What are urban teachers thinking and feeling?

Abstract Teachers in urban schools experience significant stressors that can impact their effectiveness, well‐being, retention, and ability to meet the needs of their students. The current mixed methods study explored 160 urban teachers’ thoughts and feelings in response to challenging classroom situations, factors that predicted the prevalence of these reactions, and teachers’ help‐seeking attitudes. Results revealed the most prevalent thoughts that emerged were inability to resolve the situation, problem‐solving, factors beyond the classroom, wanting a break, and personal locus of control. The most prevalent feelings that emerged were anger, anxiety, sadness, emotional exhaustion, incompetence, positivity, and confusion. The amount of professional and social–emotional support teachers received predicted a greater prevalence of productive thoughts and fewer negative emotions. Additionally, teachers related a relative openness to pursuing professional psychological services. Taken altogether, the findings suggest that urban teachers can be supported via forms of professional and social–emotional support in managing stressors in their workplace. Implications for professional development and teacher education programs are discussed.