Title: Teaching and the transmutation of emotions

Authors: Marco Trentini

Addresses: Department of Education, University of Bologna, Via Filippo Re, 6, 40126, Bologna, Italy

Abstract: The key feature of the concept of emotional labour is the commodification of emotions. Teaching requires a substantial amount of emotional labour due to the introduction into schools of a culture focused on the customer and the effort to improve learning by acting on the relationship of the teachers with the pupils/students and their parents. Emotional labour helps to rebalance a relationship characterised by a loss of teachers' power and status, which fuels a crisis of trust and can negatively affect their task performance.

Keywords: emotional labour; commodification; schools; emotion; caring teachers; power; status; trust; teaching.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2012.049520

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2012 Vol.5 No.2, pp.178 - 192

Published online: 27 Nov 2014 *

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