This study investigated early childhood educators’ identity construction in their narratives of emotion-laden situations with children. Narrative analysis was conducted with Greimas’s actantial model on video-cued interviews with 15 educators. Two narratives were identified: in the narrative of educators managing their emotions, educators’ negative emotions connected to challenging interactions with children shattered the identity of the professional educator. In the narrative of educators rejoicing in their success, the trust and affection expressed by children evoked positive emotions, and the sense of inadequacy created by insufficient resources challenged the warm, child-centred educators’ identity. In their narrations, educators commit to an ideal educator identity in close relationships with children, but also describe the emotional labour involved in working with children to manage their own negative emotions. The study enhances understanding of the interconnection between professional identity and emotions, the construction of professional identity through small moments in everyday life and the importance of emotional labour from the perspective of professional identity in early childhood education and care (ECEC).
Hanhikoski et al. (Fri,) studied this question.