Language teachers are bound to perform various emotions, known as emotional labor (EL), throughout their teaching experiences. However, despite growing interest in recent years, primary teachers’ emotions have been persistently ignored. This study thus aims to explore the emotional experiences of primary novice English teachers in Indonesia who also teach in shadow education and how they construct their professional identity while navigating EL. Employing a case study design, it seeks to deepen the understanding of teachers’ emotional labor processes by aligning data from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and indirect observations with the emerging theory of teachers’ professional identity (TPI). Drawing upon the TPI construction framework (Beijaard et al., 2004; Canrinus et al., 2012; Hong, 2010; Lamote et al., 2010; Lu et al., 2024), findings reveal that emotional labor experiences, including positive and negative emotions, significantly construct TPI, which consists of instructional beliefs, self-efficacy, and commitment, across three different EL frequency levels: high, moderate, and low. Teachers with high emotional regulation balance deep and surface acting, leading to stronger instructional beliefs, confidence, and sustained commitment. Nevertheless, those with moderate and low emotional regulation face inconsistencies in instructional beliefs, fluctuating self-efficacy, and challenges in long-term commitment. Yet, the lowest data still show high short-term commitment. These findings highlight the essential role of emotional regulation in novice teachers’ professional identity construction. The study suggests integrating emotional regulation strategies into teacher education programs and fostering institutional support systems to enhance teachers' resilience and long-term professional engagement. Theoretically, it extends the existing literature by demonstrating how varying levels of emotional frequency level result in distinct professional identity trajectories, emphasizing the need for further research on its long-term impact on teachers’ professional identity.
