On the Relationship between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Emotional Intelligence and Classroom Management Styles across Gender

Classroom management is an indispensable piece of the teacher’s career since a teacher who is unable to manage the classroom effectively cannot cause an efficient teaching. Thus, the present study investigated Iranian EFL teachers’ emotional intelligence and its relationship with classroom management styles in private language institutes. To this end, Martin, et al.’s (1998) Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory (ABCC), and Bar-On’s (1997) Emotional Intelligence (EI) questionnaire were administered to 160 Iranian EFL teachers working in private language institutes. The analysis of the findings through Pearson correlation revealed that interpersonal (r= .239, p= .002), adaptability (r= .318, p= .000), and general mood (r= .162, p= .041) sub-scales had a significant positive correlation with instructional management. Moreover, interpersonal (r= .162, p=.041) and general mood (r= .265, p= .001) sub-scales had a significant positive correlation with the people management. Finally, interpersonal (r= .107, p=.009) and general mood (r= .125, p= .008) sub-scales had a significant positive correlation with the behavior management. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated a significant positive correlation between Iranian EFL teachers’ total emotional intelligence and total classroom management styles. (r= .216, p= .006). Finally, statistically significant differences among teachers classroom management styles (but not their EI) were found with respect to gender. The pedagogical and theoretical implications were accordingly discussed.