Currently reading Paxton et al. (2026) on “The Affective Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Instructors of First-Year Writing Courses”

Even though this study is on writing instruction — which is probably the subject that is affected most by the presence of GenAI — I think it is relevant far beyond: What does the presence of GenAI do to teacher emotions?

Paxton et al. (2026) motivate their study by writing “[t]he emotional well-being of frontline educators has far-reaching consequences, not only for faculty job satisfaction and retention but also for student success (Madigan and Kim, 2o21)“*. Teachers do emotional labour to regulate and care for emotions — their own as well as their students’ (more on that for example by Peterson (2026)). Paxton et al. (2026) interviewed eight writing teachers and find

• teachers emotional responses to GenAI are curiosity, but also anxiety over how writing skills will be valued in the future, and a sense of moral injury (because their jobs as teachers were made so much more difficult, but also because students would now never learn the same skills as before, and also not experience the joy that comes from being a skillful writer, especially in a second language).
• teachers respond to students’ potential use of GenAI by increased emotional and cognitive labour, and more time working with assessment, especially when GenAI use is suspected.
• teachers perceive a lack of institutional guidance on how to deal with GenAI and suspected misuse.
• teachers feel less professional accomplishment compared to “before AI”.

From their findings, Paxton et al. (2026) develop recommendations that — of course — include clearer guidance of how to deal with GenAI and with suspected cheating, but also to “expand the range of supports offered to faculty in the wake of GenAI, specifically addressing the emotional and interpersonal pedagogical effects of the technology. Whereas workshop sessions on integrating GenAI tools into teaching and assignment design proliferate, guidance on addressing issues of trust-building in the [teacher student relationship] would constitute valuable additions” and relatedly, to offer more opportunities to talk about their experiences: “formal support for communities of practice in which instructors can share their experiences with each other for mutual support and acquire guidance from experts“. And I am happy to report that we are currently working on all three fronts already, good to see that we are on the right track!

*I had to follow up and Madigan & Kim (2021), which is a meta study of 14 studies on 5k+ teachers and 50k+ students, where they find “preliminary evidence that teacher burnout can affect the students they teach“, it can lead to worse student academic achievement and possibly also their motivation (which they don’t say, but I think will then feed back on how teachers are feeling…), but it does not seem as if teacher burnout directly affects student’s wellbeing (but possibly via burnout contagion). In terms of implications for practice, they reduce organizational changes to reduce workload, improve role clarity, and offer more autonomy, social support, and positive feedback.

Madigan, D. J., & Kim, L. E. (2021). Does teacher burnout affect students? A systematic review of its association with academic achievement and student-reported outcomes. International journal of educational research, 105, 101714.

Paxton, A., Kang, P., & Yim, A. (2026). The Affective Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Instructors of First-Year Writing Courses. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 14, 1-17.

Pictures from our dip the day before yesterday

Living so close to the sea has such a huge impact on my wellbeing

How could I recreate that effect if I didn’t live by the sea? I guess that’s an important question to figure out…

Also: Love this spot!