neutrality. As she explained, there was a percep-tion among teachers that showing strong emotionsin school was not considered ‘‘professional’’: ‘‘Fora long time,’’ she said, ‘‘I prevented myself fromexpressing what I really felt, because it was notconsidered professional to do that’’ (Interview,March 24, 1999).In light of the heavy emotional demands in theteaching profession, on the one hand, and the lackof any explicit emotional rules, on the other, it isnot surprising to find Catherine expressing con-cerns about the lack of any space to discussemotions. For a long time, according to Cathe-rine’s descriptions, this professional discourse ofneutrality seemed prevalent in her school. Therewas this view among teachers, as Catherine put it,that doing one’s best in teaching required a displayof ‘‘professionalism,’’ that is, too much affectionor too much anger was considered inappropriate.Thus, ‘‘self-control’’ was perceived as the way ofdealing with emotions in teaching. The concept ofself-control was identified with ‘‘being profes-sional’’, just like in several other professions wheresocial services are provided (see e.g., Yanay &Shahar, 1998). According to Morris and Feldman(1996), self-control and neutrality are often per-ceived to convey a (false) perception of ‘‘dispas-sionate authority and status’’ (p. 991). Also,Putnumand Mumby (1993) use the term‘‘scien-tific management’’ to refer to the scientificlanguage of neutrality, detachment and controlthat workers use to talk about emotional interac-tions at work.However, more recently, in our follow-up study,Catherine revisited these discourses of neutralityand objectivity and had some interesting newinsights to share. First, she admitted that ‘‘it ismeaningless to say that emotional behavior isunprofessional [y] because thoughts cannot beseparated from emotion.’’ She emphasized thatknowledge about emotions is an important part ofbecoming and being a professional, especiallybeing a teacher. Eventually, she acknowledgedthat discourses of neutrality earlier in her careerwere largely a ‘‘myth’’:Rules about emotional expression are certainlynot written down. They are socially constructedprobably in individual reactions but not even asa collective group, because we have trouble withcollective group rules in terms of conflictingagendas [y] I think it’s very much a trial anderrory as far as what you can express and notexpress and if it will be understood or hurtsomeone [y] I also think that this notion aboutbeing objective, neutral and so on is a hugemyth (Interview, April 26, 2003).Catherine raises two important issues here: first,emotional rules are socially (and thus historically)constructed in processes of ‘‘trial and error’’; andsecond, discourses of neutrality are a myth andreflect power relations among group interests. Forexample, Catherine described several examples ofhow emotional rules in teaching were negotiatedamong students, teachers, parents and adminis-trators. The most obvious example of this cultureof negotiation was a recent change in theemotional culture of her school. As she explained,I’mlooking at the particular staff now and Ithink a lot of people share their feelings andemotions, compared to what happened a fewyears ago. I’ve been in situations where it’s beenacknowledged that people are responding‘‘emotionally’’ but that’s because they arepassionate about what they believe. [y] I thinkour school is getting better about letting peopletalk about and express their emotions (Inter-view, March 28, 2003).For a long time, being unable to control one’semotions was seen as unprofessional behavior.Catherine now feels freer to think and talk abouther emotions than was once the case. The taboo ofexchanging how one feels (even crying out openly)has weakened, as Catherine explains how she hasgained more individual control over the fears anddangers of expressing emotions openly. Many ofthe fears that she had earlier in her career wereabout losing status and feeling shame for not beingaccepted by others. ‘‘As a young teacher,’’ shesaid, ‘‘I often felt so much discomfort and shame,because my ideas were not appreciated. [y] Andthis made me feel a tremendous sense of disemp