الذكاء الوجداني وعلاقته بالقدرة على القيادة التربوية لدى مديري المدارس بسلطنة عمان

Abstract

Based on the importance of school as a fundamental development unit for educational reform on which society primarily based in raising and preparing children for the future, the importance of leadership comes as an essential condition for the effective reform of the associated factors, since the effectiveness of leadership is more linked to the emotional characteristics of leaders than to their cognitive characteristics. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional sensitivity, emotional maturity, emotional competence) and the dimensions of educational leadership (objectivity, use of power, flexibility, understanding of others, knowledge of the principles of communication) among school principals in Oman, besides the analysis of differences between emotional intelligence and educational leadership according to gender and governorate variables. The sample of the study included 336 randomly chosen male and female principals from nine governorates. The Quantitative Approach, the Emotional Intelligence Scale by Shadi and Singh, and the Educational Leadership Ability Scale by Morsi were used. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and Multivariate analysis of variance using SPSS version 23. The results showed there was an effect of emotional intelligence on the ability of educational leadership of school principals, and emotional sensitivity had the most fundamental effect. There was a statistically significant relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional sensitivity, then emotional competence, followed by emotional maturity) and objectivity. Emotional intelligence (emotional sensitivity, followed by emotional maturity) positively affected the use of power, while there was no role for emotional competence. Emotional sensitivity, followed by emotional competence played active roles in the dimension of flexibility, while there was no role for emotional maturity. There was also a statistically significant relationship between dimensions of emotional intelligence and the understanding of others. This study also found positive effect for both emotional sensitivity and emotional maturity, in the knowledge of communication principles, but no effect of emotional competence. As for the differences between emotional intelligence and educational leadership ability according to variables (gender, governorate), the results indicated statistically significant differences in emotional sensitivity according to gender in favor of females. Besides, differences in the level of utilizing educational leadership capabilities (objectivity, knowledge of communication principles) according to gender also in favor of females. This study of the Arab educational environment has provided a measure of emotional intelligence as a feature, alongside the possibility of benefiting from its results in the preparation and the qualification programs for principals.