Presenters: Siân Etherington & Judith Hanks

Teaching is an emotional business. Sadly, many of us are familiar with the stresses and anxieties of second language learning and teaching. In contrast, positive emotions and sources of enjoyment in teaching are less likely to be considered or researched. This webinar presents findings from research on EAP teachers’ positive emotions within their daily lives. Frameworks from Positive Psychology, Exploratory Practice, and ‘sticky objects’ (objects that attract and retain emotional resonances) were used in order to better understand the lived experiences of EAP teachers in two contexts (the UK and Saudi Arabia).

In the later part of the webinar we present some suggestions for ways in which teachers can support their own well-being, work with their institutions to become more ‘positive’ places of work, and consider how teacher education can more helpfully include a concern for the emotional aspects of teaching.