Between the Teacher's Heart and the Student's Mind: The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills in Primary School

Abstract

This exploratory study investigates the association between Turkish primary school teachers' emotional intelligence (EI) andstudents' social skills (SS). Data were collected from 12 teachers and 321 students and analysed using a multilevel linear mixed-effects model to account for students nested within classrooms. Teachers' total EI scores were positively associated with students'SS scores (B = 0.079, p = 0.006), indicating a modest effect. The findings provide initial multilevel evidence from Turkey and sug-gest that EI-focused professional learning may be relevant for supporting students' social functioning in primary school. Giventhe small number of classrooms/teachers (Level 2, n = 12), the evidence should be interpreted as exploratory and warrants repli-cation with larger, more diverse teacher samples. The study contributes novel multilevel evidence and may inform the integrationof EI-focused components into teacher education and professional development in Turkey.