A narrative review of the research on school leaders’ emotional labor: a typology inspired by Habermas’s cognitive interests
Journal of Educational Administration
ISSN: 0957-8234
Article publication date: 25 April 2024
Issue publication date: 9 May 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Guided by Habermas’s three cognitive interests, this paper reviews the studies on school leaders’ emotional labor. It seeks to provide a typology of how researchers inquire about school leaders’ emotional labor by focusing on different understandings, topics and characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a narrative review with 38 studies finally selected for analysis. Guided by Habermas’s three cognitive interests, all the studies were examined carefully and were found to fall into different clusters of understanding of school leaders’ emotional labor.
Findings
The review revealed three understandings of school leaders’ emotional labor, namely instrumental understanding, practical understanding and emancipatory understanding. The instrumental understanding treats school leaders’ emotional labor as a tool to effectively control the schools; the practical understanding regards emotional labor as a way to build and maintain relationships and as the process of meaning-making; the emancipatory understanding perceives emotional labor as a site for school leaders’ reflection and action for achieving a more just and self-determined leadership.
Originality/value
This review contributes to the growing literature on school leadership and emotional labor by providing a theory-guided typology and synthesis of the existing understanding of school leaders’ emotional labor, which lays a knowledge base and points out directions for future scholarly inquiries. It also provides practical suggestions for educational policy, school leaders’ practice and leadership training.
Keywords
Citation
Huang, Y. and Yin, H. (2024), "A narrative review of the research on school leaders’ emotional labor: a typology inspired by Habermas’s cognitive interests", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 62 No. 3, pp. 325-340. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-08-2023-0181
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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