Abstract
This study explores the emotional labour of teachers in Thabong, Welkom. It sought to answer the
research question, “What are the experiences of teachers in Thabong and their use of emotional
labour in teaching?” by exploring the following objectives: (1) to explore why teachers use
emotional labour in the workplace, (2) to explore what types of emotional labour teachers use and
(3) to investigate the positive and negative effects of emotional labour on teachers’ well‐being. The
study used a qualitative research approach where ten teachers were interviewed, using open‐ended
questions. One of the factors of the educational system, which is what this study seeks to address,
is how teachers in Thabong, Welkom use emotional labour. Little research on teachers’ use of
emotional labour in the South African context exists, particularly in township schools or schools
situated in rural settlements. This study seeks to address this gap by focusing on secondary school
teachers’ in Thabong use of emotional labour, the types of emotional labour they use and what
effects it has on their well‐being. This study found that teaching involves extensive emotional labour
and that teachers use four emotional management strategies that Bolton (2005) developed:
pecuniary emotion management, prescriptive emotion management, presentational emotion
management and philanthropic emotion management. The study further found that the use of
emotional labour affects teachers both negatively and positively. The use of emotional labour
improves work efficiency and help employees to successfully fulfil their task requirements.
Consequently, emotional labour on the teaching profession can lead to burnout and exhaustion.