The role of emotional

intelligence in
managing student
discipline in primary
class in a private
school in Beirut.
Contents
Chapter 1....................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Background of the Problem and Lebanon .......................................................................................... 4
1.3 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................................. 6
1.4 Objectives............................................................................................................................................ 6
1.5 Hypothesis........................................................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Scope of the study .............................................................................................................................. 7
1.7 Conceptual Framework ....................................................................................................................... 7
References ................................................................................................................................................ 8
 Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction

In order to build a sense of community in the classroom, a teacher has to utilize a systematic
approach. The sense of community does not exist by default in a classroom. It requires extreme
focus, in-depth insights into classroom practices and behaviors and consistency in discipline
management practices of a teacher (Berenji&Ghafoori, 2015). However, teaching in itself is a
high-pressure job as it involves a significant amount of hard work which is often not
compensated duly, disciplinary issues from students, performance demands from school
administration and at times, uninvited and unjustified criticism from parents, society and
school’s managerial staff (Okeke & Dlamini, 2013). The relation between teachers and students
is complex. It involves teacher serving in multiple capacities by being a mentor, leader,
emotional support and often times a friend. Thus, student discipline managing strategies play an
important part in building a positive teacher-student relationship. Thus, it is important for a
teacher to be competent enough in his own self to better manage classroom behaviors. Teacher’s
emotional intelligence plays an important role in managing classroom behaviors (Goleman,
2010). Ironically, despite the fact that teacher’s EI plays an important role in creating a positive
atmosphere and managing classroom discipline, the education systems act to increase the stress
of the entire education community. Because modern education is based solely on the principles
of cramming, information memorization which values quantitative learnings more than the
qualitative learnings (Nunes‐Valente & Monteiro, 2016). However, such practices are a routine
in majority of the educational systems which convert the learning content into something that
lacks emotions or any active participation of the students (Barrantes‐Elizondo, 2016) which in
return cultivates disinterest and demotivation among the students leading to increased
disciplinary problems in classroom (Extremera& Fernández‐Berrocal, 2004).In this fashion, one
might question what role could the emotional intelligence of teachers play in such situations, in
order to maintain students' discipline.

Emotions are among the three most important mental functions. The other two being motivation,
emotion and cognition. A person with good emotional development would be able to think
positively and rationally. Emotional development is also associated with one’s increase in
productivity. Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (2004) Back in 1997, Meyers and Savory, re-
presented the original concept of EI, which they presented back in 1990, to provide a more
thorough and complete description of the process. The described EI as a process that enables
human beings to unite reasoning with emotions; it involves utilizing emotions to form the basis
for effective and rational reasoning. According to them, EI is formed by the interaction of four
capacities, i.e., a) Perception and evaluation of an emotional expression; b)processing emotions
in the form of feelings; c)relating the emotions to the meaning and context behind them and d)
regulating emotions for one's own self and others in a positive and rational way (Salovey &
Grewal, 2005). Lazarus (2000) states that EI provides coping strategies to manage emotions and
provide problem resolutions by utilizing emotional responses of ones-self and others effectively.
Managing classrooms discipline is one of the greatest challenge teachers face and the one which
can affect the learning atmosphere of the class as a whole. It requires the teacher to be equipped
with a high degree of EI, so he/she could effectively rationalize the process of problem
rationalization without biases and in a positive way (Fredrick, Deitz, Bryceland, & Hummel,
2000). A teacher needs to encourage positive interaction and foster an environment of learning
and motivations, where students take an active part in the process of learning and engage
voluntarily with the process, in order to create a positive atmosphere and better manage
discipline (Jeloudar&Yunus, 2011).

1.2 Background of the Problem and Lebanon

The private schooling system in Lebanon is increasingly taking the lion-share in academic
demographics. Almost 54% of the total schools in Lebanon are Private. In 2016-2017 around
1,177 private schools were operational in Lebanon (RiwaDaou). One might ask why would
parents choose private schools? De Pareja (2011, p.10) asked a similar question in his study:

” Given two goods, one of which is available for free, while the other must paid for, why would
anyone choose the latter unless it was ―better‖ in some sense?”(p.10).

A similar question was asked by Figlio (1997), as to why parents might send their children to
private schools, even if public school productivity were as high as or higher than that of private
schools. He said student academic achievement is but one of many outcomes of schooling about
which parents might be concerned about. He added that parents might seek a more disciplined
environment for their children, might desire for their children to have a religious education, or
might desire a higher probability that their children will be able to participate substantively in
extracurricular activities. Almost all teachers in Lebanon schools hold a university degree. But
the age of teaching staff is different in both the private and public schools of Lebanon. The
private schools of Lebanon have younger teaching staff than that of Public Schools (RiwaDaou).

A study found that EI varied with age Younger and older adults scored lower on ability EI than
middle-aged adults, except for the branch of understanding emotions. These findings strongly
support the idea that both gender and age significantly influence ability EI during aging. (
(Cabello et al., 2016)

A number of studies have been conducted internationally which shed light on the relationship
between EI and discipline management approaches of the classroom.

Velente et al studied the relationship between teachers’ emotional intelligence and classroom
discipline management found that teachers who are more capable of managing their emotions
demonstrate higher levels of discipline management skills.

A study by Yahyazadeh-Jeloudar et al. (2011) showed that the EI level of Primary school
teachers affected their classroom management skills. A study by Tunca (2010) found that the EI
levels of primary school teachers were average.

However, a lack of data on the studies of the private primary schools EI of teachers and their
discipline management is an element of concern for the stakeholder in Lebanon's academic
sector. Since Lebanon’s private school sectors employ a significantly diverse teaching staff it
would be important to evaluate their EI’s and how they affect the student discipline in the class.
 1.3 Problem Statement

The study is an exploratory study on the role of emotional intelligence in managing student
discipline in primary class in a private school in Beirut due to the scarcity of data on the topic.
On the other hand, this study aims to analyze the findings of previous researches on a similar
topic in the Lebanese context.

1.4 Objectives

· To study the emotional intelligence of private primary school teachers.

· To evaluate the role of the teacher’s emotional intelligence in managing student discipline pf
private primary schools.

1.5 Hypothesis

H1: The Self-awareness of primary school teachers improves student discipline in private
primary schools.

H2: The Self-regulation of primary school teachers improves student discipline in private
primary schools.

H3: The empathy of primary school teachers improves student discipline in private primary
schools.

H4: The motivation of primary school teachers improves student discipline in private primary
schools.

H5: The social skills of primary school teachers improve student discipline in private primary
schools.
 1.6 Scope of the study

This study explores the effect, teacher’s emotional intelligence has on student discipline
management in primary private schools. The study gauges the emotional intelligence of teachers.
It also aims to establish the relationship with the attributes of emotional intelligence, i.e., self-
awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and social skills have on the student discipline
in primary private schools of Lebanon. The study confines itself only to the primary private
schools of Lebanon.

1.7 Conceptual Framework

Self-Awareness H1

H2
Self-regulation

H3
Empathy Students Discipline

H4
Motivation

H5

Social Skills
 References
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De Fraja, G. (2001, November) Private and Public Schools Quality of Education and Labour
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Figlio, D.N. (1997) School Choice and Student Performance: Are Private Schools Really Better?
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Lazarus, R. S. (2000). Estrés y emoción, Manejo e implicacionesennuestrasalud. Bilbao: Desclée

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