How can education professionals become emotionally intelligent?

As schools are social places and learning is an intrinsically social process, the social and emotional competencies of the teachers have great impact on the teaching-learning process. Therefore, the teachers should be well-equipped with the knowledge and practice of social and emotional skills in order to achieve a kind of balance that encourages all students to learn, work and contribute to their fullest potential. Therefore, in order to make more use of emotional intelligence in their teaching, the teachers should learn how to relate the details of emotional intelligence to the context in which they work, to assist themselves in developing their own emotional intelligence and using it with their students. In this paper, the data gathered by document analysis about the steps that should be taken by the teachers like how to relate to their students; shape the emotional environment; listen to the learners effectively; read and respond to the feelings of individuals; develop self-awareness as a teacher; recognize one's prejudices and preferences; improve non-verbal communication and acknowledge and handle one's own feelings will be discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved