The Importance of Emotional Intelligence Skills for Language Teachers

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage and identify one’s emotions and the emotions of others. We measure how well we understand our emotions through emotional intelligence. It is crucially important to know how to interpret our emotions in order to effectively communicate with our colleagues. Emotional intelligence is especially important for teachers as it helps them face certain stressful situations in which their actions can impact their students’ learning and well-being. Also, it helps teachers deal with the new challenges that come with problematic groups of students, crowded classrooms, or a lack of motivation. With the established relationship of Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills and new research evidence linking EI to enhanced instructional performance and as a factor in teacher retention, teachers at all levels could benefit from learning and using EI skills for both personal and professional development. In this chapter, we present a six-dimension model of EI and provide teachers with tried and true intervention strategies to help them increase their EI skills.