The importance of soft skills for teachers

Why soft skills matter

Schools are changing fast and teachers need more than subject knowledge. Multiple studies cited by institutions such as Harvard, Carnegie and Stanford have estimated that around 85% of career success is linked to soft skills, with a smaller share attributed to specialist knowledge. Young people echo this: roughly 85% of upper-secondary students rate teachers' interpersonal skills as very important. John Hattie's analyses show a greater influence for a teacher's personality (effect coefficient 0.16) than for subject knowledge (0.09), while other research on personal competencies reports large effect sizes in the 0.72 to 0.87 range for teacher-student relationships. These findings underline that how teachers relate, communicate and support learners matters deeply for learning.

Which skills count

The set of soft skills that most directly supports teaching is practical and observable. Research highlights adaptability as vital. Empathy and readiness to help enable timely responses to pupil needs. Conscientiousness affects lesson preparation and fair assessment. Teamwork allows staff to develop coherent schoolwide approaches. Clear verbal communication ensures instructions and expectations are understood. Professionalism covers work ethic and accountability for pupils' development. Lifelong learning helps teachers keep up with change, while creativity fuels engaging lessons. Students also point to teachers' authority, enthusiasm and motivation as key. Regularly mentioned expectations include effective communication, collaboration and problem definition skills for diagnosing learning difficulties. Together, clear rules and good relationships sustain a learning-friendly climate, so schools need both individual traits and practical skillsets.

Impact on the learning environment

Soft skills shape classroom atmosphere directly. When teachers communicate clearly, pupils feel more confident. Motivation and emotion regulation create emotional safety where learners are willing to take intellectual risks and ask questions. Trust between teacher and pupil increases engagement. Cheng and Zamarro found that teachers with stronger soft skills help students develop similar competencies, showing that schools teach both content and social attitudes. Interpersonal skills also improve collaboration among staff and relationships with administrators, which supports consistent educational goals. Understanding a pupil's social context makes tailored support easier, which in turn can improve academic results and wellbeing. Programs that practise social skills benefit multiple levels: they prepare pupils for work, reduce conflicts and strengthen school climate. Investing in soft skills therefore multiplies positive effects, and cultural change in a school grows from everyday interactions and routines.

Challenges and barriers

Despite clear benefits, developing soft skills faces obstacles. Many teachers lack workplace opportunities to build these competencies; 71.4% of respondents in surveys reported that their institutions do not provide such chances. Training systems tend to prioritise hard skills and technical knowledge, limiting access to practical interpersonal tools. Initial teacher education often lacks steady programmes focused on communication or conflict management, and continuing professional development frequently consists of lectures rather than practice with feedback. Economic research hints at high returns on soft skills investment: an experiment in Indian factories showed a roughly 250% return after a soft skills program, suggesting potential value though the context differs from schools. Translating such findings to education requires careful adaptation, strategic use of resources and leaders who model the desired behaviours. Without shifting priorities, lasting change will be difficult to achieve.

Recommendations and practical steps

Addressing these gaps calls for systemic steps. Initial teacher training should include practical workshops on communication and conflict resolution. Professional development needs scheduled time for practice, feedback and coaching rather than solely lectures. Schools can set up mentoring schemes where experienced teachers support newer colleagues, and run joint workshops to align approaches across teams. Practical options include team-focused training sessions that rehearse common classroom scenarios, short micro-lessons and bite-sized modules for regular practice, and observation-based assessment combined with pupil feedback. Consider piloting szkolenia dla zespołów (team training) to rehearse real situations and build shared conventions. Measuring outcomes through classroom observation and student perceptions helps keep programs grounded in practice. School leaders should promote emotional intelligence and reward interpersonal development, while funding should cover both training and time to implement new practices. Partnerships with universities or professional bodies can help design tailored programs. These measures increase teaching effectiveness and improve school climate when applied consistently.

Soft skills are fundamental to effective teaching. Research and student voices point to the strong influence of relationships and teacher personality on learning outcomes, yet schools often underinvest in developing these competencies. Practical, system-level training such as workshops, mentoring and team-based exercises can deliver real educational and economic benefits. Changes in initial education and ongoing professional development, combined with measurement of classroom impact, can produce lasting improvements in teaching quality.

Empatyzer as support for developing teachers' soft skills

Empatyzer can support school teams in practical soft-skill development. As an AI assistant it offers real-time suggestions for phrasing and steps during difficult conversations with pupils and parents. By profiling team personality and preferences, Empatyzer helps tailor communication techniques to specific teachers and classroom contexts. Twice-weekly micro-lessons deliver short exercises and ready-made dialogue examples that teachers can apply immediately. The tool assists in preparing one-to-one talks, feedback moments and conflict interventions, reducing tension and misunderstandings. Personalisation features allow adjustments for pupils' cognitive differences, helping teachers craft clear instructions and engagement questions. Schools can use Empatyzer to plan mikro-szkolenia dla zespołów, monitor effects through observations and pupil surveys, and run short pilots with minimal administrative load. When used across staff teams, Empatyzer supports consistent communication practices, mentoring and sharing successful interventions, turning diagnosis and brief lessons into concrete changes in everyday conversations that help maintain a positive classroom climate.