of course, check out the other episodes in Teachers’ Lounge with Betsy Burris. The stories are truly remarkable.