The Relationship between the Emotional Intelligence and the Academic Achievement of Prospective Teachers

Saira Aijaz Ahmad

(pp. 580-589)

The Asian Conference on Education Official Conference Proceedings 2011

ISSN: 2186-5892 Proceedings URL: http://iafor.org/ace_proceedings.html

iafor The International Academic Forum www.iafor.org

The Third Asian Conference on Education 2011 Official Proceedings

Osaka, Japan

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS Saira Ijaz Ahmad Ph.D Scholar: International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) Ph. No. 0092-321-6260958 Email: [email protected]

   

580

The Third Asian Conference on Education 2011 Official Proceedings

Osaka, Japan

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF THE PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS Saira Ijaz Ahmad Ph.D Scholar: International Islamic University Islamabad (Pakistan) Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT There has been a lot of research on the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. However, an important area that has evaded the attention of researchers is the relationship between the emotional intelligence with the academic achievement of the student teachers. The present study aims to fill that gap. To achieve the desired end, Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLIS) was used after some amendments according to the culture and environment. The scale was pilot tested and the reliability of the scale was 0.774 (Cronbach’s Alpha). The sample for the study comprised of 200 student teachers enrolled in B.Ed. program at Government College for Elementary Teachers Gujrat. The scale was divided into five dimensions: self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship management and over all. Data was coded, tabulated and analyzed using (SPSS-XV) in terms of mean, independent sample t-test and ANOVA. The analysis of data revealed that for the age group 20-23, there is a correlation between academic achievements on the one hand and social awareness and relationship management on the other while for the other age groups there is no correlation between the age groups and the different dimensions of Emotional Intelligence. There is no difference on WLIS in terms of age, gender or qualification. Among the students who have a BA or MA degrees, there is a correlation between academic achievement and relationship management. The study recommends that there is a need for more research in the area of emotional intelligence and teacher education. Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Academic Achievement, Prospective Teachers, Gender, Qualification INTRODUCTION Emotions are very well defined by James (1884). According to him emotions hoisted when the acuity of an exhilarating happening causes to some bodily changes, and whatever we feel about that change is called the Emotions. One of the latest concept associated with Emotional interpretation is the Emotional Intelligence that is defined by various experts and researchers in various ways according to their own perception, experience observation and insight. The term of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is now go back to the screen and one of the most upcoming concept of Emotional Quotient (EQ) that may be called as the degree of Emotional Intelligence is making a powerful influence on the disciplines of psychology and education as well.

   

581

The Third Asian Conference on Education 2011 Official Proceedings

Osaka, Japan

By exploring the history of the term of emotional Intelligence we can discover that It was for the first time in 1990 when Salovey and Mayer have used the term of emotional intelligence in their paper by defining the term as an ability to understand the emotions of a person’s own self and the people around (Mayer and Salovey, 1990). Goleman was the person who gave an unlimited fame to this concept by a publication titled “Emotional Intelligence”. He explained the term of Emotional Intelligence by defining it as: An ability of being motivated; Ability to face the state of frustration; mood regulation; control on the inner self and feelings; and to make the person an optimistic one. In 1995, Goleman have titled the phenomenon of Emotional Intelligence as the most powerful indicator subsequent to Intelligence Quotient for a person’s success in performing some task (Goleman, 1995). Goleman (1998) has proposed a model for Emotional Intelligence. He has presented four domains of Emotional Intelligence: Self Awareness; Self Management; Social Awareness and Relationship Management. •

Self Awareness is such an aspect or state of mind in which a person clearly knows what he/she is going from or feeling. Mayer and Salovey (1994) used the term meta-mood for this state of mind. Many researcher has described that the sense of Self Awareness leads towards Self-Confidence and the level of the phenomenon of Self-Confidence one of the stronger and powerful predictor of a person’s performance as compared to the skills and training previously acquired (Saks, 1995). Another Study made by the Holahan and Sears in 1995 have concluded that the worker possessing self-confidence during their early years of job experience it till their retirement (Holahan & Sear, 1995).

•

Self Management is the ability of a person to regulate him/herself during the feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger etc., which may lead towards the negative thinking (Davidson, Jackson and Kalin, 2000).

