Understanding US primary school teachers’ paradoxical emotions and emotional labor in multicultural/multilingual classrooms: an emotional geography perspective

To address the impact of international migration on larger economies and the increasing demand on local teachers to teach multicultural and multilingual learners (MCMLLs), this study investigates the paradoxical emotions experienced by seven primary school teachers of MCMLLs and explains their emotional labor (EL) strategy choices. Using a qualitative case study design guided by Hargreaves’ Emotional Geographies framework, the study draws on semi-structured interviews to examine primary school teachers’ emotional experiences, the relational geographies that shape those emotions, and the rationale underlying deep-acting versus surface-acting strategies. Findings reveal that teachers simultaneously experienced joy, pride, frustration, and helplessness. Deep acting was predominantly used with MCMLLs, driven by sociocultural closeness and a merged professional/moral commitment to culturally responsive care. In contrast, surface acting was employed with adults—parents and colleagues—when moral or political distance created emotional professional risk. The study contributes theoretical insights by demonstrating that EL strategies are relationally patterned and foreseeable, following emotional geographies. Furthermore, by proposing an integrated professional–moral geography unique to multicultural and multilingual (MCML) teaching, the study underscores the importance of teacher preparation that fosters cultural responsiveness, shared ethical commitments, and systemic support for emotionally sustainable MCML teaching.