The impact of educators' emotional intelligence on their roles as managers of change / June Monica Palmer

• Main Author: Palmer, June Monica
• Published: North-West University 2009
• Subjects: Investigate; Impact; Emotional intelligence; Educator's role; Managers of change; Workplace; Success; Change; Mixed schools; Framework; Process; Disadvantaged schools
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2337

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on the educator's role as a manager of change. The study explored the role of the educator as manager of change, to what extent EI contributes to workplace success and how change impacts disadvantaged, mixed and ex-Model C schools. The ultimate purpose was to develop a possible framework to assist educators to manage the process of change in an emotionally intelligent way. In developing such a framework, the focus was on the following aspects: To present an overview of the educator as manager of change. To delineate EI as important contributor to workplace success. To explore the change management process in disadvantaged, mixed and ex-Model C secondary schools in the Gauteng Province and the Eastern Cape Province. The literature study revealed that the emotional well-being of the educator and the learner is increasingly recognised as an important predictor of success in school, family and work life. Furthermore, EI is widely accepted as foundational to getting along with others in the workplace, as well as being a primary managerial and leadership competency. EI is also believed by many to be the determinant of who advances most quickly in an organization, and EI skills may be particularly useful when the organization is undergoing change. Emotionally intelligent managers are therefore better able to cope with the inevitability of change within the organization, tolerate uncertainty, build employee commitment, motivate others, communicate effectively, manage conflict, reduce employees' anxiety and thus enhance performance. The empirical study consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to a sample population of educators and learners in the Gauteng Province and the Eastern Cape Province. It was aimed at gathering information about the process of change in six secondary schools and how educators and learners cope with change. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with members of the School Management Team (SMT) and the School Governing Body (SGB) members at each school. The main findings of the empirical investigation revealed that educators and learners lack the tools to deal with change in school and in their everyday lives effectively. An EI competency framework for change was proposed to assist educators to deal with change in an emotionally intelligent way. The framework was structured to provide Gauteng and Eastern Cape schools with a usable tool for implementing EI so that they may cope effectively with change. === Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.