“Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory
Educational Point, 2(1), 2025, e118, https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
Publication date: Apr 28, 2025
ABSTRACT
Teacher emotion has garnered increasing scholarly attention as a critical catalyst shaping professional performances and sustained professional development. This qualitative case study, anchored in Resilience Theory, investigated the emotional experiences and regulation strategies of Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers during a school-based teaching practicum in the Mekong Delta region. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with ten pre-service teachers and five teacher mentors and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings uncovered a spectrum of participants’ emotional fluctuations influenced by teaching responsibilities, feedback from stakeholders, and administrative tasks. Participants reported emotional uncertainty in dynamic real-life teaching settings, a feeling of being overwhelmed caused by multiple roles, and emotional conflicts in professional identity formation. To regulate these complex emotions, participants employed agent-based and antecedent-based emotional regulation strategies. These strategies aimed at mitigating self-doubt, cultivating emotional resilience, optimizing teaching practices, and fostering their sustainability in the teaching profession. These findings subsequently shed light on the emotionally intensive nature of the practicum and call for the integration of emotion-based assistance to enhance pre-service teachers’ overall well-being. Pedagogical implications were also proposed to advise relevant stakeholders to better their teacher education and training programs.
KEYWORDS
CITATION (APA)
Hao, P. N., & Tam, T. T. T. (2025). “Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory. Educational Point, 2(1), e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
Harvard
Hao, P. N., and Tam, T. T. T. (2025). “Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory. Educational Point, 2(1), e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
Vancouver
Hao PN, Tam TTT. “Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory. Educational Point. 2025;2(1):e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
AMA
Hao PN, Tam TTT. “Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory. Educational Point. 2025;2(1), e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
Chicago
Hao, Phan Nhat, and Truong Thai Thanh Tam. "“Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory". Educational Point 2025 2 no. 1 (2025): e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
MLA
Hao, Phan Nhat et al. "“Resilience fosters sustainability!”: Exploring Vietnamese pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences in a school-based teaching practicum from the lens of Resilience Theory". Educational Point, vol. 2, no. 1, 2025, e118. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16299
REFERENCES
- Anttila, H., Pyhältö, K., Soini, T., & Pietarinen, J. (2016). How does it feel to become a teacher? Emotions in teacher education. Social Psychology of Education, 19, 451–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9335-0
- Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640902902252
- Benesch, S. (2012). Considering emotions in critical English language teaching: Theories and praxis. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203848135
- Benesch, S., & Prior, M. T. (2023). Rescuing “emotion labor” from (and for) language teacher emotion research. System, 113, Article 102995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.102995
- Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
- Bui, T. N. T., & Nguyen, T. M. H. (2016). Standardizing English for educational and socio-economic betterment: A critical analysis of English language policy reforms in Vietnam. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English language education policy in Asia (1st ed., pp. 363–388). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0
- Chen, J. (2016). Understanding teacher emotions: The development of a teacher emotion inventory. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 68–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.01.001
- Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
- Frenzel, A. C., Daniels, L. M., & Burić, I. (2021). Teacher emotions in the classroom and their implications for students. Educational Psychologist, 56(4), 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2021.1985501
- Fried, L., Mansfield, C., & Dobozy, E. (2015). Teacher emotion research: Introducing a conceptual model to guide future research. Issues in Educational Research, 25(4), 415–441. https://doi/10.3316/ielapa.843742334463882
- Greene, R. R., Galambos, C., & Lee, Y. (2004). Resilience theory: Theoretical and professional conceptualizations. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 8(4), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1300/J137v08n04_05
- Gu, Q., & Day, C. (2007). Teachers resilience: A necessary condition for effectiveness. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23(8), 1302–1316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2006.06.006
- Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105–117). SAGE Publications.
- Hargreaves, A. (2000). Mixed emotions: Teachers’ perceptions of their interactions with students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(8), 811–826. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00028-7
- Heng, R., Cheng, Q., Pu, L., & Tang, Q. (2024). Pre-service EFL teachers’ emotional experiences, emotion regulation strategies and influencing factors in research: A Chinese case study. Heliyon, 10(17), Article e36843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36843
- Kırmızı, Ö., & Irgatoğlu, A. (2024). Pre-service EFL teachers as homo sentimentalis: Speculating the emotional components of the teaching profession through joint reflection sessions in practicum. Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 159–175. https://doi.org/10.30466/ijltr.2024.121581
- Marav, D. (2022). Mongolian pre-service English teachers’ voices about their teaching practicum experiences. Education Sciences, 12(5), 339–350. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12050339
- Nguyen, H. H. (2024). Exploring the multifaceted characteristics of pre-service EFL teachers during practicum: A complexity theory perspective in Vietnam. Applied Research on English Language, 13(4), 23–48. https://doi.org/10.22108/are.2024.141547.2296
- Nguyen, H. T. (2009). An inquiry-based practicum model: What knowledge, practices, and relationships typify empowering teaching and learning experiences for student teachers, cooperating teachers and college supervisors? Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 655–662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.10.001
- Nguyen, L. (2014). The place of pedagogical internship in the reform of teacher education in Vietnam. In J. Calvo de Mora, & K. Wood (Eds.), Practical knowledge in teacher education (pp. 44–57). Routledge.
- Nguyen, T. M. H., & Hall, C. (2017). Changing views of teachers and teaching in Vietnam. Teaching Education, 28(3), 244–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2016.1252742
- Nguyen, T. M. H., & Hudson, P. (2010). Preservice EFL teachers’ attitudes, needs, and experiences about teaching writing and learning to teach writing before their practicum: A case study in Vietnam. Asian EFL Journal, 12(2), 43–66.
- Orlova, N., & Kamenická, J. (2024). Emotional odyssey: A journey through EFL pre-service teachers’ practicum experiences. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 15(2), 301–321. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2024.2.301.321
- Purwanto, L. N., Fitriyah, S. M., & Ariani, M. (2024). “I almost cried”: Pre-service teacher’s emotional experiences during a teaching practicum. Ellter Journal, 5(2), 273–283. https://doi.org/10.22236/ellter.v5i2.15786
- Sutton, R. E., Mudrey-Camino, R., & Knight, C. C. (2009). Teachers' emotion regulation and classroom management. Theory into Practice, 48(2), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840902776418
- Ulum, M. G. (2020). Pre-service English teachers’ practicum expectations and attainments. Turkish Studies, 15(2), 1287–1297. https://doi.org/10.29228/TurkishStudies.41629
- Van Breda, A. D. (2018). A critical review of resilience theory and its relevance for social work. Social Work, 54(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15270/54-1-611
- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
- Yin, R. K. (2003). Designing case studies. Qualitative Research Methods, 5(14), 359–386.
- Zembylas, M. (2005). Teaching with emotion: A postmodern enactment. Information Age Publishing.
LICENSE

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.