Teachers in the 21st Century: Emotional Intelligence Skills Make the Difference

*Sabina N. Valente, Abílio A. Lourenço and Sergio Dominguez-Lara*

## **Abstract**

Teaching is intrinsically an emotional practice, given the centrality of emotions in the teaching and learning process. That way, teachers in the 21st century increasingly have to have skills for responding to classroom emotional situations. Therefore, the way teachers shape and handle their emotional state and those of their learners is central to educational success. Focused on studies carried out that suggest teachers' emotional intelligence like a success indicator for a healthy pedagogical relationship, this chapter makes a reflective approach to the meaning of teachers' emotional intelligence skills in their professional activity (e.g., professional well-being, teacherstudent relationship, and student academic achievement). Consequently, it will be necessary to integrate emotional skills in the pre-service teachers' curriculum as skills needed for teaching practice and also to build capacity and support students during challenging times that constantly changing.

**Keywords:** teachers', emotional intelligence skills, pedagogical practice, pre-service teachers' training

#### **1. Introduction**

In a society marked by the rapid globalization of information and knowledge, anticipating changes in education requires the interpretation of the necessary skills to be developed in teachers, for the benefit of training that meets their needs. To this challenge, others are added, such as the one currently experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which, since 2020, has caused changes at a personal, professional, and social level. All these changes require skills from teachers to face the difficulties of new contexts and ensure the success of the teaching and learning process.

Moreover, over the last years, social and emotional skills have been rising on the education policy agenda and in the public debate, specifically to the need to develop these skills in students. In the vision for education future in 2030, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) views essential learner qualities as the acquisition of skills to embrace complex challenges and the development of the person as a whole, valuing common prosperity, sustainability, and wellbeing [1].

To achieve this vision, a varied set of skills and competencies is needed, that would allow learners to act as "change agents", among which are skills socio and emotional. However, it should be noted that good training of students requires good teachers' training. Teachers are critical to the successful implementation of any new skills development approach, and it is important that teacher training is aware of and responsive to teachers' personal and professional needs in building new skills. In this regard, for a teacher to be effective, their academic training is only complete when they acquire the knowledge that allows them to apply and develop emotional skills in themselves and in their students [2]. But for the majority of teachers, emotional skills development remains a matter of concern, since there is a lack of learning these skills in the academic curricula in teachers' training.

In this sense, it is relevant to emphasize the meaning of teachers' emotional intelligence (EI) skills in the teaching role, since their work requires a high level of sensitivity to their own and their students' emotions. Thus, teachers' EI facilitates an excellent quality of interpersonal relationships, provides a steady and wholesome classroom environment [3], and promotes higher levels of work engagement [4].

Recognizing that teachers' professional performance is controlled by emotional behaviors, as teaching deals with emotional and cognitive, this chapter approaches a set of studies about teachers' EI advantages in the educational context. So, a reflection is made about the relevance of teachers' EI skills in the 21st century. First, a brief reference is made to the role of emotions in the teaching and learning process. Second, EI theoretical foundations are described, with special emphasis on Mayer and Salovey's model [5]. Next, to highlight the importance of training to develop teachers' emotional skills, different evidence is presented on the meaning of teachers' EI in the 21st century, namely in personal and professional well-being; professional performance; teacherstudent relationship; and student academic achievement. In addition, some scientifically validated intervention programs based on a solid theoretical model of EI are presented.

#### **2. Emotions in the teaching and learning process**

Teaching and learning are both immersed in emotions. The classroom represents a very complex social context where teachers and students continually interact with and respond to each other's behaviors. Moreover, teachers and students bring their experiences, expectations, beliefs, and purposes to these interactions [6].

In the past, Platonic thought held that society's essential task was to teach young people to find pleasure in learning activities, just as all learning had to have an emotional basis. Consequently, the OECD has included in the International Student Assessment Programme, the evaluation of students' well-being. In this report, it is problematized whether students are happy, whether students feel part of the school, and how much the quality of interpersonal relationships influences their academic performance [7]. The evidence of such issues is centered on the understanding that students pass most of their time in a school context and that schools should not only be spaces for academic acquisition but mainly conceived as environments conducive to the development of personal, social, and emotional skills, indispensable for students to thrive and be happy.

In addition, neuroscience defends that the essential element for learning is emotion, as without emotion there is no curiosity, no attention, no learning, and no memory [8]. So, in the field of emotions, it is possible to state that is the basis of learning [9]. Emotions have a strong effect on learning: positive emotions can arouse

#### *Teachers in the 21st Century: Emotional Intelligence Skills Make the Difference DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103082*

students' engagement and promote the acquisition of academic skills, while negative emotions can distract students from learning [8]. Thus, it is important to clarify that emotions can facilitate or hinder learning, and this which depends on the emotional environment or context that the teacher provides. In this context, it should be noted that the teachers' emotions have significant consequences on the students' emotions.

