A mixed-method approach to the assessment of teachers' emotions: development and validation of the Teacher Emotion Questionnaire

Existing research indicates that emotions are integral components of teachers' jobs and lives, but knowledge regarding functional relations between teachers' emotions, their antecedents and their effects on teachers, teaching and students is still quite scarce. One possible reason for this knowledge gap is the lack of adequate operationalisation of the teacher-emotion construct. Thus, the aim of this research was to develop a psychometrically grounded and contextually specific multidimensional self-report instrument aimed at assessing the specific emotions teachers experience in relation to their work and profession. Based on the contemporary component definition of emotion, and using a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative), through a series of five empirical studies (N1=25, N2=300, N3=315, N4=391 and N5=1314), the Teacher Emotion Questionnaire (TEQ) has been developed. The instrument contains scales assessing emotions of joy, pride, love, fatigue, anger and hopelessness. All scales have adequate psychometric characteristics and are theoretically meaningfully related to the criterion variables examined. Added value of the TEQ scales over the more general measures of affect is also demonstrated.