Increasing Awareness of Emotional Communication among Physical Education Student Teachers in Their Year of Induction

Background: This study presents an original approach to a professional development program for teachers based on emotions, referred to as `Lovecircles`. The program is grounded in holistic-humanistic theories, aiming to achieve educators’ personal-emotional empowerment within their professional development, and views integration of emotion in teacher education as an integral part of their overall growth, essential for creating an atmosphere of trust with the pupils and for conducting empathic and respectful teacher-pupil dialogue.

Aim: The present study aims to respond to challenges faced by teachers at their practicum stage.

Methods: This is an evaluative phenomenological study focusing on the experiences and perceptions of the participants. The study evaluates the impact of the `Lovecircles` approach on 30 teachers at their practicum stage as part of an event analysis course. The research tools are reflective tasks, art creations, videos, and still photographical observations. The study includes five stages: documentation of a challenging teaching event focusing on body sensation, emotions and thoughts; documentation of a challenging dialogue of teacher and student focusing on group activities; reflection on the challenging dialogue based on art activities focusing on metaphors; reflective observation of the challenging dialogue focusing on video; and analysis of challenging dialogue in teaching focused on practical insights.

Results: Results indicate that participants developed awareness of the role of emotions in teaching and developed expressions of emotions through a variety of teaching methods including simulations. The research has a global relevance through its readily transferable strategies, and may influence teacher education programs.