The Importance Of Emotional Intelligence In Teachers

Emotional guidance in teachers is extremely important. After all, it prevents stress. At the same time, it helps them to deal with complicated situations in the classroom without influencing the students. The importance of emotional intelligence in teachers is therefore undeniable.

However, some teachers lack emotional intelligence. They rebuke the students and feel no feeling no empathy. Instead of saying “I’m here if you need help” they punish them. They even aggressively confront their students.

These behaviors are the result of their inability to direct their own emotions. We don’t learn this at home or in school. That is why so many people lack these guiding emotional skills.

Putting ourselves in the situation of teachers

However, we have not written this article to blame teachers. Most of them give the maximum of themselves with the tools they have. In many cases, teachers’ lack of emotional intelligence also contributes to the fear of facing challenges.

After all, students can have problems at home. Parents do not come to parent meetings with teachers. Some parents are also too demanding and always ask why their children get scores that they think are “low”.

In addition, there are more cases of bullying at school every day. Who prepares teachers to deal with these violent situations? Hardly any teacher has experience with the emotional management of problematic groups. Nevertheless, a large majority of them have already experienced this type of situation.

The emotional management of a problematic group starts with the management of the teacher’s own emotions. Teachers don’t become machines when they enter the classroom. They also don’t leave their emotions at the door. They teach with their own dreams but also with their own concerns.

On the other hand , many pupils leave school because the teachers have lost their enthusiasm. Teachers can really influence students. It can even go as far as allowing students to benefit from the fact that their teachers change and get better. Emotional intelligence in teachers is therefore very important.

Fundamental skills to improve emotional intelligence in teachers

Emotionally intelligent people possess five fundamental skills. To describe them one by one, we take our inspiration from the work of Salovey. He classified the skills in this order:

• Self-knowledge: Knowing our own emotions and their relationship to our thoughts and actions will make us more self-aware.
• Emotional Control: This makes it possible to control our impulsiveness. Sometimes it can occur in stressful or chaotic situations in the classroom.
• The ability to motivate: This skill helps teachers understand how to motivate themselves. This ensures that they can also motivate their students.
• Empathy: It helps teachers to communicate with and understand the students. That student who does not open his book in class may be in the midst of his parents’ divorce. Perhaps his parents pay little attention to him.

• Social and leadership skills: These allow to interact with students in effective ways. It is a way of communication without losing authority.

Emotional intelligence protects against stress

Emotional intelligence helps teachers deal with certain stressful situations. In those situations, their actions can affect the learning process and the well-being of the students. It also helps them cope with the new challenges that come with problematic student groups, overcrowded classrooms or a lack of motivation.

We live in a society that values ​​education. Dealing with students’ problems in a more understanding way is therefore important. Teachers have more influence than we think. Emotional intelligence in teachers is therefore very important.

It is not easy to be a teacher. Too many teaching hours, too many students and feelings of fear determine the daily life of a teacher.

However, we must not forget that many years ago we were students ourselves. Then we had our own problems. We were used to thinking “no one understands me. ”

How wonderful it would have been if we could have just talked to the teacher at the end of the lesson instead of getting condescending looks. The teachers would have shown us that we are special and that they supported us.