Research Article
A Qualitative Study of Emotional Lives of Teaching at Two Nigerian Universities

Eucharia Chinwe Igbafe

253 286

Article Metrics

Views

 

253

Downloads

 

286

Citations

Crossref

0


Igbafe . A qualitative study of emotional lives of teaching at two Nigerian universities. European J Psychol E. 2021;4(2):97-111. doi: 10.12973/ejper.4.2.97
Igbafe, E. C. (2021). A qualitative study of emotional lives of teaching at two Nigerian universities. European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research, 4(2), 97-111. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejper.4.2.97
Igbafe Eucharia Chinwe. "A Qualitative Study of Emotional Lives of Teaching at Two Nigerian Universities," European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research 4, no. 2 (2021): 97-111. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejper.4.2.97
Igbafe, E 2021, 'A qualitative study of emotional lives of teaching at two Nigerian universities', European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 97-111. Igbafe, Eucharia Chinwe. "A Qualitative Study of Emotional Lives of Teaching at Two Nigerian Universities." European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research, vol. 4, no. 2, 2021, pp. 97-111, https://doi.org/10.12973/ejper.4.2.97.

Abstract

The emotional lives of teaching at the universities have remained under research.   This study used a qualitative approach to investigate the emotional lives of lecturers teaching at two selected universities. This study sought to identify, understand and interpret the emotional lives of teaching with interpretive phenomenology research design. In purposefully selected two universities, 12 lecturers participated in the study. Semi-structured individual interviews were employed, the data generated were interpreted, the emerged themes were: work condition, resources and accreditation panel, trade union and government disagreement, and experienced emotions and effects on participants. A further interpretation of the emerged themes revealed that the emotional lives of the participants are dependent on teaching resources, academic war and convenient behaviour. The dependence is thereby suggestive that change in the management of teaching resources, academic war and behaviour of lecturers could positively influence the nature of their emotional lives. The paper used two universities, which lays the foundation for subsequent studies because this is the first study to examine the emotional lives of teaching in Nigerian universities. The study made recommendations for further studies and drew implications for policy and practice.

Keywords: Emotional lives, Nigerian universities, qualitative approach, teaching resources, trade union.


References

Akomolafe, C. O., & Adesua, V. O. (2016). The impact of physical facilities on students' level of motivation and academic performance in senior secondary schools in South West Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(4), 38-42.

Arikewuyo, M. O. (2009). University management and staff unions in Nigeria: Issues and challenges. SA-eDUC Journal, 3(1), 15–22. https://bit.ly/3DSXZgP

Ashkanasy, N. M., & Daus, C. S. (2002). Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers. Academy of Management Perspectives, 16(1), 76–86. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2002.6640191

Asiyai, R. I. (2005). Trade union disputes and their perceived impact on the university system in Nigeria [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Delta State University.

Asiyai, R. I. (2006). Variables inducing trade unions disputes in Nigerian universities. Nigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 11(1), 146–154. https://doi.org/10.4314/njgc.v11i1.37000

Atanda, A. I. (2017). Mentoring and career growth of junior faculty in the University of Ibadan. Journal of Teaching and Education, 7(1), 419-428.

Bakker, A. B. (2008). The work-related flow inventory: Construction and initial validation of the WOLF. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 400–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.11.007

Bar-On, R., Tranel, D., Denburg, N. L., & Bechara, A. (2003). Exploring the neurological substrate of emotional and social intelligence. Brain, 126(8), 1790–1800. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awg177

Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behaviour. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(4), 644–675. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094912

Becker, C. R. (2016, June 14). What is reciprocal interaction? What are examples of it? Quora. https://bit.ly/3xiMwod

Bennett, D., Bendersky, M., & Lewis, M. D. (2005). Does the organization of emotional expression change over time? Facial expressivity from 4 to 12 months. Infancy, 8(2), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327078in0802_4

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does. Open University Press/McGraw-Hill.

Blatt, S. J. (2008). Polarities of experience: Relatedness and self-definition in personality development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11749-000

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In M. Gauvain, & M. Cole (Eds.), Readings on the development of children (2nd ed., pp. 37–43). Freeman. https://bit.ly/2ZmyO7s

Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. Oxford University Press.

Calkins, S. D., Dedmon, S. E., Gill, K. L., Lomax, L. E., & Johnson, L. M. (2002). Frustration in infancy: Implications for emotion regulation, physiological processes, and temperament. Infancy, 3(2), 175–197. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327078IN0302_4

Coetzee, M., & Jansen, C. (2007). Emotional intelligence in the classroom: The secret of happy teachers. Juta and Co.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Darling-Hammond, L., Orcutt, S., Strobel, K., Kirsch, E., Lit, I., & Martin, D. (2003). Feelings count: Emotions and learning.  The learning classroom: Theory into practice (pp. 89–104). Annenberg Foundation. https://bit.ly/3oZvkjQ

de Botton, A. (2011). The consolations of philosophy. Penguin Books Ltd.

