Teachers' emotional experiences during teaching

This study aimed at determining the degree of variability of teachers' emotions during teaching which is attributable to teacher personality, to the subject taught (here: math vs. science), and to the group of students taught. In addition, we analyzed how personal and contextual characteristics influenced the teachers' emotional experiences. 59 secondary school teachers (9 female) rated their experience of enjoyment, anxiety, and anger during teaching with a questionnaire and a diary in reference to four different groups of students (two math and science each). Multilevel analysis of variance showed that anxiety and enjoyment were more person- than context-specific, while anger was equally dependent on the teachers' personality and on the specific group of students taught. The emotional experiences during teaching were not subject-specific when controlling for context specificity. Multilevel regression analyses provided evidence that teachers' emotional experiences are related to their locus of control regarding teaching success, but also to class size and to the levels of student understanding, motivation and discipline during the lessons. The relevance of the findings for educational practice are discussed.