Science Stands Out: How Teacher Emotions Differ Across Subjects

Episode Description:

In this episode of Evidence for Education, we welcome back returning guest Dr. Leigh McLean to discuss her latest research on the powerful role of teacher emotions in shaping student engagement and learning. Building on her earlier work on teacher well-being, Dr. McLean shares new insights into how teachers' emotional experiences vary across different subjects—and how these emotions ripple out to influence students.

We explore how emotional transmission works, why younger students are especially sensitive to their teachers' feelings, and how factors like socioeconomic status can amplify or diminish these effects. A major finding we discuss is that science stands out from other disciplines: teachers’ and students’ emotions around science are often more dynamic and bidirectional than in sub ...