Emotions and Emotion Regulation

ECI 709: Emotions in the Classroom (F2013)

The purpose of this seminar will be to explore the theories of emotion and emotion regulation and their application to understanding formal and informal learning processes. Specifically, we will examine cognitive theories of emotions and coping and explore the ways in which individuals’ judgments about classroom events may translate into different emotion experiences. Throughout the seminar, students are encouraged to examine the affective context(s) of their own research interests and to develop a research proposal that would study emotions / emotion experiences in the context of their own research.

Course Objectives:
Course objectives are three-fold. First, by sampling from the literature emotion and emotions regulation, students will develop a basic understanding of the principles of affective processes as they are applied to educational contexts. Specifically, throughout the course we will work towards identifying influential theories, core constructs, and methods of studying affective phenomena across a variety of educational settings. This will be done by sampling readings from across fields, methods, developmental periods, and research paradigms. Topics will include the nature of emotion, affective development, appraisal theory, emotion regulation, and the function of emotion in the self and in society. Second, students will be able to apply grand theories to understand discrete emotion processes. Third, students become familiar with researchers currently studying the “affective contexts” and will be able to identify and articulate the affective processes that may guide or shape their own research agendas. Though not an explicit goal of the course, implicitly, activities on this syllabus have been designed to promote doctoral students’ professional development. In addition to synthesizing across research studies, professional skills include: developing consistent writing habits (about what you read), selecting readings for class and leading graduate level discussions, conducting a focused literature search, developing a conceptual framework, and drafting a research proposal.

Fall 2013 Schedule of Topics & Readings

August 21, 2013 (Intro)

For our first class, I am asking you to do some ‘background’ reading to lay a foundation for our discussions of classroom emotions.

  • Ben-Ze’ev, A. (2000). The subtlety of emotions. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
    • Chapter 2: What is an Emotion?
    • Chapter 3: Basic Components of an Emotion
    • (link to on-line text available on MOODLE site)
    • Text Chapter 1 (Schutz & Pekrun, 2007)
    • Schutz & DeCuir (2002)

August 28, 2013: Constructing a Program of Research on Emotion

Guest Lecture Dr. Amy Halberstadt

*** Class will begin a late (5:00-6:30pm)

Halberstadt, A. G., & Lozada, F. L.* (2011).  Culture and emotion in the first five years of life.  In M. Lewis (Ed.) Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development (pp. 1-6, online). Montreal, Quebec:  Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.  Available at:http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/documents/Halberstadt-LozadaANGxp1.pdf.

Stelter, R. L.* & Halberstadt, A. G. (2011). Children’s feelings of security as affected by parental beliefs about children’s emotions and parental stress.  Infant and Child Development, 20, 272-287.

Halberstadt, A. G., Dennis, P. A.*, & Hess, U. (2011).  The influence of family expressiveness, individuals’ own emotionality and self-expressiveness on perceptions of others’ facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 35, 35-50.

Unit 1: Development of Emotions / Emotion Regulation

“Please make it stop!”

September 4, 2013: What and How Do Emotions Develop?

  • All Read: Text Chapter 7 (Linnenbrink, 2007); Raver 2002
  • Group 1: Read Children’s Understanding of Emotion (Harris, 2008) and Young Children’s Understanding of Other’s Emotions (Widen, & Russell, 2008).
  • Group 2: Read Social Functions of Emotion (Fischer & Manstead, 2008) and The Interface of Emotional Development with Social Context (Saarni, 2008).

Raver, C. (2002). Emotions matter: Making the case for the role of young children’s emotional development for early school readiness.  Social Policy Report of the Society for Research in Child Development, 16 (3).

September 11, 2013: Emotion Regulation, Socialization, and Scaffolding

  • All Read: Emotion Regulation Conceptual Foundations (Gross & Thompson, 2007); Underwood (1997)
  • Group 1: Read Socialization of Emotion Regulation in the Family (Thompson & Meyer, 2007); Chapter 16 in Text (Liljestrom et al., 2006)
  • Group 2: Read Interpersonal Emotion Regulation (Rime, 2007), Chapter 14 in Text (Meyer & Turner, 2006)

Underwood, M. K. (1997).  Top ten pressing questions about the development of emotion regulation.  Motivation and Emotion, 21, 127-146.

Unit 2: Theoretical Frameworks for Studying Emotions in Education

“Help me wrap my mind around it all….” 

September 18, 2013: Theoretical Frameworks in Education

  • All Read: Chapter 12 (Decuir-Gunby & Williams, 2006)
  • Group 1: Control – Value (Chapter 2 – Pekrun et al, 2006; Chapter 5 – Weiner, 2006))
  • Group 2: Well Being (Chapter 3 – Boekarts, 2006; Chapter 4, Elliot & Pekrun, 2006)
  • Group 3: Appraisal (Schutz & Davis, 2000) (Schutz et al., in press)
  • Group 4: Cultural / Critical (Chapter 3, Ratner, 2006; Chapter 17, Zemblyas)

Schutz, P. A., & Davis, H. A. (2000). Emotions and self-regulation during test taking. Educational Psychologist, 35, 243-256.

