Presentation/Proposal Title
From Dissonance to Authenticity: Strategies for Navigating Emotional Labor in the Writing Center
Type of Presentation/Proposal
Panel Discussion
Start Date
5-4-2019 9:45 AM
End Date
5-4-2019 10:45 AM
Keywords
Emotional labor, emotional dissonance, climate of authenticity, burnout, well-being
Description
While writing center work is important, rewarding, and highly gratifying, those who work in writing centers recognize that the labor can also sometimes be difficult and draining. Writing center professionals seeking to find best practices for alleviating burnout and maximizing well-being through self-care have often looked outside their own disciplinary boundaries to better understand the nature of emotional labor. Inspired by the 2018 ECWCA conference themes of well-being, mindfulness, and self-care in writing center work, this presentation draws on our own experiences as well as research in the fields of organizational psychology and occupational health psychology to examine the key concepts of emotional labor (e.g. surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotion) and their applications to writing center work.
In this panel presentation, we will join emerging conversations about emotional labor in writing centers. We will discuss how emotional labor is defined, investigate where writing centers fall in the array of industries and occupations requiring emotional labor, and develop strategies for creating a climate of authenticity and buffering against emotional dissonance within sessions.
Some questions this presentation will explore are: What are common (mis)understandings about emotional labor?; What kinds of emotional labor happen in writing centers?; How do we create spaces for processing and reflecting on our emotional labor?; and how can discussions of emotional labor be incorporated into training and professional development?
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on times when they have experienced emotional dissonance and have engaged in emotional labor. Additionally, they will leave the presentation with action items to create a climate of authenticity in their centers and tap into deep acting or expression of naturally felt emotions in their sessions with students and interactions with colleagues.
From Dissonance to Authenticity: Strategies for Navigating Emotional Labor in the Writing Center
M2300
While writing center work is important, rewarding, and highly gratifying, those who work in writing centers recognize that the labor can also sometimes be difficult and draining. Writing center professionals seeking to find best practices for alleviating burnout and maximizing well-being through self-care have often looked outside their own disciplinary boundaries to better understand the nature of emotional labor. Inspired by the 2018 ECWCA conference themes of well-being, mindfulness, and self-care in writing center work, this presentation draws on our own experiences as well as research in the fields of organizational psychology and occupational health psychology to examine the key concepts of emotional labor (e.g. surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotion) and their applications to writing center work.
In this panel presentation, we will join emerging conversations about emotional labor in writing centers. We will discuss how emotional labor is defined, investigate where writing centers fall in the array of industries and occupations requiring emotional labor, and develop strategies for creating a climate of authenticity and buffering against emotional dissonance within sessions.
Some questions this presentation will explore are: What are common (mis)understandings about emotional labor?; What kinds of emotional labor happen in writing centers?; How do we create spaces for processing and reflecting on our emotional labor?; and how can discussions of emotional labor be incorporated into training and professional development?
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on times when they have experienced emotional dissonance and have engaged in emotional labor. Additionally, they will leave the presentation with action items to create a climate of authenticity in their centers and tap into deep acting or expression of naturally felt emotions in their sessions with students and interactions with colleagues.
