Emotional Expression of 5th and 6th Graders and Teachers’ Intervention Strategies:Teacher’s Perspective Author:Chao Hsiao Mei
Research Article
The purpose of this research was to explore the emotional expression of 5th and 6th graders and the intervention strategies of teachers. Participants were 74 5th and 6th grade teachers. Data were collected by focus group interview and analyzed with the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) procedure. First of all, the findings indicated that happiness and excitement were generally the positive emotional feelings for students. In contrast, anger, indignation, depression, and enviousness were the most common negative feelings of children’s emotion in elementary school. When dealing with students’ feelings, teachers are more concerned about students’ negative emotional feelings than positive ones. Secondly, when facing emotional issues, most students displayed catharsis, aggression, attack, resistance, and repression etc. When confronting with students’ strong or intense emotional behavior that might cause immediate harm, teachers tended to intervene instantly. Yet, when facing students’ emotional behavior with no sign of immediate harm, teachers usually chose to delay interventions or ignored treatments purposely. Thirdly, teachers often adopted the intervention strategies of “listening and empathy” as well as “intermediation and conciliation” to deal with students’ emotional issues. Finally, based on the results, this research also provides suggestions for treatments for students’ emotional issues and further relevant research issues.