‘You just appreciate every little kindness’: Chinese language teachers’ wellbeing in the UK

Jin, Jun Myung; Mercer, Sarah; Babić, Sonja; Mairitsch, Astrid

doi:10.1016/j.system.2020.102400

Cited by 28 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Studies have reported that high levels of self-efficacy, optimism, self-esteem, and resilience positively influence teachers' well-being (Dodge et al, 2012;MacIntyre et al, 2019;Mercer et al, 2016). Furthermore, having a positive outlook with a sense of gratitude, being optimistic, and experiencing more positive emotions help teachers achieve higher levels of well-being, build healthier relationships in the workplace, and cope with stress (Dodge et al, 2012;Jin et al, 2021). Dewaele et al (2019) found that language teachers who remain positive and encourage students positively impact students' academic performance in language learning classrooms.…”

Section: Well-being and Psychological Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Well-being and the Perception of Stress among EFL University Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Alqarni

2021

JLE

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Research on language teachers’ psychology has been shown to play a central role in the quality of teaching and student achievement. However, there is little empirical evidence to investigate the relationship between perception of stress, types of stressors, and well-being among foreign language teachers at university levels, particularly in monolingual contexts. The present study seeks to investigate the impact of stress, the number and type of stressors (i.e., chronic and stressful life events), and demographic variables (i.e., age, gender, and the length of teaching experience) on university-level EFL teachers’ levels of well-being. The data were collected through an online survey of 53 university-level EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. A Pearson correlation was carried out to investigate the relationship between EFL teachers’ well-being, their perception of stress, and number of stressors. A multiple regression analysis was also run to examine if EFL teachers’ levels of stress, number and types of stressors, and demographic variables can predict their psychological well-being. The quantitative findings demonstrated a significant negative relationship between well-being and levels of stress. The findings also showed a significant positive relationship between the EFL teachers’ well-being and their good physical health. The results of the multiple regression indicated that high levels of well-being were predicted by low levels of stress and good physical health. This study, moreover, suggested an advantage for females in terms of psychological well-being among foreign language teachers. The findings also demonstrated that a stressful life with a heavy workload and financial concerns can negatively impact language teachers’ well-being. These findings highlight the importance of considering issues related to teachers’ psychological well-being. In line with these findings, several pedagogical implications were offered.

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Section: Well-being and Psychological Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Well-being and the Perception of Stress among EFL University Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Alqarni

2021

JLE

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“…In view of the predominance of negative emotions experienced by Chinese tertiary-level EFL teachers, we contend that interventions from the positive psychology perspective are necessary in order to foster teachers’ wellbeing and positivity ( Meyers et al, 2013 ), improve their mental health and productivity, and enhance the quality of teaching and learning ( Rahm and Heise, 2019 ). For example, Jin et al (2021) find that people with dispositional optimism and experiencing more positive emotions are likely to experience higher wellbeing and better resilience, suggesting that teaching educators’ strategies of gratitude, positive outlooks, and optimism help them develop psychological resources to cope with stressors. Gregersen et al (2020) conduct a Silver Linings intervention asking their participant to pay attention to problems arising from her classes or her life outside of school and search for silver linings in a difficult context.…”

Section: Suggestions and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chinese Tertiary-Level English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Emotional Experience and Expression in Relation to Teacher-Student Interaction

Xie

Jiang

2021

Front. Psychol.

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The present study examines the emotional experience and expression of Chinese tertiary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and their interaction with their students. Data were drawn from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 10 EFL teachers recruited from seven universities of different levels in China and were analyzed in light of Emotional Geography Theory. The results reveal that Chinese tertiary-level EFL teachers experience more negative emotions than positive ones. The emotions most frequently reported by them are anger, enjoyment, anxiety, disappointment, and ambivalence. When it comes to emotional expressions, Chinese tertiary-level EFL teachers tend to display positive emotions by following the emotional rules of school settings. This study also uncovers that EFL teaching in Chinese universities is characterized by EFL teachers’ physical and moral distance from but political closeness to students, all of which are the sources of EFL teachers’ negative emotions. The need for providing positive psychology intervention for EFL teachers is then suggested.

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“…A review of the extant psychological and educational literature revealed limited studies on students' (Binfet et al, 2016;Binfet & Gaertner, 2015;Binfet et al, 2018) and teachers' perceptions of kindness (Binfet & Passmore, 2017;Jin et al, 2021;Krane et al, 2017). Research on kindness comes mainly from Binfet's foundation studies on students and in-service teachers' understanding of kindness.…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Implications of the study Pre-service early childhood teachers' perceptions of kindness are important indicators of the school climate they will promote with their students and will further enhance teaching and learning (Thapa et al, 2013). It is well evidenced that teachers' own personality traits and social emotional learning impacts the quality of teacher-student relationships (Hamre & Pianta, 2001;Poulou, 2017), students' sense of school belonging (Lee & Huang, 2021) and students' sense of self-esteem and social self-efficacy (Datu et al, 2021), as well as teachers' well-being (Jin et al, 2021). Pre-service teachers' perceptions of kindness could signify the broader learning context and the degree to which schools could protect future students against conflicts and deterrents of positive school environment.…”

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of kindness in pre-service early childhood teachers

Πούλου

2021

Adv Dev Educ Psychol

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Research evidence on Social and Emotional Learning implementation at schools has long been recognized. Most of the research however, has been focused on cultivating explicit social and emotional skills and relatively scant attention has been given to those positive human qualities or virtues such as kindness. Current study aims to illuminate pre-service early childhood teachers’ conceptualization of kindness. Two hundred and nineteen pre-service students described their perceptions of kindness. Kindness was conceptualized as a range of acts and words indicating respect, understanding and emotional support, which promote personal development and healthy relationships. Teachers’ kindness specifically was perceived important in cultivating students’ personality and teacher-student relationships. The findings of the study contribute to the topic of kindness in education which is a promising but undervalued area of school-based programming.

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‘You just appreciate every little kindness’: Chinese language teachers’ wellbeing in the UK

Cited by 28 publications

References 57 publications

Well-being and the Perception of Stress among EFL University Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Well-being and the Perception of Stress among EFL University Teachers in Saudi Arabia

Chinese Tertiary-Level English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Emotional Experience and Expression in Relation to Teacher-Student Interaction

Perceptions of kindness in pre-service early childhood teachers

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