Pride in Education: A Narrative Study of Five Finnish Schoolteachers

• Main Author: Matthew Etherington
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-07-01
• Series: SAGE Open
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019845489

This narrative inquiry explores how Finnish schoolteachers perceived the emotion of pride as a feature of teaching and learning. The study consists of face-to-face interviews with Finnish schoolteachers between 30 and 62 years of age. The results reveal perceptions of teaching and learning that are shaped by a culture of social equality, modesty, group achievement, and tenacity, that is, Sisu . Although the teachers understand achievement pride as a positive feature of learning, in association with cultural norms and values, pride is not a significant emotional response to promote in the classroom. The results are important for understanding how teachers exploit larger cultural values to judge the worth of particular emotions in the classroom.