ABSTRACT
The chapter indicates that the early-career teachers are more prone to negative emotional experiences in teaching than the mid- and late-career teachers. The pattern of teachers’ emotional experiences may be explained by the teachers’ interpretations of their work. According to the findings, the early-career teachers tend to define most of their work as non-instructional work, so they perceive they are forced to do a lot of things that cannot facilitate but prevent them from achieving the value and goal of making a difference in students’ lives resulting in negative emotions. On the other hand, the mid- and late-career teachers tend to perceive their work, including the administrative work, as instructional work or having instructional implications. Thus, they tend to be more willing or committed to do the work. A further analysis suggests that the interpretations of teachers’ work may be shaped by the teachers’ power and status, which are closely related to teaching experiences of the teachers, in the school system.
