Emotional labour in teaching

Overview - Teacher recruitment and retention in England has been problematic since 2011, despite the recent pay increases. Emotional labour is a well-researched concept in the service sector and has been given some attention in academic research in education. Yet, teachers’ understanding of it is under-researched. This study has discovered that teachers have little theoretical understanding of emotional labour and even less training in how to manage this aspect of their job. Since teachers consider emotional labour to be mainly centred around the care and emotional connection they have to their work and their students, they risk burn-out and compassion stress injury, both of which can hinder wellbeing.Methodology - interview and focus groups.Analysis - thematic analysis