Teacher Emotions in Organizational Change Process

Abstract

Even though research has shown that change interventions in educational organizations trigger emotional reactions, these reactions are still overlooked not only in theory but also in practice. Emotions experienced during the change process are, indeed, effective factors in shaping the implementers’ change-related attitudes and behaviors and maintaining their professional identities without losing their focus on teaching. However, the problems including the false beliefs about emotions, the cultural and individualized approaches needed for managing emotions, and lack of information about the functions of emotions have resulted in the underemphasized role of the highly important emotional dimension of change process. In this respect, the purpose of this study is to reveal the roles of emotions experienced by teachers about educational changes, the myths about these emotions, and related factors with a literature-based discussion. The results of the study indicated that teacher participation in the change process, support, and open communication play crucial roles in teachers’ change-related emotions, along with individual characteristics.