Teaching is a very demanding activity and requires hard emotional work. Since teachers frequently have to manage many emotional situations simultaneously in the classroom. The teacher provides students with emotional support, promotes a stimulating classroom environment, and manages disruptive behavior effectively during the teaching and learning process [10, 11]. Consequently, emotional challenges often origins their stress, frustration, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention [12]. Therefore, the ability to use emotional processes adaptively or to be emotionally intelligent is a fundamental skill for all teachers [13, 14], as educational work also includes knowing how to be empathetic, and emotionally support students, whether in the classroom work, as well in students' problems. That way, teachers also have to know how to express and manage emotions correctly during classes, as well knowing how to recognize and identify students' emotions.

Given the centrality of emotions to the teaching and learning process, to be able to develop effective teaching practice, emotionally educate students, and remain emotionally healthy, teachers need to learn to be emotionally intelligent. Therefore, experiencing positive emotions may prompt teachers to build positive emotional connections with students, parents, and/or teaching staff members, leading to positive thinking and problem solving [15], which allows the teachers to effectively deal with some of the most typical classroom conflicts [14].

Considering the role of emotions in the teaching and learning process, the study of teachers' emotions increased notably in the 1990s, which led researchers to pay more attention to the relevance of EI in teaching work. Thus, the integration of emotional skills with the cognitive component is evident, according to the great importance to feelings and emotions in the education context.

### **3. Theoretical foundations of emotional intelligence**

Salovey and Mayer [16], based on studies related to emotions, which show that they have adaptive functions, refer that the intelligence quotient does not encompass the competencies that contribute to intelligent and adaptive behavior, and that there are individual differences in the way individuals deal with emotions and organize emotional information. Thus, the concept of EI was elaborated by the authors from the literature on cognition and emotion, in social interaction processes, through a solid theoretical basis. That way, the EI concept is introduced in the academic world through Salovey and Mayer, pioneers in the EI study, and the first to propose a theoretical EI model, initially defined as "an ability to monitor one's own as well as other people's individual feelings and emotions, discriminate between them and use them in ways that guide thought and actions" ([16], p. 189).

When presenting the theoretical EI model that qualifies intelligence as emotional, Salovey and Mayer [16] argued that it would be important, for a broader understanding of human intelligence, to consider an area of expertise linked to emotional processing, referring to the mechanisms of perception the information contained in emotions, the regulation of their influence on mental activity and the storage and use of knowledge about this information.

Afterward, Mayer and Salovey [5] reformulated the EI model and defined EI as "the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth" ([5], p. 10). Each skill has a hierarchical organization, according to the complexity of the processes involved, thus, higher-level skills are related to awareness and management of emotions, and lower-level skills correspond to knowing how to perceive and express emotions.

It should be noted that there are numerous definitions of EI, this way different theoretical models were developed [5, 17–21]. However, despite different EI concepts, the different theoretical models have several common points [22]: all models tend to conceptualize EI in components, which can be understood as dispositional traits or as learning-dependent skills; many of these components are repeated in all the models, although they are understood as emotional processing phases (e.g., awareness and understanding of emotions, expression, and emotional regulation); and all models distinguish between an intrapersonal component and an interpersonal component, one that affects how we experience emotions in ourselves, how they impact us and what we do with them, and another that affects how we experience the emotions of others.

Despite the existence of various EI models, it is worth noting that Mayer and Salovey's EI model continues to be the most widely used and accepted definition [23] since it is considered the model that presents greater scientific rigor [24].

It is important to note that Mayer and Salovey's model understands EI as a competence that can be learned and developed, and that consists of the adaptive use of emotional information [22]. The ultimate goal of this adaptive use of emotional information is to solve personal and interpersonal problems, allowing optimal adaptation to the environment [25].

#### **4. Teacher's emotional intelligence in the 21st century**

In three decades of EI's scientific existence, this has been seen as an important component of teaching activity, and several studies show that EI is one of the personality traits that affect the teachers' pedagogical practice [26, 27].

The emotional reality of teachers confirms that they exercise their work in a society full of imbalances from different origins and in schools that, during successive reforms, are slow to find an orientation that meets social needs, with high levels of stress involved in the educational process [28]. Thus, the work demands increase in recent decades forces teachers to emotionally adjust to the different roles that involve greater participation and decision-making inherent to pedagogical practice.

All social changes place teachers in situations that surpass them and for which they were not prepared throughout their academic training. The demands placed on schools today are not only formative issues but also emotional, personal, and social issues. Thus, it is evident that the needs of society in the 21st century are different from those of the last century. In this context, teachers develop their work activity surrounded by imbalances of different natures, which require great emotional skills in the development of their teaching practice [29]. The COVID-19 pandemic was added to this reality, which contributed more to the emotional wear and tear of everyone involved in the teaching process. Moreover, in the school context, teachers are the main emotional leaders of students, and their ability to perceive, understand and

#### *Teachers in the 21st Century: Emotional Intelligence Skills Make the Difference DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103082*

regulate students' emotions and their own is the best index of the class's emotional balance [30]. That way, EI abilities complement the teachers' skills, and a growing studies number indicate that teachers' EI is particularly important in personal and professional well-being [26], in professional performance [31], in the teacher-student relationship [32], and to the student academic achievement [33].

