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

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.