Teachers’ perceptions of gratitude in classroom interactions: A case study from Finland

Abstract

Over the past two decades, gratitude as a scientific topic has been growing in interest. Little is known about its importance in educational environments and classroom interactions. The present article offers an account of a qualitative study that identifies gratitude as a moral value and uses stimulated recall methodology to explore the experience of gratitude in a school environment. Two first-grade teachers from an urban area of Finland were recorded during normal lessons. Deductive and inductive content analyses of a total of 26 critical incidents were conducted to explore expressions of gratitude and the reasons for them. The data shows that teacher-student relationships, material benefits, class routines and self-sufficiency are reasons to experience gratitude. Also, verbal, concrete and connective expressions of gratitude in classroom interactions were identified. The study contributes to the sparse knowledge about gratitude in school environments and provides important insights for understanding the phenomenon in this specific context.