Emotional Knowledge and perception in a sample of future teachers

Abstract

Given the importance that research has given to the stimulation of Emotional Intelligence (EI) from the first instructional levels, it is essential to take into account the knowledge of EI that university students in Education acquire during their training. Therefore, this study analyses the knowledge of EI and the attitude towards its learning in a sample of future teachers according to their self-perceived level of EI. It also aims to identify the participants’ perception of the importance of EI work in the classroom and the moments in which they consider its implementation to be most appropriate. The study involved 183 students from the Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education and from the joint programme of official degree studies in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education, from two university centres in the Region of Murcia (Spain), of whom 38 were boys (20.80 %), aged between 18 and 56 years (M = 21.86; SD = 5.31). In order to respond to the proposed objectives, different instruments were used; on the one hand, a questionnaire designed ad-hoc, in which the level of training in EI presented by the students was considered, as well as their attitude towards learning EI. On the other hand, the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) was used. The results show that those students who perceive themselves as more emotionally competent also perceive themselves as having greater knowledge of how to stimulate EI in their future students.