“A rising tide lifts all boats”: The role that positive workplace practices and teacher well‐being play in foreign language teacher emotions

Abstract

While the role of positive emotions and positive character traits in people's flourishing has been researched extensively in the context of foreign language (FL) learning and teaching, the role positive institutions play regarding teachers’ well‐being and their emotions experienced in the FL classroom has been largely neglected. With a Web survey, this study investigates the relationship between positive practices at work and well‐being among 263 Austrian FL teachers, as well as the effect these positive variables have on FL teaching enjoyment (FLTE) and FL teaching anxiety (FLTA). Latent modeling indicated that positive school leadership and positive practices in school, more generally, were both positive predictors of teachers’ well‐being. The dignity and respect, support, caring, and inspiration experienced between all employees had a stronger effect on teacher well‐being than school leadership though. Additionally, well‐being positively predicted FLTE, and it negatively predicted FLTA. Neither school leadership nor positive practices in school directly predicted teachers’ emotions in the FL class. Overall, this study shows that exploring teacher emotions holistically is just as important as research into learner emotions, and researching the interplay of the individual and institutional levels is particularly crucial to gain a nuanced understanding of the role of emotional contagion.