Emotional competences of teachers in preschool facilities

Abstract

Preschool teachers have an important role in child development, considering that, in addition to parents, they are very influential persons who are in continuous contact with children, represent an authority and model children's behavior. Knowledge, skills, and abilities, but also character traits of the teacher (competence), are therefore very important, which is why this paper focuses on the competence of teachers in preschool facilities, with a special accent on their emotional competence, which, as the most important aspect, include recognizing emotions and impulse control in yourself and others. The goal of this research is to determine the development level of teachers' emotional competence. The research encompasses 108 teachers, and the questioning was done using an assessment scale which, using grades 1 to 5, assesses the level of agreement with claims devised based on the theory concept by Suzic (2004). The results of the research have shown that the younger teachers (by age and job experience) have scored higher on the instrument compared to older teachers, on almost all subscales (except recognizing your own and others' emotions as well as confidence). This data show that younger teachers assess their own emotional competencies as better developed compared to older teachers. Based on this data, certain recommendations were derived for further research and pedagogic practice.

Keywords

• emotional competence
• empathy
• preschool teachers
• preschool facilities