Preventing School Failure for Teachers, Revisited: Special Educators Explore Their Emotional Labor

This article describes a study conducted collaboratively with 19 special educators to learn about their emotional practice through the emotional labor framework. Emotional labor refers to the management of emotional expression in the workplace. Specifically, the study sought to (a) deconstruct the stressors these special educators perceived, (b) understand how they use emotional labor, and (c) discern how this theory might inform special educators' practice. All participants divulged daily stress at work. Furthermore, all conceded that they used emotional labor to conceal their feelings from students; most acknowledged such acting as a survival skill. Teachers expressed relief at having a language for their emotional work, suggesting that the theory offers a framework for supporting special educators as they face the emotional demands of the job.