Educational Anxiety and Emotional Intelligence of Pre-Service Teachers in the field of Special Education

Abstract

Anxiety occurs when an anticipated event is expected to make demands for which the person is unprepared. It is also occurs, and, in order presumably that its signal value will not be lost, its effects are pervasive. The valences of environmental stimuli change and the person becomes uncertain about his/ her ability to deal even with things that were familiar to him. Anxiety becomes a powerful warning signal to the individual and to the members of his group that he is ill-prepared for an impending event.

One of the primary sources of anxiety appears to be the possibility for progress to a different level of being. This seems to be more important than the threat of non-being emphasized (Tillich). This is not to say that the threats of death, of meaninglessness, of moral condemnation (Tillich’s three sources of anxiety) never occur as antecedents of anxiety.

In the case of anxiety, this change in the valances of environmental objects occurs when a change in the environment makes a demand which a person cannot meet with his present pattern of behavior, and this gives him the opportunity to examine and reconstruct his pattern of behaviors so that they are better suited to accommodate the change in the environment. This unusualness of behavior is probably the reason why negative emotions or anxiety are unpleasant.

However, the anxiety of pre-service teachers is one of the important issues which affect the educational development of children including children with visual impairment. Therefore may be several factors which may affect the anxiety level and locus of control of pre-service teachers in the field of disability such as gender of the pre-service teacher, locality, educational qualification, nature of special school, management of special schools etc.
Keeping in view the above the investigator investigated the factors affecting the anxiety level and emotional intelligence of pre-service teachers in the field of special education. The investigator used the descriptive research method in the present research.