Regarding personal and professional well-being it is important to understand that teaching requires the strategies applied for the perception, understanding, and management of emotions and that insubordination, confrontation with students, problems with the school, and loss of authority led teachers to the limit of their resistance. So, teachers' stress is "the experience by a teacher of unpleasant, negative emotions, such as anger, tension, frustration, or depression, resulting from some aspect of work as a teacher" ([34], p. 28). It should be noted that teacher stress, due to the influence it has, can lead to burnout or/and complete abandonment of teaching [35, 36].

Previous studies have examined a wide range of potential variables that impacted teacher stress, including the school environment, classroom, instructional factors [36], the loss of credibility in teachers' work, and the low social and professional status, among others, diminish teachers' ability to react in the face of such instability [37]. That way, being a teacher in the 21st century implies exercising a work that, according to social demands, proves to be an activity of constant wear and tear, with harmful consequences for physical and mental health. This constant wear gives rise to negative emotions, with four being the chronic emotions (anxiety, frustration, guilt, and anger) most felt by teachers [2]. These constantly lead to stress, depression, and burnout that result in personal and professional unease.

Studies show that before the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching was a stressful job, with close to 8% of United States teachers leaving teaching [38, 39], and with 40–50% leaving teaching during the first 5 years [36]. Also, data from the Teachers in Europe: Careers, Development and Well-being report show that stress is common among European teachers [40]. This report included teachers from all 27 European Union Member States, and teachers from the United Kingdom, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, and Turkey. It should be noted that the sample was collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, during 2018–2020. The OECD ([41], p. 102) underlines those European teachers experiencing high levels of stress at work are more likely to report their intention to leave teaching and move to other careers in the five years that follow. Also, a systematic review, about burnout in Portuguese teachers, revealed the scarcity of studies in this country. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the incidence of burnout in Portuguese teachers is significant [42].

Furthermore, personal characteristics, like lack of EI are considered teachers' stress and burnout antecedents [35], and scientifically validated training programs prove that training teachers' EI skills are an effective technique to improve individual resistance to stress, as well as to combat burnout [13].

Therefore, EI constitutes a key variable to understand and improve the competence of teachers by favoring their adjustment and reducing the level of burnout they experience [43]. Different studies also show that teachers' EI is one of the personal resources related to personal and professional well-being: stress and burnout [35, 44], to work engagement [26, 33, 45], to general well-being [45] to teaching satisfaction [46], happiness and job satisfaction [27].

Regarding professional performance, studies elaborated in various countries show that EI plays a significant role in teaching [47], is positively correlated with teacher's efficacy [33, 48, 49], with teacher performance [31], and the efficacy for classroom

management [11, 50], and also the need to prepare for the management of unpredictable and difficult-to-manage situations (e.g., conflict) in the classroom context [29]. Other studies found that teachers who tend to have higher levels of EI employ the most appropriate conflict management strategies for classroom managing conflict [29, 51]. Therefore, teachers with more EI develop more resilient strategies to deal with setbacks and adversities that may arise in the educational context [4]. Besides, the results of 1281 Chinese school teachers also show that teachers' EI has a significant impact on professional performance [46].

Moreover, the comparative study between the teachers' EI of the United Kingdom and India demonstrates that an increase of EI levels leads to work productivity and effectiveness [32]. Also, a study with teachers from Spain shows that teachers with higher EI scores show greater coping resilience and higher work engagement levels [4]. Similarly, Wu and collaborators' [49] study, with Chinese middle school teachers, demonstrated that teachers' emotionally intelligent have a greater motivation to teach and fewer intentions to quit the profession. Additionally, the relationship between teacher EI and work commitment has also been studied, with IE having a positive effect on teachers' energy, focus, and persistence [26, 52].

As previously seen, teaching is an emotional activity, involving the teaching work a significant emotional charge to facilitate and optimize the quality of interpersonal relationships in pedagogical practice. According to Extremera and Fernández-Berrocal [37] teachers' EI has a medium and long-term impact on curricular achievements and student outcomes. Thus, regarding teacher-student relationships, EI make positive effects on interpersonal relationships [29], and studies show that teachers' EI influences good relationship with students [32], provide a steady and wholesome classroom environment [3], and is related to the promotion of an appropriate classroom emotional climate, which provides increased motivation to learn, and increased academic performance [50]. Likewise, Maamari and Majdalani [53] study show the importance of having teachers emotionally intelligent to increase students' EI and, also their satisfaction.

Moreover, teachers' positive emotions improved the relationship with their students [10] and provided the conception of a classroom climate that enhances cooperation, facilitating the increase of positive emotions and the creation of a classroom climate favorable to learning. Therefore, teachers' emotional skills in the pedagogical relationship generate emotions and behavior in students. Teachers increasingly respond to emotional experiences in the pedagogical practice, experiences that have serious consequences for the learning process. Consequently, teachers' EI skills also contribute to students' school achievement [10, 33]. Besides, teachers recognized the importance of EI and how it becomes a crucial constituent of the teaching-learning process [54].

That way, teachers' EI skills are what lead to positive educational measures in 21st century classrooms, and for teachers is the kind of skills that has the potential to generate actions that can change lives.
