Between Emotional Labor and Professional Identity: How EFL Teachers Enact Care in Turkish Higher Education
Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 2026 (AHCI, SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/15348458.2026.2725820
- Dergi Adı: Journal of Language, Identity and Education
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Communication Abstracts, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, MLA International Bibliography, EBSCO Communication Source, Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Communication Source (EBSCO), Education Collection (ProQuest), Education Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Sociology Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: EFL, higher education, narrative inquiry, Teacher care, teacher identity
- TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Teacher care remains underexplored in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) higher education contexts. Grounded in Noddings’ ethic of care, this study examines how EFL teachers conceptualize and enact care, and how personal, relational, and institutional conditions shape caring. Using a narrative-informed qualitative interview design, semi-structured interviews with six EFL instructors in Turkish university preparatory programs elicited storied episodes (e.g., critical incidents and recurring classroom situations) through which teachers narrated caring decisions and constraints. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify cross-case patterns while attending to temporality, sociality, and place. Three interconnected themes emerged: (a) relational care in practice (emotional support and relationship-building), (b) dynamic factors (contextual constraints and learner-related challenges), and (c) care as integral to teacher identity (values and emotional labor). We present a conceptual synthesis clarifying how identity, emotional labor, and contextual conditions intertwine in teachers’ accounts, with implications for fostering sustainable care in language education.