EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING ON TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS: A PRE-POST COMPARATIVE STUDY

Abstract

The current study evaluated the impact of a structured Emotional Intelligence (EI) training program on teachers’ emotional competencies and teachers’ effectiveness. Using a pretest-posttest design, 100 teachers who were purposefully selected, completed the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) and the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) before and after participating in the McPheat Emotional Intelligence Training Manual (2010).  Results from paired sample t-test showed significant improvement in overall EI (pretest: M=126.85, SD=14.42; posttest: M=139.63, SD=12.85; t₍₉₉₎=13.77, p<.001, Cohen’s d =1.28) and teacher efficacy (pretest: M=7.12, SD=.74; posttest: M=8.75, SD=.65; t₍₉₉₎=9.85, p<.001, Cohen’s d=.98), with large effect sizes. The analyses from EI dimensions reveled significant improvements in all emotional competencies, particularly in Emotional Awareness, Emotional Control, and Emotional Regulation (Cohen’s d >1.09). The results also showed large improvements across instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement which were subscales of the TSES. These results were supported also by qualitative interviews administered with a subsample of 20 teachers. Post-training data reveled enhancement on emotional self‑regulation, empathy, conflict management, resilience, and classroom climate. The teachers mentioned a redefined self-concept regarding their work that included emotional intelligence as critical aspect to effective teaching. Taken together, these results confirm that structured EI training significantly enhances both the emotional and instructional competencies of teachers, suggesting important implications for teacher professional development programs.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, teacher effectiveness, emotional competencies, emotional education, teacher training.

REFERENCES

Bachler, R., Logos, S. P., & Porras, C. (2023). The role of emotions in educational processes: The conceptions of teacher educators. Educational Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145294

Dolev, N., & Leshem, S. (2016). Teachers' emotional intelligence: The impact of training. International Journal of Emotional Education, 8(1), 75-94.

Ganesan, J., Bankar, S., Zalte, S. M., Sharma, T., & Khatreja, K. (2023). Assessing the impact of emotional intelligence development programs on teaching and learning outcomes. European Chemical Bulletin, 12(8), 3503-3516.

Gilar-Corbi, R., Pozo-Rico, T., Pertegal-Felices, M. L., & Sánchez, B. (2018). Emotional intelligence training intervention among trainee teachers: A quasi-experimental study. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 31(33). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-018-0112-1

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bloomsbury.

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. Random House Publishing Group.

Goleman, D. (2006). Social intelligence: The new science of human relationships. Bantam Books.

Gonzales, M. (2022). Emotional intelligence for students, parents, teachers and school leaders: A handbook for the whole school community. Springer Nature Singapore.

Hen, M., & Sharabi-Nov, A. (2014). Teaching the teachers: Emotional intelligence training for teachers. Teaching Education, 25(4), 375–390. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2014.908883

John, O. (1996). On emotional intelligence: A conversation with Daniel Goleman. Educational Leadership, 54(1), 6-11.  https://thoughteconomics.com/daniel-goleman/

Jonker, C. S., & Vosloo, C. (2008). The psychometric properties of the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 34(2), 21-30. Article 689. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v34i2.689

Keefer, K., Parker, J., & Saklofske, D. (2018). Emotional intelligence in education: Integrating research with practice. Springer.

Luiniene, R., Sabajevas, A., Vainoriene, E., Gaveliene, V., Miskelovic, A., Milisauskiene, R., Piguleviciene, J., & Vainoras, A. (2021). Emotional intelligence developing training program’s impact on teachers’ psycho-emotional state. Journal of Complexity in Health Sciences, 4(2), 45–54. https://doi.org/10.21595/chs.2021.22327

Mangal, S. K., & Mangal, S. (2019). Learning and teaching. PHI Learning Private Limited.

Matthews, G. (2020). Developing emotionally intelligent teachers: A panacea for quality teacher education. International Journal on Integrated Education, 3(6), 92-98.

McPheat, S. (2010). Emotional intelligence. MTD Training & Ventus Publishing ApS.

Molero, P., Ortega, F., Jimenez, J., & Valero, G. (2019). Influence of emotional intelligence and burnout syndrome on teachers’ well-being: A systematic review. Social Sciences, 8(6), 185. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8060185

Mousavi, H. S., Yarmohammadi, S., Nosrat, B. A., & Tarasi, Z. (2012). The relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction of physical education teachers. Annals of Biological Research, 3(2), 780–788.

Munna, S. A., & Kalam, M. A. (n.d.). Teaching and learning process to enhance teaching effectiveness: A literature review. International Journal of Humanities and Innovation, 4(1), 1-4.

Nélis, D., Kotsou, I., Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., Weytens, F., Dupuis, P., & Mikolajczak, M. (2011). Increasing emotional competence improves psychological and physical well-being, social relationships, and employability. Emotion, 11(2), 354‑366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021554

Ponmozhi, D., & Ezhilbharathy, T. (2017). Emotional intelligence of school teachers. Journal of Research & Method in Education, 7(3), 37–42.

Pozo-Rico, T., Poveda, R., Gutiérrez-Fresneda, R., Castejón, J. L., & Gilar-Corbi, R. (2023). Revamping teacher training for challenging times: Teachers’ well-being, resilience, emotional intelligence, and innovative methodologies as key teaching competencies. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 1–18.

Pugh, V. (2008). Recognising emotional intelligence in professional standards for teaching. Practitioner Research in Higher Education, 2(1), 3-12.

Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., Haggerty, D. J., Cooper, J. T., Golden, C. J., & Dornheim, L. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(2), 167–177.

Smith, I., & Kamm, B. (2024). Emotional intelligence training. Creative Education, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2024.155058

Sparrow, T., & Knight, A. (2006). Applied EI: The importance of attitudes in developing emotional intelligence. Jossey-Bass.

Stronge, J. H., Ward, T. J., & Grant, L. W. (2011). What makes good teachers good? A cross case analysis of the connection between teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Journal of Teacher Education, 62(4), 339–355.

Todmal, D. A., Rao, S. G., & Gagare, K. (2023). The role of emotional intelligence in effective teaching and classroom management. European Chemical Bulletin, 12(1), 4859-4872.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2001). Teacher efficacy: Capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17, 783–805.

Turi, J. A., Ghani, M. F. A., Sorooshian, S., & Abbas, Q. (2017). The impact of socio-emotional intelligence training on teacher’s performance. Global Business and Economics Research Journal, 6(2), 18–31.

Valente, S., & Lourenço, A. (2020). Conflict in the classroom: How teachers’ emotional intelligence influences conflict management. Kasp, 5. https://doi.org/10.25115/kasp.v1i4.4249

Valente, S., Lourenço, A., & Dominguez-Lara, S. (2022). Teachers in the 21st century: Emotional intelligence skills make the difference. In Pedagogy - Challenges, recent advances, new perspectives, and applications (p. 1–15). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103082