Exploring the Relation between Teacher Candidates’ Emotional Intelligence and their Educational Practices: A Case Study in Greece

Classroom management is a difficult task for teacher candidates and a significant barrier to being an effective teacher. The aim of this study was twofold: a) to examine the relation between student teachers’ emotional intelligence and their educational practices and b) whether emotional intelligence significantly predicted classroom management. The instruments used for data collection were TEIQue, a self-report questionnaire that measures trait emotional intelligence, and TEP-Q, a self-report questionnaire assessing three dimensions of classroom management: communication, organization, relationship. The sample of the study was comprised of third year undergraduate student teachers in the Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, who had their first experience with teaching practice at primary schools. Descriptive statistics and correlational models showed that there is a statistically significant correlation between the factors. In fact, student teachers’ emotional intelligence predicted classroom management. Research results have pedagogical implications, while the impact of the research on practice and policy highlights the urge of social and emotional interventions during teachers’ both initial and ongoing education as well as the need to promote an educational design that embraces the goals of social and emotional learning at schools.