Teachers View on Social and Emotional Aspect of Pedagogical Competence

Problem statement: Bologna process challenges European higher education area by comparability and compatibility of several issues including educators’ professional competence. However, through their educational philosophy and activity educators have discovered and shaped their own sense and meaning of pedagogical competence. During the time when teacher professional standard has been reexamined nationally, teachers’ voice in Latvia is still poorly considered. Therefore, this article aims to provide a balance between two directions-’from-above’ that implies policy and legislation and ‘from-below’ that stands for practitioners’ own voice. Approach: This study is an attempt to enter into professional world of elementary school teachers and to describe how they interpret meaning of their pedagogical competence embodied in educational activity. Thus, this basic interpretive study reflects characteristics of phenomenology and constructionism. The data are collected through semi-structured interviews. The sample (n = 14) is created by snowball approach and includes teachers who represent different length of service, main ethnic backgrounds and geographical parts of Latvia. The data analysis implies identification of recurrent themes that emerge through the data. Results: As a result, the study provides a description of developed themes that illustrate elementary school teachers’ understanding of social and emotional aspect of pedagogical competence. Conclusion: The developed themes are discussed in the context of Bologna initiatives in higher education, holistic understanding of pedagogical competence and sustainable development of teacher education.