How does it feel? Teachers' emotions in a context of change

This exploratory study examines how teachers perceive their work within the current context of educational reform. A cognitive social-psychological approach to emotions offers the theoretical framework for understanding what teachers have at stake within the context of the reforms. Six Dutch secondary school teachers with strongly differing professional orientations were interviewed. The results show the ways in which teachers appraise the relations between their professional orientations and the situational demands they face.