Xie Sha, Su Beiyi, Yang Siman, Li Jing, Li Hui
Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Nov 25;14(12):1132. doi: 10.3390/bs14121132.
Emotional intelligence significantly influences various aspects of teachers' professional and personal lives, notably affecting preschoolers' social skills and emotional development during formative years. This study utilizes a network analysis approach to explore the complex relationships among four components of emotional intelligence: emotional labor, emotional regulation, professional well-being, and professional identity. Participants included 2069 frontline Chinese teachers (34 males, 2035 females; M = 28.64, SD = 5.98; M years of teaching = 6.88, SD = 5.29) with no leadership roles, categorized into three stages of their careers based on years of teaching experience: novice (0-3 years; = 612), advanced beginners (4-6 years; = 537), and competent (7-40 years; = 920). Findings revealed that joy of teaching, role value, and professional value were identified as the most critical elements within the emotional state network of early childhood education teachers. The strongest connections in teachers' emotional networks were found between school connectedness and joy of teaching ( = 0.474), surface acting behavior and natural acting behavior ( = 0.419), and professional value and professional behavior ( = 0.372). Furthermore, teachers across different career stages exhibited similar characteristics and intrinsic connections among emotional state components. These findings deepen our understanding of the emotional state networks of ECE teachers, highlighting shared features and interconnected mechanisms, and suggest that enhancing teachers' emotional intelligence through targeted professional development can improve both teacher well-being and preschoolers' social-emotional outcomes. Policies that foster strong school connectedness and reduce emotional labor are key to promoting sustained joy in teaching, particularly for novice and advanced beginner teachers.
情商对教师的职业和个人生活的各个方面都有显著影响，尤其会影响学龄前儿童在成长阶段的社交技能和情感发展。本研究采用网络分析方法，探讨情商的四个组成部分之间的复杂关系：情绪劳动、情绪调节、职业幸福感和职业认同感。参与者包括2069名没有领导职务的中国一线教师（34名男性，2035名女性；M = 28.64，SD = 5.98；教龄M = 6.88，SD = 5.29），根据教学经验分为职业生涯的三个阶段：新手（0 - 3年； = 612）、高级新手（4 - 6年； = 537）和胜任者（7 - 40年； = 920）。研究结果表明，教学乐趣、角色价值和职业价值被确定为幼儿教育教师情绪状态网络中最关键的要素。教师情绪网络中最强的联系存在于学校归属感与教学乐趣之间（ = 0.474）、表面行为与自然行为之间（ = 0.419）以及职业价值与职业行为之间（ = 0.372）。此外，不同职业阶段的教师在情绪状态组成部分之间表现出相似的特征和内在联系。这些发现加深了我们对幼儿教育教师情绪状态网络的理解，突出了共同特征和相互关联的机制，并表明通过有针对性的专业发展提高教师的情商可以改善教师的幸福感和学龄前儿童的社会情感成果。促进强大的学校归属感和减少情绪劳动的政策是促进持续教学乐趣的关键，特别是对于新手和高级新手教师。