•

Social Awareness is the third domains in the model presented by Goleman (1998). This component of emotional intelligence covers the proficiency, competency and capability of Empathy.

•

Relationship Management may be called as social skill which has presented the most complex picture. Damasio (1994) concluded that Empathy and Self-management collectively provide the base or foundation to the Relationship Management aspects of human training.

Goleman (1998) has presented a framework of Emotional Competencies. He has related four domains of Emotional Intelligence (Self Awareness; Self Management; Social Awareness and Relationship Management) with a person’s Personal and social competence. He has concluded that the first two domains of Emotional Intelligence, Self Awareness; Self Management are related to a person’s Personal competence whereas the third and fourth domain of Emotional intelligence are closely related to a person’s social aptitude. The concept of Emotional Intelligence is the latest one in the field of social sciences and education. Emotional intelligence is related to a number of factors in education such as job satisfaction, psychological well-being, academic performance as well as job performance ( Baron, 1997 & 2005; Adeyemi & Adeleye, 2008; Salovey & Mayer, 1990). The concept of Emotional Intelligence is closely related to students’ academic achievements (Salami &    

582

The Third Asian Conference on Education 2011 Official Proceedings

Osaka, Japan

Ogundokun, 2009; Salami, 2004; Salami, 2010; Wong, Wong & Chau, 2001). Mayer & Salovey (1997), Nasir & Masrur (2010) and Naoreen and Gujjar (2009) have highlighted that emotional intelligence is significantly correlated with the academic achievement of the students as well as of the perspective teachers. Ramazan, Gujjar & Ahmad (2011) have concluded that there is no significance relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievements of the students so have presented the findings that Emotional Intelligence is not a predictor for students Academic Achievements. The present study was based on the model proposed by Goleman (1998). His model has presented four domains of Emotional Intelligence, Self Awareness; Self Management; Social Awareness and Relationship Management. An overall dimension of Emotional Intelligence was also added. The aim focus of the study was to investigation the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and academic achievement of the perspective teachers. METHODOLOGY Following methodology was adopted for the study. Population and Sampling 200 student teachers enrolled in B.Ed. program at Government College for Elementary Teachers Gujrat was randomly selected for the purpose of data collection. Tool and Pilot Study Wong & Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLIS) was used after making some amendments according to the local culture and environment. For the purpose of the tool validation, experts in the field of Psychology and Education were contacted to give their valuable suggestions for improvement purposes. For ensuring the reliability of the tool pilot study was done. The degree of reliability of the amended scale was 0.774, checked through Cronbach’s Alpha on SPSS. DATA ANALYSIS Data was analyzed by using SPSS-XV. Table 1: Academic Achievement and Different Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence of Prospective Teachers Academic Achievement and Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence Academic Achievement and Self-awareness Academic Achievement and Self Management Academic Achievement and Social Awareness Academic Achievement and Relationship Management    

583

N

Pearson Correlation

p-value

200 200 200 200

.058 .056 .023 .059

.745 .259 .543 .234

The Third Asian Conference on Education 2011 Official Proceedings

Osaka, Japan

Academic Achievement and Overall Emotional Intelligence Score

200

.045

.756

N= Number of Respondents

Table 1 shows that there is no significant relationship between Academic Achievement and different dimensions of Emotional Intelligence (Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Management and overall) of Prospective Teachers. Table 1: Correlation Statistics among Academic Achievement, Age of the Respondents and Different Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence Pairs Academic Achievement vs. Self-awareness Academic Achievement vs. Self Management Academic Achievement vs. Social Awareness Academic Achievement vs. Relationship Management Academic Achievement vs. Overall Emotional Intelligence Score

Age

N

20-23 Years 24-27 Years 28 and Above Years 20-23 Years 24-27 Years 28 and Above Years 20-23 Years 24-27 Years 28 and Above Years 20-23 Years 24-27 Years 28 and Above Years 20-23 Years 24-27 Years 28 and Above Years

125 40 35 125 40 35 125 40 35 125 40 35 125 40 35

Pearson Correlation .152 -.156 -.182 -.175 -.125 -.110 .198 -.061 -.398 .199 .079 -.285 .192 -.155 -.280

p-value .234 .195 .372 .467 .579 .571 .021* .431 .215 .012* .689 .295 .313 .616 .179

*p