Abstract
Previously research has shown that high quality teachers are well aware of their use of emotional competence in teaching. The present study identified student teachers' emotional experiences and expressive patterns while they interacted with children, and investigated the characteristics of their emotional competence in teaching. Comparing student teachers' emotional experience, expression, and regulation with that of high quality teachers, this report also discusses implications for teacher education. Qualitative analysis of interview data demonstrated that student teachers had various emotional experiences including self-elicited negative emotions. The major expressive patterns were natural expressions, staging of emotions, and suppression of emotions. Self-elicited fear was a characteristic emotional experience of student interns, and students also reported that the fear sometimes went beyond their control. Moreover, many student teachers found it difficult to directly stage the expression of anger. It was suggested that student teachers are less aware of using their skills in expression of emotions when teaching, and that their emotional competence for teaching had not developed adequately. Teacher educators may need to facilitate student teachers' awareness of their emotional competence when interacting with children.
