Emotional vulnerability and coping strategies among Turkish student teachers: A community of practice perspective

Despite the growth of research on teachers' emotional vulnerability in recent years, little research has explored this issue among student teachers. Drawing on the lens of the community of practice (CoP), in this study, we report on the emotional vulnerability and coping strategies of Turkish student teachers during a teacher education course. Data were collected before, during, and after the course using semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, and narrative frames. Data analysis revealed that across the engagement, imagination, and alignment dimensions of the CoP, the student teachers experienced emotional vulnerability that not only influenced their present membership but also negatively shaped their future perceptions. Additionally, the student teachers adopted various personal and interpersonal coping strategies to regulate their negative emotions, which reduced the negative effects of emotional vulnerability on their CoP membership. We conclude the study with implications for teacher educators in how to use the findings to deal with student teachers' emotional vulnerability, especially through drawing on their coping strategies. Son yillarda ogretmenlerin duygusal kirilganliklari uzerine yapilan arastirmalarin artmasina ragmen, cok az calisma bu konuyu ogretmen adaylari arasinda arastirmistir. Uygulama Toplulugu (UT) bakis acisindan yararlanarak, bu calismada, Turk ogretmen adaylarinin bir ogretmen egitimi dersindeki duygusal kirilganliklari ve basa cikma stratejilerini bildirmekteyiz. Veriler ders oncesinde, sirasinda ve sonrasinda yari yapilandirilmis gorusmeler, yansitici gunlukler ve anlati cerceveleri kullanilarak toplanmistir. Veri analizi, UT'nin katilim, hayal gucu ve uyum boyutlarinda ogretmen adaylarinin yalnizca mevcut aidiyetlerini etkilemekle kalmayip ayni zamanda gelecek algilarini da olumsuz yonde sekillendiren duygusal kirilganlik yasadiklarini ortaya cikarmistir. Dahasi, ogretmen adaylari duygusal kirilganligin UT uyelikleri uzerindeki olumsuz etkilerini azaltan olumsuz duygularini duzenlemek icin cesitli kisisel ve kisilerarasi basa cikma stratejileri benimsemislerdir. calismayi, ogretmen egitimcilerine, ozellikle de basa cikma stratejilerinden yararlanarak, ogretmen adaylarinin duygusal kirilganliklari ile basa cikmak icin bulgulari nasil kullanacaklari konusunda cikarimlarla sonlandiriyoruz.

Automated summary

Despite the growth of research on teachers' emotional vulnerability in recent years, little research has explored this issue among student teachers. This study investigates the emotional vulnerability and coping strategies of Turkish student teachers during a teacher education course using the lens of the community of practice (CoP). The findings reveal that the student teachers experienced emotional vulnerability across the dimensions of the CoP, which not only influenced their present membership but also shaped their future perceptions. They adopted various coping strategies to regulate their negative emotions, reducing the negative effects of emotional vulnerability on their CoP membership.