Teacher retention has become one of the most pressing concerns in English education. National Education Union data indicates that 44% of teachers intend to leave the profession by 2027, while evidence from Gibson and Carroll (2021) shows rising levels of anxiety, depression and burnout across the workforce. These challenges intensify in early career teachers, whose identities and professional belief systems are still forming. For those preparing to teach children aged 3-7, the emotional landscape is particularly charged: early years and early primary teachers work in deeply relational environments where nurturing, advocacy, and safeguarding sit alongside academic expectations and accountability.
My recent master’s dissertation, exploring whether children remain at the heart of school practices within the current education system, revealed that emotional labour (how we manage our own feelings to meet the requirements or our jobs) is an underacknowledged yet fundamental dimension of teaching. Through interviews, focus groups, observations, and reflective journalling, powerful patterns emerged: teachers who are dedicated, value-driven and passionate also carry heavy psychological burdens that impact their wellbeing, confidence and capacity to sustain long careers.
For programmes like the PGCE, SCITT and Apprenticeship routes, the implications are clear. If we are to develop a stable and resilient teaching workforce, emotional labour must be recognised, normalised, and explicitly taught, not simply as an occupational pitfall, but as a professional competency requiring skill, reflective supervision and space to think.
The Emotional Landscape: What the Research Reveals
Teachers in my study consistently articulated feelings of compromise, guilt, self-doubt and fear of inadequacy. Despite working in a school with strong, supportive leadership, participants, particularly women, described “being pulled in two directions”, “constantly juggling”, or “feeling compromised all the time.” Such emotions were not isolated incidents but recurring themes that shaped their everyday experiences.
This aligns with Brené Brown’s (2021) framing of vulnerability as “uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure”. Far from being a weakness, vulnerability is an accurate signal of the psychological terrain teachers inhabit daily. They manage children’s wellbeing, behaviour, learning, trauma, parental anxieties, inspection pressures and curriculum demands; all while striving to uphold personal values and professional standards. Brown’s concept of “positive intent”, where leaders assume colleagues are doing the best they can under difficult conditions, is vital; yet my findings suggest teachers rarely offer themselves that same grace.
A deeper risk identified in my research is projection. Drawing on Freud’s (1923) theory, projection occurs when uncomfortable emotions are unconsciously transferred to others. In schools, this can ripple through leadership teams, teachers and ultimately children. When teachers experience chronic anxiety, self-doubt or exhaustion, these emotions can shape interactions, learning climates, and children’s own self-belief as learners. The emotional wellbeing of adults is not an add-on to pedagogy, it runs seamlessly together and is Isomorphic, how teachers feel impacts children and visa-versa.
The Cost of Self-Sacrifice
One of the most striking findings was the extent of teachers’ self-sacrifice. Participants frequently prioritised children above their own boundaries, health or family life. As one teacher reflected, “I end up working at the weekend when I should be with my family.” Another shared the emotional cost of constant cognitive load: “Sometimes you worry you are not doing the job to the best of your ability.”
Duffy et al. (2011) warn that while altruism is a hallmark of caring professions, unchecked self-sacrifice can lead to burnout, exploitation and workaholism. In early years and primary contexts, where relationships, care and nurture are central, this risk is amplified.
Traditional narratives in teaching have long valorised self-sacrifice. The “hero teacher” paradigm, implicitly celebrated in many school cultures, encourages staff to work beyond what is sustainable or healthy. However, as my research demonstrates, emotional exhaustion is not evidence of professional commitment; it is evidence of a system that undervalues the emotional support needed for teachers to be the best they can be.
Why This Matters for ITE Providers
Initial Teacher Education sits at a critical point of influence. Trainees enter the profession enthusiastic, hopeful, and deeply committed to the children they teach. But as Bandura’s (1997) theory of self-efficacy suggests, professional confidence is shaped by context. In cultures dominated by accountability, policy change, inspection anxiety and curriculum pressure, teacher identity can be undermined before it is even established, and this is fundamentally not right. New teachers need protecting.
