Investigating Teacher Trait Emotional Intelligence and Attitudes toward the Social and Emotional Challenges of Students with ADHD: A Q-Methodology Study of Vital Teacher Disposition Elements

Scanlon & Barnes-Holmes (2013) highlight the weight of teacher attitudes on outcomes for students with behavior-based differences, citing that teacher attitudes influence inclusive behavior. Powell & Kusuma-Powell (2013) also attest that a teacher’s social and emotional competencies influence how they understand and respond to the challenging behaviors of students. Because students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) tend to exhibit behavior that is often interpreted as impulsive, disorganized, aggressive, intense, emotional, disruptive, and deliberate, they are considered to be among the most difficult students to work with (Scanlon & Barnes-Holmes, 2013). This multiphase, mixed-methods study utilized Q-methodology to investigate teacher attitudes toward the social and emotional challenges of students with ADHD. The study identified attitude response patterns among participants with varied trait Emotional Intelligence levels. It also explored the contextual issues influencing these beliefs. In Phase I, a tEI questionnaire was completed by PreK-12 teachers (N = 109) across four suburban school districts in a Northeast state. In Phase II, a Q-sort was conducted with teachers (n = 16) with varied levels of tEI. Phase III consisted of a focus group with teachers (n = 7) whom represented the continuum of responses from Phases I and II. Data analysis was completed, respectively, utilizing Survey Monkey analytics, factor analysis, and thematic content analysis. In Phase IV, data from all sources was combined. The results revealed that teachers with the lowest levels of tEI were the least tolerant of the social and emotional challenges of students with ADHD. The data also suggested that tEI, longevity (when paired with mid to high tEI), and parenting a child with ADHD, are more significant factors in positively relating to challenging students than is teacher preparation type. Study results fill a gap in the literature involving the interplay between teacher tEI and attitudes toward challenging students. The results may shed light upon what teachers understand about deficient emotional self-management in students and shape professional development and training for effective Social-Emotional Learning implementation. The results may also be used to influence pre-service teacher education to more explicitly develop the social and emotional competencies in teacher candidates