The influence of emotional intelligence on the academic performance of teacher trainees in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

Over the years there has been a decline in the academic performance of children, particularly in the public schools in Ghana. It has also been unclear whether the poor academic performance of children in Ghana is an outcome of the absence of Emotional Intelligence (El) on the part of teachers who are supposed to be inculcated with this value whilst undergoing training in the colleges of education. As a result, this study sought to examine the influence of training on emotional intelligence and the academic performance of teacher trainees in the Central Region of Ghana. Six hundred and forty-eight respondents were earmarked for the study. However, 109 respondents withdraw from the study, making the total number of respondents 539. This gave a response rate of 83.2 percent. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the region, colleges of education and year group. Quasi-experimental design was adopted as the research design, while questionnaire was employed as the instrumentation to elicit primary data. Multivariate Regression and the Multivariate Analysis of Variance were employed as the methods for data analyses and presentation. Findings from the study portrayed that the EI training positively influenced the academic performance of teacher trainees in Mathematics, but not in English Language. The study therefore suggested that EI training should be incorporated into the curriculum of colleges of education in Ghana in order to boost the EI of teacher trainees as a whole.