Preschool Teachers' Emotional Competence and Teacher Self-Efficacy towards Preschool Performance in Zhejiang Province of China.

This study investigates the interplay between emotional competence, self-efficacy, and teaching experience in determining preschool teachers' performance. Drawing on Bandura's Theory of Self-Efficacy, Goleman's Emotional Intelligence Theory, and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, the research employs a quantitative approach, analyzing responses from preschool teachers in Zhejiang province, China. Key findings reveal that emotional competence significantly predicts teachers' performance and self-efficacy, with self-efficacy further mediating this relationship. Interestingly, while teaching experience moderates the impact of emotional competence on self-efficacy, it does not significantly influence the relationship between self-efficacy and teaching performance. The study underscores the critical role of emotional competence in teaching efficacy and highlights the complexity of how teaching experience interacts with these dynamics. These insights are crucial for developing targeted interventions in teacher training programs, emphasizing emotional skills and self-belief as key drivers of effective teaching in early-childhood education.

The Alchemy of Coaching: Psychological Capital as HERO within Coaches' Selves.

The complex nature of coaching challenges instructional coaches (ICs) professionally as it requires them to deal with not only teachers' resistance, acceptance and expectation but also adhere to the complex and multifaceted roles that they are bearing. Psychological capital (PsyCap) has been upheld as an effective construct for defending against stress, negative emotions and burnout among educators. This phenomenological study explores ways in which PsyCap was experienced by Malaysian instructional coaches (ICs). Data were gathered from face-to-face interviews with seven instructional coaches purposefully selected from six different District Education Offices (DEOs) throughout Malaysia. Extracted from participants' own words and through the exploration performed, PsyCap was experienced by the participants through a sense of responsibility, positive resources and work commitment. This study highlights the importance of PsyCap as inner positive psychological resources that aided instructional coaches in their practice of coaching. In addition, this study suggests future research recommendations towards implementing PsyCap developmental training with another group of instructional coaches.

Improving hardiness among university students: A meta-analysis of intervention studies.

Introduction: Increasing the hardiness of students is a crucial objective in higher education. Universities and colleges have created a variety of interventions to improve students' overall hardiness. Methods: In terms of the effects of such interventions, empirical research has shown inconclusive results. This meta-analysis applies 12 effect sizes from 12 independent empirical studies, with a total of 640 participants, to assess the overall impact of interventions on students' hardiness and to test for moderators, in light of the contradictory findings in prior work. The current meta-analysis calculates the standardized mean differences (SMD) of pre-post interventions. The level of study heterogeneity, represented by I 2, was interpreted as small (I 2 ≤ 25%), moderate (25% < I 2 ≤ 50%), substantial (50% < I 2 ≤ 75%), or considerable (I 2 > 75%). Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. Results: The results show that the interventions had a significant positive overall effect on students' hardiness (g = 0.998, k = 12) and show significant heterogeneity among effect sizes. Among the interventions, cognitive-based intervention yielded the largest mean effect size (g = 2.015, k = 5). Furthermore, moderator analyses suggest that the effects of the interventions on students' hardiness are moderated by respondent type, culture, intervention type, research design, years, and duration of intervention. Discussion: We conclude that interventions that promote students' hardiness are officious. Despite the low homogeneity of the results and limitations of this meta-analysis (e.g., a small number of included studies) which might have influenced the findings, the large fail-safe N suggests that these findings are robust. The study examined potential causes of heterogeneity and emphasized the importance of further research in this area.