Degnan, K. A., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., & Hill‐Soderlund, A. L. (2008). Profiles of disruptive behaviour across early childhood: Contributions of frustration reactivity, physiological regulation, and maternal behaviour. Child Development, 79(5), 1357–1376. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01193.x

Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2005). The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

Dolan, R. J. (2002). Emotion, cognition, and behaviour. Science, 298(5596), 1191–1194. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1076358

Eatough, V., & Smith, J. A. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In C. Willig, & W. Stainton-Rogers (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research in psychology (pp. 179–194). Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848607927.n11

Ehret, A. M., Joormann, J., & Berking, M. (2015). Examining risk and resilience factors for depression: The role of self-criticism and self-compassion. Cognition and Emotion, 29(8), 1496-1504. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2014.992394

Evans, G. W., & Johnson, D. (2000). Stress and open-office noise. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(5), 779. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.5.779

Eyal, K. (2011). Quantitative methods for economics: Assessments. Open UCT, University of Cape Town.

Eysenck, M. W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M. G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7(2), 336–353. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.336

Flick, U., von Kardorff, E., & Steinke, I. (Eds.). (2004). A companion to qualitative research. Sage Publications.

Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., Stephens, E. J., & Jacob, B. (2009). Antecedents and effects of teachers’ emotional experiences: An integrated perspective and empirical test. In P. A. Schutz, & M. S. Zembylas (Eds.), Advances in teacher emotion research (pp. 129–151). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0564-2_7

Frija, N. H., & Sundararajan, L. (2007). Emotion refinement: A theory inspired by Chinese poetics. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00042.x

Galatzer-Levy, I. R., Brown, A. D., Henn-Haase, C., Metzler, T. J., Neylan, T. C., & Marmar, C. R. (2013). Positive and negative emotion prospectively predict trajectories of resilience and distress among high-exposure police officers. Emotion, 13, 545–553. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031314

Gberevbie, D. E. (2008). Staff recruitment, retention strategies and performance of selected public and private organizations in Nigeria [Doctoral dissertation, Covenant University]. Covenant University Repository. https://bit.ly/3oQFSSq

Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Duquesne University Press.

Goleman, D. (2004). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82–91. https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader

Graczyk, P., Matjasko, J., Weissberg, R., Greenberg, M., Elias, M., & Zins, J. (2000). The role of the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in supporting the implementation of quality school-based prevention programs. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 11(1), 3–6. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532768Xjepc1101_02

Harnois, G., & Gabriel, P. (2000). Mental health and work: Impact, issues and good practices. World Health Organization/ International Labour Organisation. https://bit.ly/3rmKSB8

Harvard Women's Health Watch. (2020). Staying healthy. Retrieved July 27, 2021, from https://bit.ly/3r723Xq

Hornby, G., & Lafaele, R. (2011). Barriers to parental involvement in education: An explanatory model. Educational Review, 63(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2010.488049

Huntsinger, J. R. (2013). Does emotion directly tune the scope of attention? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(4), 265–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413480364

Igbafe, E. C. (2016). Emotional intelligence in coping with professional, academic and institutional challenges in Nigerian universities [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Pretoria.

Igbafe, E. C. (2020). Exploring the emotional intelligence needs of university lecturers in managing work-related challenges. Review of European Studies, 12(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.5539/res.v12n3p18

Igbafe, E. C., & Silinda, F. T. (2021, August). Utilising the benefits of COVID-19 disruption for the betterment of open and distance learning (ODL). Symbiosis International Research Journal on Online & Distance Learning, 3(2), 1-49. https://bit.ly/3IRmzli

Jeronimus, B. F., & Laceulle, O. M. (2017). Frustration. In book: Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences (pp.1-8). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_815-1

Kensinger, E. A., & Corkin, S. (2003). Effect of negative emotional content on working memory and long-term memory. Emotion, 3(4), 378. https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.3.4.378

LaBar, K. S., & Cabeza, R. (2006). Cognitive neuroscience of emotional memory. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7(1), 54–64. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1825

Lakoff, G., & Kövecses, Z. (1987). The cognitive model of anger inherent in American English. In D. Holland, & N. Quinn (Eds.), Cultural models in language and thought. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511607660.009

Larkin, M., Eatough, V., & Osborn, M. (2011). Interpretative phenomenological analysis and embodied, active, situated cognition. Theory & Psychology, 21, 318–337. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354310377544

Makhanya. (2007). Foreword in Coetzee, M., & Jansen, C. (2007). Emotional intelligence in the classroom: The secret of happy teachers. Juta and Co.

Malterud, K., Siersma, V. D., & Guassora, A. D. (2015). Sample size in qualitative interview studies: Guided by information power. Qualitative Health Research, 26(13), 1753–1760. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315617444

Maree, K. (Ed.). (2012). First steps in research. Van Schaik.

