Abstract

Significantly, teachers of various educational settings play crucial roles in actualizing the purposes of education.In ensuring the effective attainment of the noble mission of learning and teaching, considerable emphasis mustbe given to teachers’ well-being notably their emotional intelligence (EI). In recent years there is growingempirical evidence that EI contributes significantly to performance and productivity. However, literature on therole of EI in enhancing teachers’ efficacy in Malaysia is scarce. This study attempts to fill this academic gap byexamining the potential of self-awareness, one of Goleman’s EI domains among teachers. Specifically, this studyaims to determine the elements of self-awareness that could enhance teachers’ efficacy from Malaysianperspective. Three focus group interviews were conducted with participants of both genders who comprise ofyoung and old teachers, inexperience and experienced teachers from three different schools. This study findsintent as important sub-domain of self-awareness in Malaysian context thus extended the earlier modeldeveloped by Goleman. Significantly this study may be beneficial to spread awareness on the vitality of EI toimprove psychological health and teaching success and, in turn, positive student outcomes. This study suggestsintegrated EI training that does not only increase teachers’ efficacy but also may decrease burnout syndromesand job dissatisfaction.

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