Amplifying Social and Emotional Competence (ASEC) of Public-School Teachers as Adaptive Strategies to Work-Related Stress: Basis for Teacher Enhancement Program

Anchored on transactional and person environment-fit theory, this descriptive-correlational study aimed to assess the social and emotional competence and work-related stress of public-school teachers (n=40). This study utilized the adapted questionnaire from the Social and Emotional Competence (SEC) from Long, (2015) and work-related stress from Bowers, (2018). Analyses revealed that Pintuyan National Vocational High School teachers were highly stressed and highly competent as manifested in their level of social and emotional competence with the domains in responsible decision-making, self-regulation, and social/relationships domains. This study concludes that the level of work-related stress among teachers is significantly associated with and related to their social and emotional competence levels. Thus, the work-related stress and enhanced social-emotional competence of teachers influenced their academic lives and dictated their teaching performance and outcomes. Despite the challenges in the pandemic, however, teachers are becoming resilient in dealing with work-related stress and diversely coping individuals as effective managers of stress as public-school teachers. The Department of Education should initiate socio-emotional and academic training that enhances and develops the three domains of SEC among public school teachers. Institutionalizing these trainings and enhancing their SEC competence increases teachers’ stress coping mechanism and motivation to pursue professional growth and academic resiliency.