“Who am I?”
An autoethnographic self-study on teacher identity and emotional labour of a volunteer teacher during Covid-19
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21484909 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hanxi Li (0000-0002-3726-2747, Jilin Jianzhu University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 731-743 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-27 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asia Pacific Journal of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0218-8791 • E-ISSN: 1742-6855 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02188791.2024.2385836 |
| OpenAlex | W4401074703 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
Teachers may undergo emotional and identity dissonance during professional practice due to various personal and contextual factors. These types of dissonance may provide opportunities for teachers to address challenges, thus enabling personal transformation and professional development. Despite a surge in research interest in teacher identity and emotional labour, few studies have used an autoethnographic lens. In this autoethnographic paper, I share my lived experiences as a volunteer teacher during campus closure from March to May 2022 in Changchun, China, a COVID-19 pandemic hotspot in the aforementioned period. I conducted an exploration of my emotion management processes in negotiating conflicts between my teacher and volunteer identities and the challenges associated with online teaching and volunteering activities. Thematic analyses of my reflective journals revealed three strands of emotional/identity dissonance involved in online teaching, volunteer work and final exams. The autoethnographic vignettes include epiphanic moments highlighting the identity dissonance and adverse challenges that led to negative emotions and, in turn, emotional labour. The findings reveal how my emotional labour prompted the construction and negotiation of volunteer teacher identity. This study confirms the importance of engaging in self-reflective narration to cope with challenges and the implications of this process for teachers in emotional quandaries
Autoethnography · Cognitive dissonance · Emotion work · Emotional labor · Narrative · Qualitative research · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Emotional Labor in Professions · Gender Studies · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology · Social Work Education and Practice
Emotions and English Language Teaching
A multi‐variable model for explaining long‐term commitment to volunteering among Covid‐19 volunteers
Understanding teachers’ emotional trajectory
‘I don’t want to be a teacher’
“I-just-wanna-get-by” hurts teachers and their work
Emotion labor, investment, and volunteer teachers in heritage language education
Lost and found
Knife-like mouth and tofu-like heart
A Kaleidoscope of I-Positions
It’s Not Like That at All”
Bridging Cultures Through Unpaid Labor
Legitimising teacher identity
Novice language teacher emotion labor and identity construction
Exploring the professional role identities of experienced ESL teachers through reflective practice
The role of emotion labor in English language teacher identity construction
Rescuing “emotion labor” from (and for) language teacher emotion research
The emotional landscape of online teaching
Emotional labor and employee well-being in cross-cultural contexts
Precarious privilege in the time of pandemic
Teacher Development in a Global Profession
Transnational Tesol Practitioners’ Identity Tensions
Neo‐Nationalist Discourses and Teacher Identity Tensions in a Telecollaboration for Teachers of Minoritized Language Learners in Türkiye
Language Teacher Identity and the Domestication of Dissent
Agency, identity, power
Introduction
Theorizing Language Teacher Identity
Discursive practices, genealogies, and emotional rules
It feels like I'm back to being a teacher
When City Meets Rural
Autoethnography
| Highly cited | No |
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