Responding to the needs of different learners is one of the most important and challenging tasks for beginning teachers in their work. Every class is different, e.g., with regard to age, gender, interests, aptitudes, experiences, worldviews and socioeconomic backgrounds. Teachers may view diversity of students as a challenge or even a burden to be managed and controlled or, on the other hand, as a source of inspiration and mutual learning. We acknowledge teacher–student relationships to be a key to encountering the diversity of the students in a meaningful way (cf. Newberry 2010). Theoretically, we understand teacher’s work as relational, in which emotions are inherently present (Hansen 1998; Hargreaves 2000; Van Manen 1991). Teachers often experience the relationships rewarding in their work, however, the relationships also make teachers‘ work emotionally demanding (e.g. Kelchtermans 2009). We conceptualise emotions as simultaneously social and individual, reflecting the imperatives and values of institutions and cultures, but also the interests and personalities of individuals (Boler 1999; Zembylas 2005). Narrativity forms a wide theoretical and methodological framework in the research (Spector-Mersel 2010). While telling, teachers reconstruct and make sense of their lives and experiences, constructing the meaning of their own emotional experiences (Clandinin & Connelly 2000; Elbaz-Luwisch 2005; Kelchtermans 2009).

Our research question is, how teachers tell about the emotional dimension involved in their relationships with diverse students. In order to address this question we studied teacher narratives collected in two different research projects by conducting narrative interviews with beginning Finnish teachers in primary schools (Grades 1 to 6, children aged between seven to twelve).

Studies prove that emotional challenges are a significant reason for teachers to leave their work during the first years of their careers (Heikkinen, Jokinen & Tynjälä 2012; Shoffner 2011). More theoretical understanding about the significance of relationships and emotions in teachers' work is needed in order to support teachers’ wellbeing and to continue working as a teacher. This understanding is also required to further develop pre-service and in-service teacher education. Furthermore, it would be important to make teachers aware of the significance of emotional dimension in teacher-student relationships.

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