The relationship between emotional intelligence and self-efficacy amongst teachers in the Western Cape

Abstract

This study focused on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and self-efficacy amongst teachers in the Western Cape. Teachers are often emotionally overwhelmed by having to meet the demands and expectations set by the education system, parents, colleagues and learners (Coetzee & Jansen, 2007). The South African educational system is in a transitional stage. The lack of discipline in schools, the abolishment of corporal punishment, unmotivated learners, redeployment, retrenchments and retirement packages for teachers, large pupil-teacher ratios and a new curriculum approach all contribute to raising the stress levels of teachers (Ngidi & Sibaya, 2002). Teachers also experience intense, emotion-laden interactions on a daily basis and experience a great number of emotional demands compared to other professionals (Burke & Greenglass, 1995). In particular, primary school teachers in socially deprived areas at times are considered to be more a child-welfare assistant than a conventional school teacher (Eacute & Esteve, 2000). Salovey and Mayer (1990) define EI as the ability of people to deal with their emotions. The definition goes further to suggest that EI is the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one‟s thinking and action (Salovey & Mayer, 1990, as cited in Ream, 2010). Developing an individual‟s self-efficacy creates a regulation of self-awareness, which is essential in developing emotions. According to Bandura (1997), self-awareness creates a strong connection to self-efficacy, as self-efficacy emphasises selfawareness and self-regulation as factors influencing the development of self-efficacy beliefs. EI and self-efficacy merge as an individual interprets organisational realities by the ability to recognise thoughts, feelings and behaviours through self-awareness, regulation and control (Bandura, 1997). In order to enable teachers to cope effectively with these demands, this study aimed to determine the relationship between EI and self-efficacy of teachers.