Assessment of Emotional Intelligence in a Sample of Prospective Secondary Education Teachers
Source: Journal of Education for Teaching, Vol. 42, No. 2, 123-134, 2016
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
The purpose of this study was to assess the emotional intelligence (EI) of the student in the process of training for teaching in secondary schools.
Methods
The participants were 155 students of 5 different specialities of a Master’s degree in Teacher Training for Secondary Education at the Catholic University San Vicente Mártir in Valencia.
The participants completed two surveys: a self-report questionnaire (TMMS- 24) and a skills performance test (MSCEIT), both based on the EI model of Mayer and Salovey (1997).
Discussion
The findings reveal that the participants show acceptable levels of EI and skills that are adequate to feel, express and understand their emotions according to the criteria that each of the instruments used present: MSCEIT and TMMS-24.
The authors argue that these findings show a team of aspirants to Secondary Education teaching characterized by being emotionally competent with a predominance of strategic EI.
Furthermore, the authors found differences among students enrolled in the various specialities of the Master’s degree in Teacher Training in some aspects of EI, namely in the strategic EI area and the branch of emotional management in the Physical Education and Educational Guidance specialities.
The authors suggest that based on these findings, it becomes necessary to design programmes aimed at developing emotional skills in the training programmes of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees that are linked to subsequent professional performance.
The authors also suggest that according to the differences observed in the different specialities studied, it seems appropriate to provide specific training in accordance with the degrees of origin. The authors argue that training programmes on emotional skills adapted to the needs of each professional profile that gains access to training should be introduced.