My research shows that teachers thrive where leaders create psychologically safe environments grounded in values, humility and connection. Yet trainees often encounter the opposite, particularly in settings with staff shortages, burdensome academic expectations, limited resources and heightened parental demands.
If ITE providers do not explicitly teach how to manage emotional stresses, trainees will internalise exhaustion and self-sacrifice as normative, even necessary for success. This inevitably accelerates burnout, and we will lose fantastic teachers as a result.
Explicitly Teaching Emotional Labour as a Professional Skill
Drawing from my dissertation findings, I reflected on my role as the ITE Programme Lead at Pen Green. What was clear, if we are to develop emotionally intelligent, resilient and reflective teachers, ITE programmes should position emotional well-being as central to the curriculum, not an add on. Some practice suggestions include:
- Teach the Psychology of Teaching
Introduce trainees to concepts such as emotional containment (Bion), projection and transference, vulnerability and shame resilience (Brown), teacher agency (Biesta), and the psychological needs of belonging, capability and courage (Bettner & Lew). This gives trainees a language for the emotional struggles they will encounter.
- Embed Reflective Supervision Structures
My research revealed that even in supportive environments, teachers lacked spaces to process emotional complexity. ITE programmes can model best practice by providing supervision-style tutorials, opportunities for emotional debriefing, and structured reflection templates. Reflective space is a protective factor against burnout.
- Promote Sustainable Professional Boundaries
Take time to explore what healthy boundaries look like, how to communicate them professionally, and how to protect personal time without compromising commitment.
- Normalise Emotional Turbulence as Part of Learning to Teach
Trainees should understand that self-doubt is common, and vulnerability is part of teaching, and feeling vulnerable is okay. Seeking support is a key message to convey and a sign of professionalism. Having mentors that equally can show vulnerability will also help to normalise these feelings.
- Model Values-Based Leadership in ITE Practice
ITE providers can mirror strong leadership by modelling transparency, sharing dilemmas, using relational mentoring and demonstrating the kind of leadership styles trainees should seek.
Conclusion
Emotionally resilient teaching develops when trainees are taught to understand the emotional dimensions of their work, supported to reflect on them, and empowered to set sustainable boundaries.
My dissertation revealed that teachers’ emotional health directly shapes their confidence, agency and ability to keep children at the centre of classroom practice. In the early years and early primary phases where relationships are the cornerstone of practice, this is particularly critical.
As ITE providers, we hold the responsibility not only to prepare trainees to teach well, but to live well within the profession. If we take emotional labour seriously, equip trainees with psychological tools, and create reflective spaces that honour their values, we can build a workforce that is both professionally excellent and emotionally sustained.
Holly Bowman is Senior Tutor/ITT Programme Lead at Pen Green.
References:
Bandura, A. (1997) Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Bettner, B. L. and Lew, A. (1996) A parent’s guide to understanding and motivating children. Connexions Press.
Biesta, G. (2015) Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. London: Routledge.
Brown, B. (2012) Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. New York: Gotham Books.
Carroll, A., Forrest, K., Sanders-O’Connor, E., Flynn, L., Bower, J. M., Fynes-Clinton, S. and Ziaei, M. (2021) ‘Teacher stress and burnout and their relationship to resilience: A systematic review’, Educational Research Review, 34, 100411.
Duffy, B., Allan, D. and Allan, N. (2011) Working with the emotional impact of learning: Supervising in education. London: Routledge.
Freud, S. (1923) The ego and the id. London: Hogarth Press.
Gibson, S. and Carroll, A. (2019) ‘Examining teacher burnout using the Job Demands-Resources Model’, Social Psychology of Education, 22(3), pp. 837-863.
National Education Union (NEU) (2023) State of Education Survey. Available at: https://neu.org.uk Accessed: 10/12/25
Stacey, M. (2022) Complexity and education leadership: Redesigning leadership for a changing world. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Trevarthen, C. (2005) ‘Stepping away from the mirror: Pride and shame in adventures of companionship’, in Reflections on the Nature of Early Development, pp. 55-84.
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