Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

Abstract

This study explored pre-service secondary science teachers' perceptions of classroom emotional climate in the context of the Bhutanese macro-social policy of Gross National Happiness. Drawing upon sociological perspectives of human emotions and using Interaction Ritual Theory this study investigated how pre-service science teachers may be supported in their professional development. It was a multi-method study involving video and audio recordings of teaching episodes supported by interviews and the researcher's diary. Students also registered their perceptions of the emotional climate of their classroom at threeminute intervals using audience response technology. In this way, emotional events were identified for video analysis. The findings of this study highlighted that the activities preservice teachers engaged in matter to them. Positive emotional climate was identified in activities involving students' presentations using video clips and models, coteaching, and interactive whole class discussions. Decreases in emotional climate were identified during formal lectures and when unprepared presenters led presentations. Emotions such as frustration and disappointment characterized classes with negative emotional climate. The enabling conditions to sustain a positive emotional climate are identified. Implications for sustaining macro-social policy about Gross National Happiness are considered in light of the climate that develops in science teacher education classes.

Emotional experiences of preservice science teachers in online learning: the formation, disruption and maintenance of social bonds

“…As we have noted in other studies of preservice science teachers (Bellocchi et al 2014) in Australia and Bhutan (Rinchen, Ritchie and Bellocchi 2015) and as reported in studies with high school science students in the US by Olitsky (2007) and Milne and Otieno (2007), science demonstrations create a resource that focuses the attention of the class and produces shared emotions and emotional energy within the group. Similarly, we found the online students expressed excitement and enjoyment towards the demonstration in the present study even though they viewed the lecture video alone (i.e., without physical co-presence).…”

“…Secondly, we investigate whether the modeling of science demonstrations can elicit similar emotions and learning experiences for online learners as other studies have established for face-to-face learning and thereby foster a sense of group cohesion. Thirdly, we interpret interactions in an online environment through related theoretical lenses to those used to study face-to-face interactions by Stacy Olitsky (2007) and Catherine Milne and Tracey Otieno (2007) in high school science classes in the United States of America (USA), and our recent work in Australian (Bellocchi et al 2014) and Bhutanese science teacher education classes (Rinchen, Ritchie, and Bellocchi 2015).…”

A Study of Student-Teachers' Emotional Experiences and Their Development of Professional Identities

“…As it is revealed in the literature, student-teachers experience many negative emotions such as anxiety, frustration, guilt, shock, and anger due to their lack of pedagogical content knowledge, unequal power relationships between student-teachers and their mentors, and hidden emotional rules embedded in field schools, local politics, and cultures, etc. (Rinchen et al, 2016 ; Yuan and Lee, 2016 ; Hayik and Weiner-Levy, 2019 ). Student-teachers' abilities in identifying, monitoring, and regulating their own and others' emotions are found to be important for their wellbeing, engagement in learning, academic achievement, interpersonal relationships, course satisfaction, psychosocial development, and successful classroom teaching experiences (Turner and Stough, 2020 ).…”

Interaction rituals, emotions, and early childhood science: digital microscopes and collective joy in a multilingual classroom

“…Collectively these studies, along with a growing body of scholarly work (e.g. Rinchen, Ritchie and Bellochi 2016 ), show how interaction ritual analysis can be used to examine the embodied and emotional aspects of interaction that play key roles in classroom engagement and interaction.…”