Schutz, P. A., Davis, H. A., Decuir-Gunby, J. T., & Tillman, D. (in press).  Regulating emotions related to testing. In L. Linnenbrink & R. Pekrun (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions in Education.

September 25, 2013: Considering ‘Outcomes’ of Emotions Research in Education

  • All Read: Barrett (2006)
  • Group 1: Student Level Outcomes – Read Text Chapter 9 (Ainley, 2006) and Text Chapter 11 (Op’t Eynde et al., 2006), Jones & Bouffard (2012)
  • Group 2: Teacher Level Outcomes – Read Text Chapter 13 (Schutz et al., 2006) and Review of Research on Teacher Burnout (Chang, 2009)

Barrett, L. F. (2006). Solving the Emotion Paradox: Categorization and the Experience of Emotion.  Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 20-46.

Jones, S. M, & Bouffard, S. M. (2012). Social and emotional learning in schools from programs to strategies. Social Policy Report of the Society for Research in Child Development, 26, (4).

Unit 3: Culture and Emotion

“Why you make me feel the way I do…”

October 2, 2013: Psychological Perspectives on Emotion Culture

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1994). The cultural shaping of emotion: A conceptual framework. S. Kitayama & H. R. Markus (Eds.). Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence (pp. 339-351). American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.

White, G. M. (1994). Affective culture: Emotion and morality in everyday life. S. Kitayama & H. R. Markus (Eds.). Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence (pp. 219-239). American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.

Averill, J. R. (2001).   Emotions unbecoming and becoming. K. R. Scherer, A. Schorr, & T. Johnstone (Eds.).  Appraisal processes in emotion: Theory, methods, research (pp. 265-269).  Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

Savani, K., Kumar, S., Naidu, N. V. R, & Dweck, C. S. (2011). Beliefs about emotional residue: The idea that emotions leave a trace in the physical environment.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101 (4), 684–701.

October 9, 2013: Emotion Cultures in Education

Knight-Diop, M. G. & Oesterrich, H. A. (2009).  Pedagogical Possibilities: Engaging Cultural Rules of Emotion.  Teachers College Record, 111(11), 2678–2704.

Hoffman, D. M. (2009).  How (not) to feel: culture and the politics of emotion in the American parenting advice literature.  Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30, (1), 15–31.

Frenzel, A. C., Goetz, T., Ludtke, O., Pekrun, R., & Sutton, R. E. (2009).  Emotional transmission in the classroom: Exploring the relationship between teacher and student enjoyment.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 101 (3), 705–716.

Unit 4: Discrete Studies of Emotions in Education

“If only I could deal with this one…”

 (TBD based off interests of class.  Students will work in pairs/trios to select an emotion.  They will receive relevant Handbook Chapters/Article and be asked to add their own readings to lead class discussion)

Ex: Feeling Responsible

Ben-Ze’ev, A.  (2000).  Why do we feel bad when you feel bad? – Pity, compassion, and mercy, Chapter 11.  The subtlety of emotions (pp. 327-352).  MIT Press:  Cambridge, MA.

Eisenberg, N., Losoya, S., & Spinrad, T. (2003).  Affect and prosocial responding. R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.).  Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 787-803). Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

Loewenstein, G., & Lerner, J. S. (2003).  The role of affect in decision making. R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.).  Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 619-642). Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

Weiner, B. (1995).  Helping Behavior, Chapter 6.  Judgments of responsibility:  A foundation for theory of social conduct, (pp. 143-185).  The Guilford Press: New York.

October 15: 

October 22:

October 29:

November 5:

Unit 5: Methods for Studying Emotions in Classrooms

“If I study it, will I get better at it?”

November 13: Self-Report Survey & Diary Studies

Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). If it changes it must be a process: Study of emotions and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 130-170.

Scott, C., & Sutton, R. E. (2009). Emotions and change during professional development for teachers: A mixed methods study. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 3 (2), 151-171.

Cole, P. M., Martin, S. E., & Dennis, T. A. (2004). Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: Methodological challenges and directions for child
 development research. Child Development, 75, 317-333.



November 20: Direct and Indirect Observations

Carson, R. L., Weiss, H. M., Templin, T. J. (2010). Ecological momentary assessment: a research method for studying the daily lives of teachers. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 33 (2), 165-182.

Offer, S. (2010). Assessing the relationship between family mealtime communication and adolescent emotional well-being using the experience sampling method.  Journal of Adolescence. 36 (3), 577-585.

Do, S. L., & Shallert, D. L. (2004). Emotions and classroom talk: Toward a model of the role of affect in students’ experiences of classroom discussions.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 619-634.