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Feeling Their Way through It: Educators' Emotions and Ethical Sensemaking of Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act

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Title: Feeling Their Way through It: Educators' Emotions and Ethical Sensemaking of Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act
Language: English
Authors: Renee Moran (ORCID 0000-0002-4255-3653), Natalia A. Ward (ORCID 0000-0002-0355-9278), Amber N. Warren (ORCID 0000-0001-6454-2368)
Source: Teachers College Record. 2026 128(2):3-27.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 25
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
Secondary Education
High Schools
Descriptors: Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Ethics, Teacher Attitudes, Psychological Patterns, Educational Legislation, State Legislation, Instructional Materials, Instructional Material Evaluation, Elementary School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, High School Teachers, Educational Policy
Geographic Terms: Tennessee
DOI: 10.1177/01614681261427089
ISSN: 0161-4681
1467-9620
Abstract: Context: The study is situated in Tennessee, following the 2022 passage of the Age-Appropriate Materials Act (AAMA). This legislation required schools to maintain and publicly disclose a complete list of educational materials while implementing review processes to ensure content appropriateness relative to student age and maturity levels. The AAMA's scope extended beyond school library collections to encompass all materials accessible to students, including those in teachers' classrooms. Purpose: This study investigates how educators make sense of ethical tensions created by Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022, with attention to how emotions shape their reasoning, decisions, and actions. By centering educators' lived experiences, the study contributes to understandings of ethics, affect, and professional agency in policy-constrained contexts. Research Design: The data set for this study comprises 30 semi-structured interviews conducted in summer 2023 with educators across Tennessee. Guided by the theoretical frame of ethical sensemaking and using reflexive thematic analysis, the study examines how participants interpret, negotiate, and respond to ethical tensions between professional values and policy mandates. Conclusions: Educators' engagement with education policy is shaped through emotionally laden processes of ethical sensemaking, in which teachers actively negotiate tensions between professional values, institutional constraint, and care for students. These negotiations often take the form of "ethical truces" that sustain moral agency, enabling educators to enact ethical responsibility through subtle, relational, and often invisible forms of advocacy. Supporting educators in these contexts requires greater attention to the emotional labor of ethical decision-making and to how professional agency is cultivated in contemporary policy environments.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1502765
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: Feeling Their Way through It: Educators' Emotions and Ethical Sensemaking of Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Renee+Moran%22">Renee Moran</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4255-3653">0000-0002-4255-3653</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Natalia+A%2E+Ward%22">Natalia A. Ward</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0355-9278">0000-0002-0355-9278</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amber+N%2E+Warren%22">Amber N. Warren</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6454-2368">0000-0001-6454-2368</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Teachers+College+Record%22"><i>Teachers College Record</i></searchLink>. 2026 128(2):3-27.
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  Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
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  Data: Y
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  Label: Page Count
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  Data: 25
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
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  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Junior+High+Schools%22">Junior High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Developmentally+Appropriate+Practices%22">Developmentally Appropriate Practices</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethics%22">Ethics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Attitudes%22">Teacher Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychological+Patterns%22">Psychological Patterns</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Legislation%22">Educational Legislation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22State+Legislation%22">State Legislation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Instructional+Materials%22">Instructional Materials</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Instructional+Material+Evaluation%22">Instructional Material Evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Teachers%22">Elementary School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Middle+School+Teachers%22">Middle School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Teachers%22">High School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Policy%22">Educational Policy</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tennessee%22">Tennessee</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
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  Data: 10.1177/01614681261427089
– Name: ISSN
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  Data: 0161-4681<br />1467-9620
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Context: The study is situated in Tennessee, following the 2022 passage of the Age-Appropriate Materials Act (AAMA). This legislation required schools to maintain and publicly disclose a complete list of educational materials while implementing review processes to ensure content appropriateness relative to student age and maturity levels. The AAMA's scope extended beyond school library collections to encompass all materials accessible to students, including those in teachers' classrooms. Purpose: This study investigates how educators make sense of ethical tensions created by Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022, with attention to how emotions shape their reasoning, decisions, and actions. By centering educators' lived experiences, the study contributes to understandings of ethics, affect, and professional agency in policy-constrained contexts. Research Design: The data set for this study comprises 30 semi-structured interviews conducted in summer 2023 with educators across Tennessee. Guided by the theoretical frame of ethical sensemaking and using reflexive thematic analysis, the study examines how participants interpret, negotiate, and respond to ethical tensions between professional values and policy mandates. Conclusions: Educators' engagement with education policy is shaped through emotionally laden processes of ethical sensemaking, in which teachers actively negotiate tensions between professional values, institutional constraint, and care for students. These negotiations often take the form of "ethical truces" that sustain moral agency, enabling educators to enact ethical responsibility through subtle, relational, and often invisible forms of advocacy. Supporting educators in these contexts requires greater attention to the emotional labor of ethical decision-making and to how professional agency is cultivated in contemporary policy environments.
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: EJ1502765
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        Value: 10.1177/01614681261427089
    Languages:
      – Text: English
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      Pagination:
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ethics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teacher Attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: Psychological Patterns
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      – SubjectFull: Instructional Material Evaluation
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      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Teachers
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      – SubjectFull: Middle School Teachers
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      – SubjectFull: High School Teachers
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      – SubjectFull: Educational Policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Tennessee
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      – TitleFull: Feeling Their Way through It: Educators' Emotions and Ethical Sensemaking of Tennessee's Age-Appropriate Materials Act
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