Emotional Capital and Emotional Work: Emotional Competencies as

Teacher Professional Competencies to Teach for Learning

In the new learning economy context and its rapid diffusion of knowledge, the nature of work is
changing in response to the processes of globalisation, the availability of information technologies and
instant communication networks. Teachers’ work, as for other jobs, has not escaped the need to
change. Changes contribute to the intensification and pressure of people work. In such a changing
context, the success of individuals, teacher and students-future workers as well, may reside not only
in the ability to learn but, also, to cope with new rhythm, tensions and pressures in labor, therefore in
the ability to share and work together in a smooth and trust atmosphere, involving a balance between
personal and social emotional competencies. In school, the teachers’ work has been redesigned, and
the skills teacher needs today are different from the skills teachers needed in the past. Indeed, in
teachers’ work, number of changes and tensions can be traced which implies new skills and
professional competencies. For instance, coaching, supporting, mentoring and developing other staff
have become increasingly important in teachers’ work: from teaching to learning, to educate for
adaptability… Moreover, for some teachers the work environment is proving personally and
professionally damaging (facing more violence, crisis of authority, under social recognition, parents
and students’ pressures and demands…). Thus, it requires new competencies to cope with those
pressures and to develop teachers’ resilience. Emotional competencies belong to those crucial
professional competencies nowadays. Beside the institutionalized “powerful” teacher, the teacher
leadership style with developed emotional competencies remind us that “teaching”, is not only a pure
cognitive act but also a social and affective and emotional work where emotions are involved in the
work atmosphere (Gendron, 2008a). Emotional competencies are essential to perform teaching work
and for a leadership and ethic teaching style – vehicle of a democratic and professional socialization
and an exemplarity subject for learners. Those emotional competencies refer to the “Savoir-être”.
Beyond the “Savoirs” (Knowledge) and the “Savoir-Faire” (Know-How) defined in G.S. Becker Human
Capital approach, this set of social and personal emotional competencies constitutes the Emotional
Capital© defined by Gendron (2004) (this Emotional Capital essay won the 2006 Louis Cros Prize of
the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences). This capital is essential in nowadays teachers’
work and in all emotional works in a broader view. Those emotional competencies are key-
competencies in all social interactions whatever the context. The management of a class, a group or a
team of learners could be related with the human management models at work, for instance the
management of a team of workers. This presentation will question particularly those emotional
competencies as professional competencies essential in all social interaction jobs and work (as
teachers, trainers, counselors, coach, or human managers…). From a multidisciplinary approach
(education, psychology, and management sciences, this paper will draw parallels between the teacher
and manager’s work style using leadership-models (Gendron, 2007). This communication intends to
address the issue of emotional competencies as professional competencies to the educational and
labor spheres for a fruitful multi-approach enriched by the contributions of several disciplines and
plural glances (researcher, professional, practitioners...).

Method
In a first part, I will present emotional capital and emotional work theoretical frameworks. Then, in a
second part, from a meta-analysis of the literature on management models, on management and
leadership, and teaching styles, I will draw a parallel between the style of leaderships and teachers
and managers’ management style according their emotional competencies (defined in Emotional
Intelligence models). Sources: Studies and research on emotional competencies and management
styles and HR literature (Salovey, Mayer, Goleman, Boyatzis, Weber, Mintzberg, HRD and Organization
and Management theories of leadership, Teacher literature references).

Expected Outcomes
This research draws a typology of management styles and the emotional competencies required. It
shows that teacher with leadership styles who have developed emotional competencies referring to
emotional capital can facilitate teamwork, work atmosphere, and enhance efficiency and quality of
their students. They teach for learning or they manage to develop the person…. At the opposite,
teachers or managers with a poor emotional capital which fulfil the exact task prescribed (instruction
or task-goals oriented) can lead to a disaster: decrease of teams’ productivity, workers burnout,
higher rate of health problem, and growing missing working days… This research concludes that those
emotional competencies belong to the teacher professional competencies essential nowadays to
perform their teaching job.

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