Mather, M., & Knight, M. (2005). Goal-directed memory: The role of cognitive control in older adults' emotional memory. Psychology and Aging, 20(4), 554-570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.20.4.554  

Matsumoto, D., & Hwang, H. S. (2011). Judgments of facial expressions of emotion in profile. Emotion, 11(5), 1223–1229. https://doi/10.1037/a0024356 

McCraty, R., Barrios-Choplin, B., Rozman, D., Atkinson, M., & Watkins, A. D. (1998). The impact of a new emotional self-management program on stress, emotions, heart rate variability, DHEA and cortisol. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 33(2), 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02688660

National Institute of Mental Health. (2021, July 20). Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses: Depression. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/

Nnaji, C. C. (2020, September 20). The unfortunate plight of Nigerian university lecturers. THEABUSITE. https://bit.ly/32vQWNm

Okebukola, P. (2005). Quality assurance in the Nigerian university system. Nigerian Journal of Curriculum Studies, 12(3), 1–5.

Onyeonoru, I. (2004, April 2-12). Industrial conflict in Nigeria university: The presence of the past and the trust of the future. The National Scholar, 2004, 3-12.

Ortony, A. (2009). Affect and emotions in intelligent agents: Why and how? In J. Tao & T. Tan (Eds.), Affective information processing (pp. 11–21). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-306-4_2

Osakede, K. O., Ijimakinwa, S. O., Adesanya, T. O., & Ojo, A. D. (2018). Conflict management in tertiary institutions: A study of selected universities in south-western Nigeria. Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review, 6(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v6i1.197

Owren, M. J., & Rendall, D. (2001). Sound on the rebound: Returning form and function to the forefront in understanding nonhuman primate vocal signaling. Evolutionary Anthropology, 10(2), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.1014

Reber, A. S., Allen, R., & Reber, E. S. (2009). The Penguin dictionary of psychology. Penguin Books.

Ritchie, J., Spencer, L., & O’Connor, W. (2003). Carrying out qualitative analysis. In J. Ritchie, & J. Lewis (Eds.), Qualitative research practices: A guide for social science students and researchers (pp. 219–262). Sage Publications.

Roux-Girard, G. (2011). Listening to fear: A study of sound in horror computer games. In M. Grimshaw (Ed.), Game sound technology and player interaction: Concepts and developments (pp. 192–212). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61692-828-5.CH010

Russell, J. A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. Psychological Review, 110(1), 145–172. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.110.1.145

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9(3), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG  

Schmeichel, B. J., Volokhov, R. N., & Demaree, H. A. (2008). Working memory capacity and the self-regulation of emotional expression and experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(6), 1526. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013345  

Singh, S., & Singh, D. M. (2016). The relationship between frustration, academic alienation and scholastic achievement in undergraduate college students. International Journal for Research in Education, 5(4), 36-41. https://bit.ly/3m3kSr1

Singh, S., & Wassenaar, D. (2016). Contextualising the role of the gatekeeper in social science research. South African Journal of Bioethics and Law, 9(1), 42-46. https://doi.org/10.7196/SAJBL.2016.v9i1.465

Spalek, B. (2021). The forgotten mental health crisis: pressures on staff. University World News. https://bit.ly/3dLNT69

Steptoe, A., & Kivimäki, M. (2013). Stress and cardiovascular disease: An update on current knowledge. Annual Review of Public Health, 34, 337–354. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114452

Swart, E., & Pettipher, R. (2011). Perspectives on inclusive education. In E. Landsberg, D. Kruger, & E. Swart (Eds.), Addressing barriers to learning in South Africa (pp. 1–27). Van Schaik.

Sze, J. A., Gyurak, A., Yuan, J. W., & Levenson, R. W. (2010). Coherence between emotional experience and physiology: Does body awareness training have an impact? Emotion, 10(6), 803. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020146

Taxer, J. L., & Frenzel, A. C. (2015). Facets of teachers' emotional lives: A quantitative investigation of teachers' genuine, faked, and hidden emotions. Teaching and Teacher Education, 49, 78–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.03.003

Trigwell, K. (2012). Relations between teachers’ emotions in teaching and their approaches to teaching in higher education. Instructional Science, 40(3), 607–621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-011-9192-3

Tsinidou, M., Gerogiannis, V. & Fitsilis, P. (2010). Evaluation of the factors that determine quality in higher education: an empirical study. Quality Assurance in Education,18(3),227-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881011058669

Tull, M. T., & Kimbrel, N. A.  (Eds.). (2020). Emotion in posttraumatic stress disorder: Etiology, assessment, neurobiology, and treatment. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2017-0-03989-7

Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N., & Malik, A. S. (2017). The influences of emotion on learning and memory. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1454. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01454

Vanguard. (2011). ASUU strike grounds varsities. https://bit.ly/3pYfG8O

Webb, T. L., Miles, E., & Sheeran, P. (2012). Dealing with feeling: A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 138(4), 775. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027600

Wellington, J. (2000). Educational research: Contemporary issues and practical approaches. Continuum.

Wilhelm, O., Hildebrandt, A., & Oberauer, K. (2013). What is working memory capacity, and how can we measure it? Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00433

Zito, M., Cortese, C. G., & Colombo, L. (2019). The role of resources and flow at work in well-being. Journal of Indexing & Metrics, 9(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019849732