Students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties : the role of teachers’ social and emotional learning and teacher-student relationships

Abstract

This study investigates how teachers’ perceptions of Emotional Intelligence (EI), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills, and teacher-student relationships relate to students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties. We examined teachers and students’ perceptions of students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties and the degree of agreement between them. Ninety-eight elementary teachers from state schools in central Greece completed the Self-Rated Emotional Intelligence Scale (SREIS), the Teacher SEL Beliefs Scale, the Student-Teacher Relationships Scale - Short Form (STRS-SF), and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, teacher version) for 617 students, aged between 6 and 11 years. Three hundred and eight 11 year old students completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, student version). Regression analysis revealed that teachers’ perceptions of EI and SEL skills were not related to students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties, while teacher-student conflictual relationships were mainly linked to these difficulties. This finding was common both to teachers and students’ perceptions. We found low agreement between teachers and students’ perceptions of these difficulties. The paper suggests new insights into the interpretation of students’ adjustment at school, and underscores the importance of teacher-training in helping teachers to develop personal and professional skills.