Yuka Ashida

<p> This study was designed to explore how a teacher responded to children's emotional expressions and how she coped with their emotional needs through Emotional Scaffolding.  The data were collected from a second grade class.  Two typical cases were selected and were ethnographically analysed.  The following findings were revealed:</p><p>1. Process of establishing Emotional Scaffolding:</p><p> The teacher was forming Emotional Scaffolding by accumulating various responsive actions through scrutinizing the emotional states of a child, his desirable academic achievements, and the syllabus based on educational programs. This accumulation helped the teacher understand the emotional states of the child. Furthermore, having been detached from the child continually because of the school timetable, which prevented the teacher from establishing a series of Emotional Scaffolding, she tried to have direct contact with the child afterwards to compensate for what she had failed to do.</p><p>2. Responsive Needs:</p><p> The teacher was responding to "Academic Achievement Need" and/or "Socio-emotional Development Need" of the child, switching the targeted Needs interchangeably, moving back and forth between the two. The target-switching appeared as well when observing "Care Need" and "Instruction Need". These four Needs are complexly intertwined, and therefore, she should always consider to whom she responds, i.e. to an individual or to the others in the class. She identified which Need to fulfil and tended to prioritize it. On the other hand, she occasionally put her judgement on hold to clarify the Needs for establishing the Emotional Scaffolding. In other cases, she placed herself in the middle of all the Needs to be able to act in response to whatever would happen next.</p><p> In conclusion, the study suggests that, although the Needs create some complication, teachers try to respond to children's emotions. They construct and provide the Emotional Scaffolding by coping with the Needs.</p>