Emotional Intelligence as a Protective Factor in Times of Educational Reforms: First Steps of an Investigation on Italian High-School Teachers

As several international researches have shown, the affective domain plays a crucial role in teaching, especially in times of educational reforms that represent a potential stressor. The purpose of this article is to present the preliminary phases of a work in progress consisting of a series of studies about some psychological aspects of the teaching profession coping with change. Inspired by a recent, substantial reform of the Italian high-school system, our research project is aimed at expanding the body of findings on teacher emotional intelligence, an emerging topic in educational psychology, as it is demonstrated by a flourishing literature. The relationships between emotional intelligence, self-efficacy beliefs, job satisfaction and burnout are the other areas included in our investigation. A sample of about 350 Italian highschool teachers was asked to complete anonymously a battery of self-report questionnaires. Data analyses are currently being performed. Our work intends to be a significant contribution to the debate about emotional intelligence as a plausible protective factor against teachers’ vulnerability heightened by an increased performativity demand.