EMOTION AS A TOOL OF CONTROL: UNDERSTANDING WORKPLACE MANIPULATION IN TEACHER EDUCATION

Abstract

In the evolving landscape of teacher education, emotions serve as the invisible threads weaving together relationships, identity, and institutional culture. Yet, beneath the surface of care and collegiality lies a complex terrain where emotions are often shaped and controlled by power dynamics. This chapter explores into the subtle phenomenon of emotional manipulation within teacher education institutions, revealing how feelings commonly associated with empathy and support can also function as instruments of influence and domination. Drawing upon theoretical insights from emotional labour, power relations, and organizational psychology, the chapter examines how manipulation operates through guilt, fear, flattery, dependency, and gendered emotional expectations. It further explores the consequences of such manipulation, including psychological distress, ethical erosion, and the loss of professional authenticity, alongside institutional effects such as toxic emotional climates and weakened collaboration. Moving beyond diagnosis, the chapter proposes pathways for resistance through emotional literacy, boundary-setting, collective empowerment, and transformative leadership committed to emotional justice. Ultimately, it redefines emotion not as a tool for control but as a foundation for empathy, authenticity, and moral renewal. In reclaiming emotional autonomy, teacher education can evolve into a space of integrity, trust, and humane connection.