Emotion and moral purposes in higher education teaching: poetic case examples of teacher experiences

Although teaching is emotionally and ethically demanding, higher education teachers’ emotions, values and sense of moral purpose are under-researched. This study examines 66 case examples of teachers’ emotional experiences to see whether and what kinds of moral concerns underpin those emotional moments. Analysis was based on Graham, Nosek, Hadit, Iyer, and Ditto's ([2011]. “Mapping the Moral Domain.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 101 (2): 366–385. doi:10.1037/a0021847.) moral foundations theory, which posits five main moral concerns: care/harm, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. Care/harm and authority/respect were the most common single moral concerns underpinning these emotional experiences, though there were examples of all five moral concerns within the set. Approximately one-third of the cases referenced multiple moral concerns, suggesting the complexity of both emotional and ethical demands in teaching. Implications for research, teaching, and educational development are highlighted.