Expecting More: Relations Between Teacher Expectations,Teacher Emotions,and Student Self-Concept Outcomes

Abstract

Although studies of teacher expectations, teacher emotions, and student self-concept have flourished in the past several decades, little is known about how these three factors are associated with each other. However, teacher beliefs and emotions are both significant in influencing teaching practices and students’ outcomes, and student self-concept also plays a critical role in student overall development. Therefore, this doctoral project aimed to explore the interplay of teacher expectations and teacher emotions, and the role of teacher expectations in the development of student academic and non-academic self-concept. This doctoral thesis consisted of three studies in the context of the Chinese high school. In Study 1, questionnaires were collected from 135 Chinese homeroom teachers from 14 high schools. The structural equation modelling showed that positive emotions increased as teacher expectations increased, and negative emotions decreased when teacher expectations were higher. The results suggested that teachers might improve their emotional experiences by developing more positive expectations for their students. In Study 2, 12 interviews were conducted with teachers from different expectation groups to further explore how teacher expectations could explain the variance in their emotions. Interview results revealed that teachers with different levels of expectations seemed to vary in their perceptions of the teacher–student role in education and revealed variations in their emotional strategies, teaching approaches, and their use of contextual resources. Finally, by collecting two time points of students’ self-concept data from 348 students, Study 3 investigated the predictive role of teacher expectations in some student self-concept outcomes, including both academic and nonacademic constructs. Consequently, this doctoral project explored teacher expectation effects in relation to both teacher experiences and student outcomes. This thesis provided significant contributions and insights into how teacher expectations might contribute to teachers’ emotional experiences and student self-concept, which could be then used for subsequent sociopsychological research and teacher professional development. The findings suggested that teachers should be facilitated to be more aware of their expectations and high-expectation principles, with the aim of preventing the detrimental effects of low expectations.