Socio-Emotional Learners – The Importance of Teacher Competence Development

Teachers, including the subjects involved in the education process, are the key factors in the continuous implementation of socio-emotional learning, as well as responsible for promoting the learning and well-being of their students. Since teachers are on the front line of the battle as the main leaders in managing emotions and building a balance of these feelings, their competencies should also include promoting these skills in an organized way within the classroom. In the school year 2022/2023, a significant number of schools in RNM were involved in training where, in addition to being introduced to the concepts of socio-emotional learning, they were introduced to methods to recognize, understand, treat, express, and learn appropriately emotions. The study conducted among primary school teachers in North Macedonia aimed to examine and present the real situation regarding teachers' competencies. 110 teachers from the country participated in the study as a random sample, a sample which will be organized in the study to answer the research questions. Through the relevant statistical tests Levene's Test and Anova, the findings show statistically significant patterns for their attitude regarding socio-emotional learning, organized and voluntary involvement for the development of the necessary competence, self-initiative for improving the opportunities and conditions for improving their practice, as well as promoting the benefits of integrating this practice into classroom management. Negative attitudes turn out to be closely related to environmental and other associated factors. Our findings indicate the need for greater attention to social-emotional learning in both initial teacher preparation programs and continuing professional development initiatives.