Professionalism and Caregivers' Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood Education Centres, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State
Keywords:
Caregivers, Emotional Intelligence, Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Education Centres, Caregiver ProfessionalismAbstract
Caregivers’ emotional intelligence and the limited empirical evidence on the role of professionalism in shaping it, particularly among ECCE caregivers in Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State. The study investigated professionalism as a determinant of caregivers’ emotional intelligence in early childhood education centres in Adavi Local Government Area. The study adopted a descriptive-correlational research design and involved 232 caregivers selected through census sampling. Data were collected using the Caregivers’ Professionalism Scale (CPS) and the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), which had Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients of 0.84 and 0.82, respectively. We analysed the data using percentages, means, standard deviations, and regression analysis. The findings showed that caregivers’ professionalism was high (M = 1.57), while their overall emotional intelligence was also high (M = 3.15). Self-awareness (M = 3.05), self-regulation (M = 3.31), motivation (M = 3.16), empathy (M = 3.17), and social skills (M = 3.09) were all rated highly. Regression analysis further revealed that professionalism significantly determined caregivers’ emotional intelligence (R = 0.464, R² = 0.332, F = 35.056, p = 0.001), explaining 33.2% of the variation in emotional intelligence. The study concluded that caregivers’ professionalism was an important factor in their emotional intelligence. It recommended regular professional development, emotional intelligence training, and practical capacity-building programmes for caregivers to strengthen professional competence and emotional effectiveness in early childhood education centres.
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