Teaching with heart and mind: How social-emotional skills mediate observation, perezhivanie , and pedagogical agency in Vietnamese EFL classrooms

Abstract

This study examines how Vietnamese university teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) navigate moment-to-moment classroom challenges through the interconnected processes of observation, perezhivanie , and teacher agency. Grounded in Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory, the study draws on qualitative data from two experienced educators to explore how social-emotional skills (SES),culturally developed capacities for self-awareness, emotional regulation, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, mediate teachers’ professional responsiveness. Findings indicate that SES enabled teachers to attune to subtle verbal and non-verbal cues, regulate emotional tensions during unexpected classroom moments, and maintain relational harmony while addressing pedagogical goals. Through perezhivanie , emotionally salient classroom events were processed in ways that shaped evolving interpretations of student needs and informed subsequent actions. Teacher agency emerged as a developmentally layered process, characterized by ongoing negotiation between personal values, emotional insights, and institutional demands. Both participants demonstrated how SES supported their ability to reframe problematic incidents, prioritize long-term relational dynamics over immediate control, and strategically adapt lesson content and delivery in culturally appropriate ways. This study proposes a Developmental Cycle of Adaptive Teaching, emphasizing how SES mediates interpretations, reflections, and pedagogical actions in culturally nuanced contexts. The findings underscore the importance of fostering social-emotional skills in teacher education, not only to support teachers’ own well-being but also to enhance student engagement, emotional safety, and overall classroom effectiveness.