Emotions in the Language Classroom and in Language Teacher Education

Emotions in the Language Classroom and in Language Teacher Education

Why is this local issue relevant?

• Being aware of our emotions helps teachers navigate relationships and face the complexities of everyday life (Ref 5).

• Considering there is no cognitive process without affect, love ethics invites teachers to critically reflect on oppressive systems and engage as co-learners with their students to better understand the lived experiences within and beyond the classroom (Ref 7).

• Embracing emotions in education allows reframing personal experiences as tools for collective transformation (Ref 4).

• Because teaching and learning are deeply connected to emotion, embracing emotions in the classroom allows teachers and students to revisit and reframe emotional experiences as sources of individual and collective transformation; a core principle of Exploratory Practice and its concept of exploratory-potential-love (Ref 4).

What do we know from teacher research on this topic?

What does teacher research suggest to support EFL teaching and learning in LATAM contexts?

• Research shows that emotions in teacher education reveal love-potency as a political force for hope and transformation, echoing Freire’s view that teaching demands ethical inclusive paths (Ref 1).

• Teacher research on emotions involves sharing experiences, reflecting on personal and professional challenges, and building collective emotional understanding through mutual engagement, ethical reflection, and trust among exploratory peers (Ref 7).

• Mutual engagement, reflective practice, and ethical listening foster trust among exploratory peers, grounding teacher research in an ethics of love built on care, commitment, and responsibility. Exploring teachers’ emotions connects personal experiences with broader institutional structures and sociocultural values shaped by family, culture, and school contexts (Ref 4).

• Critical thinking is a joyful, collective practice that empowers us when it is rooted in shared struggles for liberation, as it connects theory with lived experience and supports authentic, values-driven action (Ref 2).

• EFL teaching in Latin America has developed within a complex socio-political landscape shaped by neoliberal policies and global market demands, leading to government programmes that prioritise English proficiency for economic purposes while often overlooking local linguistic diversity and sociocultural realities.

• Researchers critique this linguistic imposition and highlight the lack of teacher preparation and appropriate teaching resources to address the social, cognitive, and emotional development of learners, as well as local historical and cultural contexts (Ref 3).

• Research highlights key areas that require attention in EFL contexts, including language as social practice, the dominance of rule-based English teaching, learners’ age range, assumptions about the benefits of bilingualism, and the growing influence of technology (Ref 6).

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What practical recommendations can we make from this?

List of articles consulted

Reference list

Project team bios