Perezhivanie and professional becoming: Novice English teachers' emotional experiences and identity development under educational reform in China

Abstract

This study explores how three novice English teachers in China construct their professional identities amid the implementation of the “Double Reduction” policy. The data were analysed through the lens of perezhivanie, a sociocultural concept integrating emotion, cognition, and lived experience within specific social contexts. The findings reveal how emotional tensions arising from student management, parental expectations, and institutional demands triggered identity shifts from idealized roles (authoritative or devoted teachers) to more reflective, negotiated positions. These emotional struggles were not passive reactions, but dynamic meaning-making processes that mediated belief revision and professional growth. By foregrounding perezhivanie as an analytical lens, this study offers a nuanced account of how emotional experience functions not merely as a response to reform but as a mediating force in identity negotiation. It contributes to the literature by illustrating how emotion–cognition–environment interactions shape teacher development in policy-driven contexts.