DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT TO ASSESS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Abstract

The emotional intelligence (EI) of both children and instructors has a significant influence in determining how effectively they learn and how thoroughly they develop. Despite the fact that primary school teachers are confronted with a unique set of emotional demands in their work with young kids, there is a scarcity of measures that are meant to evaluate emotional intelligence (EI) among these educators. The purpose of this study was to develop and verify a novel EI assessment instrument that was specifically designed for elementary school teachers. The research used a mixed-methods approach. Initially, the process of item development was initiated by doing a literature review and having conversations with subject matter experts. In order to fine-tune the instrument, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to the responses obtained from two separate samples of primary school teachers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) uncovered a five-component structure that accounted for 62% of the variance. These variables include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. The structure was shown to be responsible for the overall variation. This structure was supported by the fit indices obtained from the CFA, which were CFI=0.93, TLI=0.92, and RMSEA=0.06. The instrument had a high level of internal consistency, as seen by Cronbach's alpha values that ranged from 0.85 to 0.90 across several parameters. In addition to this, there was a significant link between the instrument and evaluations of both the efficacy of the instructor and the participation of the students. The validated instrument offers a trustworthy evaluation of emotional intelligence (EI) in elementary school teachers and shows a great deal of potential for use in professional development programmes for educators. It is possible for educational institutions to enhance the relationships between teachers and students as well as the academic performance of students by placing a focus on emotional intelligence (EI) and providing teachers with more tools to control classroom dynamics and create an atmosphere that is conducive of learning.