Teaching team sports in Priority Education Networks: What emotional labor do PE teachers undertake?

Team sports are often scheduled in physical education (PE) teaching in France, but they are also considered by teachers as difficult to implement. The aim of this study was to analyze the emotional labor of PE teachers working in Priority Education Networks (REPs) during critical incidents (CIs) experienced during lessons based on team sports. Based on a situational psychological model of emotional labor, we collected and examined 15 CIs occurring in team sports. Among them, six (40%) dealt with a positive emotional experience related to the quality of relationships between students (n= 4; 66.7%) or learning (n= 2; 33.3%), leading teachers to engage in passive emotional labor (i.e., genuine and appropriate expression of positive emotions). Meanwhile, nine CIs (60%) were associated with a negative emotional experience. These negative emotions stemmed from inappropriate student behaviors, linked to relational difficulties (n= 6; 66.7%) or a lack of engagement (n= 3; 33.3%), prompting teachers to adopt an active stance (i.e., surface acting and/or deep acting), a passive stance (i.e., genuine and appropriate expression of negative emotions), and/or emotional deviance (i.e., genuine and inappropriate expression of negative emotions). These results are discussed in light of the specificities inherent in teaching team sports in REPs.