Performing Emotional Labour While Teaching Online

Emotional labour involves the management and regulation of emotions according to perceived norms about a certain profession. In teaching, emotional labour plays a significant role in how educators behave when teaching and interacting with students. How an educator handles emotions in teaching can vary greatly depending on the individual as well as the educational setting they are in. In this study, the researchers dive deeper into exploring the challenges that educators face when engaging in emotional labour, specifically within an online teaching environment in higher education.

Reference: Nyanjom, J., & Naylor, D. (2020). Performing emotional labour while teaching online. Educational Research, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2020.1836989

What is this research about?

Emotional labour in teaching occurs when educators regulate their emotions according to their beliefs about how they should behave within the teaching profession. For example, educators may pay extra attention and care to their choice of words when communicating online so as to not convey emotion in their text.

Previous research has shown that emotional labour can benefit students’ learning, such as by enhancing engagement. However, prior emotional labour research has been focused on physical face-to-face learning environments. There is a limited understanding of how emotional labour plays a role in online teaching, specifically within higher education. Hence, this study takes a closer look at the experiences of educators who have performed emotional labour whilst teaching asynchronously online.

What did the researchers do?

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 educators. All educators had experience teaching both in-person and online. They came from five different disciplines: Business, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Social Work and Teaching.

The overarching research goal of this study was to better understand the ways in which educators experience and manage their emotions when teaching online. The researchers wanted to learn about each educator’s unique perspective and experiences. Hence, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as their methodological approach.

IPA is an approach that aims to provide insight about how each individual uniquely interprets a certain phenomenon. In this case, the phenomenon is emotional labour. Using IPA, the researchers cross-analyzed the data from interview transcripts to come to a consensus on themes that had emerged from the data.

What did the researchers find?

Four main themes emerged from the interviews, characterizing the components of emotional labour in asynchronous online teaching.

  1. Professionalism: showing empathy and concern to create social and emotional connections with students.
    • Educators believed that creating social and emotional connections with their students is in alignment with their role as an educator. By showing care and friendliness, they were able to project themselves as more approachable in the online space.
    • For some educators, creating these connections was also important to overcome a feeling of disconnect from their students and better picture their students as real people beyond the online environment.
  1. Emotional suppression: hiding emotions and reducing spontaneity within interpersonal communication.
    • Emotions, whether positive or negative, were commonly suppressed by educators as a way of meeting perceived demands of the teaching profession. This was notably evident in their attempts to suppress emotional expression in text-based online communication. Educators were aware that written communication could be misconstrued and spent a considerable amount of time thinking over how to present messages online to remain professional.
  1. Emotional expression: making emotions visible online through use and choice of text, emojis, tone and vocal cues.
    • Although the study notes that in general, educators tended to engage in emotional suppression, there are times where educators also believed that there is a need to express observable emotions. This was done online through written phrases and expressions to maintain engagement and enthusiasm.
    • Emojis were also another method of communication chosen by some to express emotions online. The study notes that the use of emojis in higher education was somewhat controversial amongst the educators. The use of emojis is context-specific and depends on educators’ individual preferences as well as perceptions of professionalism.
  1. Wellbeing: the stress of teaching online leading to negative emotions such as exhaustion and anxiety.
    • As a result of emotional management and regulation, educators experienced negative emotions such as anxiety, uncertainty and frustration. Performing emotional labour was especially difficult when students were disengaged. The study suggests that emotional suppression and inability to express their true emotions may be negatively impacting educators’ wellbeing.
    • However, performing emotional labour online also often provided educators with positive experiences. This is because educators were able to obtain satisfaction from having achieved their personal professional objectives.

How can you use this research?

The research presented in this study offers important insights for supporting educators in their practice of emotional labour.

To start, there is a need for institutions to recognize the role that emotional labour plays in facilitating learner engagement and, in particular, to consider differences that online learning environments introduce in comparison to in-person teaching.

From there, emotional labour should be valued equally to other forms of labour. By doing so, supports for educators could also pay greater attention to the impact that emotional labour has on educators’ wellbeing.

Authors:

Julie Nyanjom, PhD, is a Lecturer in the School of Business and Law at Edith Cowan University (Australia).

Dawn Naylor, PhD, is a Lecturer in the School of Education, Edith Cowan University (Australia).

Reference:

Nyanjom, J., & Naylor, D. (2020). Performing emotional labour while teaching online. Educational  Research, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2020.1836989

Also see:

Naylor, D., & Nyanjom, J. (2020). Educators’ emotions involved in the transition to online teaching in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1811645

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