Investigating the Emotional Development of a Male Rookie English Teacher via Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

Research on teacher emotions and emotion management represents a growing body of literature in educational studies. However, empirical investigations within the Chinese context remain limited compared to Western scholarship, with a particular scarcity of gender-specific analyses focusing on male educators. Addressing this gap, the present study employed a single-case narrative inquiry to examine the emotional experiences and regulatory strategies of a novice male English teacher in a Chinese senior high school. Findings indicate that while the participant generally demonstrated professional composure, his teaching practice was characterized by intermittent experiences of anxiety and guilt. His classroom confidence was closely associated with meticulous lesson preparation and structured pedagogy, which fostered a positive learning environment and enhanced instructional effectiveness. When encountering unforeseen student inquiries, the participant initially exhibited apprehension but subsequently developed coping mechanisms that incorporated student perspectives to navigate pedagogical challenges. Episodes of professional guilt emerged primarily from perceived instructional limitations in delivering new content and self-assessed inadequacies in demonstrative techniques such as blackboard writing. These emotional responses appear intrinsically linked to a deeply internalized sense of professional duty, which functions as a motivational driver for continuous pedagogical improvement. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the emotional landscape of male educators in China and provides a foundation for subsequent research into gendered dimensions of emotion regulation within Chinese educational settings.