Exhausted teachers and hypervigilant students: emotional contagion in the classroom

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.51572102614057

• Palavras-chave: Exhausted teachers and hypervigilant students: emotional contagion in the classroom

• Keywords: Exhausted teachers and hypervigilant students: emotional contagion in the classroom

• Abstract:

  This article analyzes the impacts of teacher emotional exhaustion on students’ socio-emotional behavior, investigating the phenomenon of emotional contagion in the school environment. It starts from the hypothesis that schools marked by professional overload, the precariousness of pedagogical relationships, and the intensification of teachers’ psychological distress contribute to the formation of hypervigilant, anxious, and emotionally insecure students. The research is characterized as qualitative, bibliographic, and analytical-reflective, grounded in frameworks from education, school psychology, neuroscience, and the sociology of education. It discusses how emotional hypervigilance emerges in contexts of continuous tension and affects learning, cognitive development, socialization, and the pedagogical bond. The study further highlights that teachers’ emotional distress extends beyond the individual sphere, constituting a collective problem with direct impacts on educational processes. It concludes that promoting school mental health requires permanent institutional policies for emotional care, teacher appreciation, and the reorganization of pedagogical practices, aiming to build emotionally safe and humanized environments.