Jona Rose Frohlich

The importance of teachers’ emotions has been well-established in educational research, particularly when confronted with challenging student behaviour. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) impact many Canadian children, and these students are likely to experience difficulty in the classroom. However, no research has examined the emotions of teachers specifically towards students with FASD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cognitions and emotions of practicing teachers in regards to working with students with FASD. Attribution theory provided the theoretical framework by which to explain teachers’ cognitions and emotions. I employed a cross-sectional survey design among a sample of 200 practicing teachers from a Western Canadian city. I then used a path analysis to examine the direct effects of causal attributions on student responsibility and teachers’ emotions (i.e., anger and hope), and whether responsibility mediated the relationship between attributions and emotions. Overall, the hypothesized model fit the data well. Contrary to the hypotheses, responsibility did not mediate the relationship between attributions and teachers’ emotions. Instead, causal attributions were directly related to both responsibility and emotions (i.e., anger and hope). Implications of these findings are discussed regarding their importance in education for both teachers and students, as well as directions for future research. TEACHERS’ EMOTIONS TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH FASD iii Preface This thesis is an original work by Jona Frohlich. The research project, of which this thesis is a part, received ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, No. Pro00061298, January 18, 2016. One of the articles referred to in this thesis has been submitted for publication as E. M. , Atkinson, J. R. , Frohlich, L. M. , Daniels, & J., Pei, “Pre-service teachers’ causal attributions for FASD and their teaching self-efficacy. ” I was responsible for a portion of the manuscript composition as well as preparing it for publication. E. Atkinson was the principal investigator responsible for data collection and analysis, and a large proportion of the manuscript composition. L. M. Daniels was the supervisory author and was involved with concept formation and manuscript composition. J. Pei also assisted with concept formation and contributed to manuscript edits. TEACHERS’ EMOTIONS TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH FASD iv Acknowledgements Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Jacqueline Pei and Dr. Jacqueline Leighton. I am extremely grateful for your feedback and for taking the time to review my work. Thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Lia Daniels, for your unconditional support and guidance. Every meeting with you was inspiring and helped motivate me further to achieve my goals. Working with you has been an absolute privilege, and you have taught me so much. Thank you for everything. Thank you to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for supporting this project, and for allowing me to devote more time to my research than I could have otherwise. To my cohort members, you have made this an unforgettable journey. To my fellow ACME lab mates, thank you for the support, wisdom, for always answering my questions, and most importantly, for the laughs. Before meeting you all, I could not have anticipated how much fun research could be. To my family and friends, you have been an incredible support system throughout this journey. Thank you for reading my work even if you did not completely understand it, and for always being there to listen. I would especially like to thank my Mom and Dad. You have always been my biggest fans and I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for the two of you. Finally, to Adam, thank you for your love, support, and immeasurable patience. It takes a special type of person to support a partner during graduate school and I am very lucky to have you as that person. TEACHERS’ EMOTIONS TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH FASD v