Abstract

This narrative research explores the tensions that beginning teachers tell about their relationships with students between the ideals they have, and how the teachers experience those relationships in the micropolitical and relational environment of their everyday work. The phenomenon is approached through stories told by three Japanese beginning teachers. The stories illustrate the tensions originating from within oneself, and how they relate to relationships with senior colleagues or the hierarchical relations within the school organisation. The tensions are meaningful for the emotional distance created between the teacher and his/her students. Implications, in particular, for teacher training are considered.