Abstract

• Teachers’ approaches in teaching enormously influence the success of students. Like that both positive and negative emotions play an important role in teachers’ construction of pedagogical content knowledge, curriculum planning and relationships with children and colleagues. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between teachers’ emotion in teaching and their approaches to teaching. In this study, 480 teachers (160 primary assistance teachers, 160 junior assistance teachers and 160 senior assistance teachers) participated. By using random sampling technique, the sample was chosen from ten Basic Education High School located in Yangon Region and Bago Region. The instruments were (1) Emotion in Teaching Inventory (ETI) with two subscales; positive emotion and negative emotion (α = 0.82) and (2) Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI-R) with two subscales; conceptual change/ student-focused (CCSF) and information transmission/ teacher-focused (ITTF) (α = 0.76). The data were analysed using mean score, independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results of the study indicated that most of the teachers tend to adopt teacher focused approach than student-focused. JAT teachers widely use student-focused approach than PAT and SAT. The more training courses they have, the more student-focused approach they apply. Based on the result, it was found that SAT teachers feel more anxious and frustrated (negative emotion). According to the Pearson product-moment correlation result, there is intercorrelation between teachers’ emotion and their teaching approaches. Thus, it can be said that teachers with positive emotions can be adopted more student-focused approach in their teaching.